# William Spong Jr.
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{{short description|American politician (1920-1997)}}
{{More citations needed|date=September 2010}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name = William B. Spong Jr.
| image = William B Spong.jpg
| state1 = [Virginia](/source/Virginia)
| party = [Democratic](/source/Democratic_Party_(United_States))
| office = 17th [Dean of William & Mary Law School](/source/William_%26_Mary_Law_School)
| term_start = 1976
| term_end = 1985
| preceded = [James P. Whyte Jr.](/source/James_P._Whyte_Jr.)
| succeeded = [Timothy J. Sullivan](/source/Timothy_J._Sullivan)
| office1 = [United States Senator](/source/United_States_Senator) from [Virginia](/source/Virginia)
| term_start1 = December 31, 1966
| term_end1 = January 3, 1973
| preceded1 = [A. Willis Robertson](/source/A._Willis_Robertson)
| succeeded1 = [William L. Scott](/source/William_L._Scott)
| state_senate2 = Virginia
| district2 = [3rd](/source/Virginia's_3rd_Senate_district)
| alongside2 = [William Hodges](/source/William_H._Hodges) & William Kellam
| term_start2 = January 12, 1966
| term_end2 = December 31, 1966
| preceded2 = [Gordon F. Marsh](/source/Gordon_F._Marsh)
| succeeded2 = [Willard J. Moody](/source/Willard_J._Moody)
| state_senate3 = Virginia
| district3 = [10th](/source/Virginia's_10th_Senate_district)
| term_start3 = January 11, 1956
| term_end3 = January 12, 1966
| preceded3 = James D. Hagood
| succeeded3 = [Edward E. Willey](/source/Edward_E._Willey)
| office4 = Member of the [Virginia House of Delegates](/source/Virginia_House_of_Delegates) from [Portsmouth City](/source/Portsmouth%2C_Virginia)
| alongside4 = [John A. MacKenzie](/source/John_Ashton_MacKenzie)
| term_start4 = January 13, 1954
| term_end4 = January 11, 1956
| preceded4 = R. Winston Bain
| succeeded4 = [Willard J. Moody](/source/Willard_J._Moody)
| birth_name = William Belser Spong Jr.
| birth_date = {{birth date|1920|9|29}}
| birth_place = [Portsmouth](/source/Portsmouth%2C_Virginia), [Virginia](/source/Virginia), U.S.
| death_date = {{death date and age|1997|10|8|1920|9|29}}
| death_place = Portsmouth, Virginia, U.S.
| spouse = Virginia Wise Galliford
| alma_mater = [Hampden–Sydney College](/source/Hampden%E2%80%93Sydney_College)
[University of Virginia](/source/University_of_Virginia)
[University of Edinburgh](/source/University_of_Edinburgh)
| signature = William B. Spong Jr. signature.png
| branch = {{tree list}}
*[United States Army](/source/United_States_Army)
**[Army Air Forces](/source/United_States_Army_Air_Forces)
{{tree list/end}}
| service_years = 1942–1945
| unit = [93rd Bombardment Group](/source/93rd_Operations_Group)
| battles = [World War II](/source/World_War_II)
}}
'''William Belser Spong Jr.''' (September 29, 1920{{spaced ndash}}October 8, 1997) was an American [Democratic Party](/source/Democratic_Party_(United_States)) [politician](/source/politician) and a [United States senator](/source/United_States_Senate) who represented the state of [Virginia](/source/Virginia) from 1966 to 1973.
==Biography==
===Early life and education===
Spong was born in [Portsmouth, Virginia](/source/Portsmouth%2C_Virginia), and attended [public schools](/source/Public_school_(government_funded)), [Hampden–Sydney College](/source/Hampden%E2%80%93Sydney_College) in [Hampden Sydney](/source/Hampden_Sydney%2C_Virginia), the [University of Virginia](/source/University_of_Virginia) in [Charlottesville](/source/Charlottesville%2C_Virginia), and the [University of Edinburgh](/source/University_of_Edinburgh) in [Scotland](/source/Scotland). He studied [law](/source/law), and was admitted to the bar in 1947, commencing practice in Portsmouth soon thereafter. During [World War II](/source/World_War_II), Spong served in the [Army Air Corps](/source/United_States_Army_Air_Corps), Eighth Air Force from 1942 to 1945. After the war, Spong was a lecturer in law and government at the [College of William and Mary](/source/College_of_William_and_Mary) from 1948 to 1949.
===State politics===
Spong entered Virginia politics as a member of the [Virginia House of Delegates](/source/Virginia_House_of_Delegates) from 1954 to 1955, and afterwards as a member of the [Virginia State Senate](/source/Virginia_State_Senate) from 1956 to 1966. While in the Senate, Spong was chairman of the Virginia Commission on Public Education from 1958 to 1962.
thumb|left|Spong during his tenure in the U.S. Senate
===National politics===
In 1966, Spong was personally recruited by President [Lyndon Johnson](/source/Lyndon_Johnson) to mount a primary challenge against 20-year incumbent Senator [A. Willis Robertson](/source/A._Willis_Robertson). Johnson was angered at Robertson's opposition to the [Civil Rights](/source/Civil_Rights_Act_of_1964) and [Voting Rights](/source/Voting_Rights_Act) Acts. Spong defeated Robertson in one of the biggest upsets in Virginia political history and breezed to victory in November. Robertson resigned on December 31, 1966; [Governor](/source/Governor_of_Virginia) [Mills Godwin](/source/Mills_Godwin) appointed Spong to the seat, giving Spong higher seniority than other senators elected that November. Spong's primary victory marked the beginning of the end of the [Byrd Organization](/source/Byrd_Organization)'s long dominance of Virginia politics. Spong's Senate career was short-lived; in [1972](/source/1972_United_States_Senate_election_in_Virginia), he was narrowly defeated for reelection by 8th District Representative [William L. Scott](/source/William_L._Scott).
