{{Short description|American politician (1892–1976)}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = Cowboy Pink Williams | image = Cowboy Pink Williams.jpg | image_size = | caption = | order = 13th | office = Oklahoma State Treasurer | term_start = January 14, 1963 | term_end = January 9, 1967 | governor = Henry Bellmon | predecessor = William A. Burkhart | successor = Leo Winters | order2 = 7th | office2 = Lieutenant Governor of Oklahoma | term_start2 = January 10, 1955 | term_end2 = January 12, 1959 | governor2 = Raymond D. Gary | predecessor2 = James E. Berry | successor2 = George Nigh | birth_date = {{Birth date|1892|4|9}} | birth_place = Newberry, South Carolina, U.S. | death_date = {{Death date and age|1976|4|1|1892|4|9}} | death_place = Caddo, Oklahoma, U.S. | party = Democratic | profession = Politician | spouse = Daisy Lane Williams }}
'''Cowboy Pink Williams''', born '''James Pinckney Williams'''{{Efn|A commemorative marker in his hometown of Caddo shows his birth name as ''James'' Pinckney Williams.<ref>[http://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=73425 "Cowboy Pink Williams"]. Historical Marker Database. Accessed November 19, 2016</ref>}} (April 9, 1892 – April 1, 1976), was an American politician who was the seventh lieutenant governor of Oklahoma from 1955 to 1959 and Oklahoma State Treasurer from 1963 to 1967.
==Early life== Williams was born in 1892. His father was in the hardware business and, according to Williams, the demand for tents in Caddo, Oklahoma where he grew up at the turn of the century was such that they were purchased before they had even been unloaded from wagons.<ref>[http://www.caddo-ok-today.org/467581 "History of Caddo"]. Accessed April 16, 2013.</ref>
James (''sic'') Williams was reported in Oklahoma City, working as a delivery driver in 1910, but returned to Caddo in 1911. He married Daisy Lane (1894–1988) in Caddo in 1913. The couple had three children.
Soon after marriage, they moved to Durant, Oklahoma and opened a furniture store. They moved to Ardmore, Oklahoma in 1922, where he opened some unspecified business, but soon returned again to Caddo.
==Political career== Williams used a humorous postcard in opposition to President Dwight D. Eisenhower in his campaign for lieutenant governor, a gimmick that the post office stopped.<ref name="Hudson">Hudston, Geneva Johnston (2005). ''Statesman or Rogue: Elected to Serve''. AuthorHouse. {{ISBN|1-4208-2503-8}}.</ref> He also legally changed his name from Simeon Pinckney Williams to Cowboy Pink Williams.<ref name="Hudson"/> He won the run-off to get the Democratic nomination, defeating incumbent James Berry.<ref name="Hudson"/>
Williams ran for Lieutenant Governor of Oklahoma in 1954. He finished second in the Democratic primary with 78,981 votes (19.16%), behind incumbent five-term Lieutenant Governor James E. Berry's 148,406 votes (36.00%).<ref>{{Cite web |title=OK Lt. Governor - D Primary Race - Jul 06, 1954 |url=http://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=493211 |publisher=Our Campaigns |access-date=7 September 2016}}</ref> Williams defeated Berry in the runoff by 222,784 votes (52.23%) to 203,747 (47.77%).<ref>{{Cite web |title=OK Lt. Governor - D Runoff Race - Jul 28, 1954 |url=http://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=453131 |publisher=Our Campaigns |access-date=7 September 2016}}</ref> He defeated Republican Kenneth W. Gray in the general election with 336,311 votes (58.36%)<ref>{{Cite web |title=OK Lt. Governor Race - Nov 02, 1954 |url=http://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=493212 |publisher=Our Campaigns |access-date=7 September 2016}}</ref> and served from 1955 to 1959.<ref>[http://www.ok.gov/ltgovernor/Office_of_Lieutenant_Governor/History_of_Lieutenant_Governor/index.html "History of the Office of the Lieutenant Governor"] ({{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130411200725/http://www.ok.gov/ltgovernor/Office_of_Lieutenant_Governor/History_of_Lieutenant_Governor/index.html |date=2013-04-11 }}). Ok.gov. Accessed April 16, 2013.</ref> He ran for a second term in 1958 and this time placed first in the Democratic primary with 176,171 votes (40.97%) to State Representative George Nigh's 80,727 (18.77%).<ref>{{Cite web |title=OK Lt. Governor - D Primary Race - Jul 01, 1958 |url=http://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=493216 |publisher=Our Campaigns |access-date=7 September 2016}}</ref> Nigh defeated Williams in the runoff with 302,050 votes (61.32%) to 190,530 (38.68%).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=493215 |title=OK Lt. Governor - D Runoff Race - Jul 22, 1958 |publisher=Our Campaigns |access-date=7 September 2016}}</ref>
Williams ran for Oklahoma State Treasurer in 1962, coming first with 165,055 votes (38.67%) and advancing to the runoff with Glen R. Key, who took 105,479 votes (24.71%). Former Governor Johnston Murray surprisingly finished last in the four-man field with 77,881 votes (18.24%).<ref>{{Cite web |title=OK Treasurer - D Primary Race - May 01, 1962 |url=http://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=493209 |publisher=Our Campaigns |access-date=7 September 2016}}</ref> Williams won the runoff with 214,055 votes (50.37%) to Key's 210,881 (49.63%)<ref>{{Cite web |title=OK Treasurer - D Runoff Race - May 22, 1962 |url=http://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=493210 |publisher=Our Campaigns |access-date=7 September 2016}}</ref> and then won the general election against Republican Tom R. Moore with 331,644 votes (51.42%).<ref>{{Cite web |title=OK Treasurer Race - Nov 06, 1962 |url=http://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=493208 |publisher=Our Campaigns |access-date=7 September 2016}}</ref>
After leaving the state treasurer's office due to term limits, Williams announced an intention to seek office in the United States House of Representatives, but never ran.<ref name="Hudson"/>
==Later life== In 1972, when Caddo celebrated its centennial, Williams served as the planning committee chair.<ref>Brimage, Lucille. [http://digital.library.okstate.edu/encyclopedia/entries/C/CA004.html "Caddo"]. ''Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture''. (accessed April 16, 2013)</ref>
== Explanatory notes == {{Notelist}}
==References== <references />
{{S-start}} {{S-ppo}} {{S-bef|before=James E. Berry}} {{S-ttl|title=Democratic nominee for Lieutenant Governor of Oklahoma|years=1954}} {{S-aft|after=George Nigh}} {{S-bef|before=William A. Burkhart}} {{S-ttl|title=Democratic nominee for Oklahoma State Treasurer|years=1962}} {{S-aft|after=Leo Winters}} {{S-off}} {{S-bef|before=James E. Berry}} {{S-ttl|title=Lieutenant Governor of Oklahoma|years=1955–1959}} {{S-aft|after=George Nigh}} {{S-bef|before=William A. Burkhart}} {{S-ttl|title=Treasurer of Oklahoma|years=1963–1967}} {{S-aft|after=Leo Winters}} {{S-end}} {{Lieutenant Governors of Oklahoma}} {{OKTreasurers}} {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, Pink}} Category:1892 births Category:1976 deaths Category:20th-century Oklahoma politicians Category:Lieutenant governors of Oklahoma Category:Oklahoma Democrats Category:People from Bryan County, Oklahoma Category:People from Newberry, South Carolina Category:State treasurers of Oklahoma