Spong would be the last Democrat elected to the Senate from Virginia until [Chuck Robb](/source/Chuck_Robb)'s victory in 1988. Spong's Senate colleague, [Harry F. Byrd Jr.](/source/Harry_F._Byrd_Jr.), became an independent in 1970.
===Later life and death===
After his Senate career, Spong returned to the practice of law, and also served as a law [professor](/source/professor) and the [dean](/source/dean_(education)) of the [Marshall-Wythe School of Law](/source/Marshall-Wythe_School_of_Law) at the College of William and Mary from 1976 to 1985. In 1976, Spong was president of the [Virginia Bar Association](/source/Virginia_Bar_Association). He was appointed interim president of [Old Dominion University](/source/Old_Dominion_University) in 1988, and was a resident of Portsmouth until his death. He is interred at the [University of Virginia Cemetery](/source/University_of_Virginia_Cemetery) in [Charlottesville, Virginia](/source/Charlottesville%2C_Virginia).
==Personal life==
===Humor===
A popular Internet joke claims[{{Cite web|url=https://etwof.com/spong_fong_ping_pong.html|title=Spong-Fong Ping-Pong {{!}} End the War on Freedom|website=etwof.com|language=en|access-date=2017-11-06}}] that William B. Spong of Virginia and [Hiram Fong](/source/Hiram_Fong) of Hawaii sponsored a bill recommending the mass ringing of church bells to welcome the arrival in Hong Kong of the [U.S. Table Tennis Team after its tour of Communist China](/source/Ping_Pong_Diplomacy). The bill failed to pass, cheating the Senate out of passing the Spong-Fong Hong Kong Ping Pong Ding Dong Bell Bill.
In fact, Senator Spong never sponsored such a bill, but he did have some fun with the press soon after arriving in [Washington, D.C.](/source/Washington%2C_D.C.) As described in an article by his cousin, the Rt. Rev. [John Shelby Spong](/source/John_Shelby_Spong), Senator Spong:
was invited with the other freshman senators to address the National Press Club. Fearful that someone on radio or television would call him Senator Sponge, he used his brief five-minute introductory speech to that body to secure proper name identification. His first act as a senator, he announced in his southern drawl, would be to introduce a bill to protect the rights of songwriters in Hong Kong. He would be joined in this effort by the senior senator of Louisiana, [Russell Long](/source/Russell_Long), and the senior senator from Hawaii, [Hiram Fong](/source/Hiram_Fong), and together they would present the Long Fong Spong Hong Kong Song Bill. His name was never mispronounced by members of the media.{{citation needed|date=June 2021}}
Other sources crediting Spong with the humorous bill name suggest different contexts.[{{cite journal|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1982/02/11/us/a-law-by-any-other-name.html|journal=New York Times|title=A Law By Any Other Name|author=Marjorie Hunter|date=February 11, 1982|access-date=June 25, 2021|quote=Some few years ago, members of Congress played a game, conjuring up preposterous names for bills.}}][{{cite journal|url=http://archives.starbulletin.com/2004/08/22/editorial/indexspecial.html|author=Samuel P. King|title=A good son of Hawaii, Fong left his mark on many lives|date=August 22, 2004|journal=Honolulu Star Bulletin|access-date=June 25, 2021}} (incorrectly claiming the bill was not only introduced but "passed")]
===Family===
Spong married Virginia Wise Galliford. They had two children, Martha and Tom.
==References==
{{reflist}}
*{{citation|author1=Whitley, Tyler |author2=Schapiro, Jeff E. |name-list-style=amp |title=Former senator dead|url=http://gateway-va.com/tdnews/1009spon.htm|work=Richmond Times-Dispatch|date=October 9, 1997|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/19971011053153/http://gateway-va.com/tdnews/1009spon.htm|archivedate=October 11, 1997}}
*{{citation|author=Freehling, Allison|title=Spong, Ex-U.S. Senator And W&M Law Dean, Dies At 77|url=https://www.dailypress.com/1997/10/09/spong-ex-us-senator-and-wm-law-dean-dies-at-77/|work=Daily Press|place=Newport News, Virginia|date=October 9, 1997}}
*{{citation|author=Friddell, Guy|title= Former U.S. senator and ODU president William Spong dies at 77 |url=http://www.pilotonline.com/news/nw1009spo.html|work=The Virginian-Pilot|place=Hampton Roads, Virginia|date=October 9, 1997|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/19971011065319/http://www.pilotonline.com/news/nw1009spo.html|archivedate=October 11, 1997}}
* Spong, John Shelby (May/June, 1998). "My Cousin Bill". Human Quest, p. 3. [http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3861/is_199805/ai_n8799603/pg_3 page]
{{CongBio|S000739}}
==External links==
{{S-start}}
{{s-ppo}}
{{s-bef|before=[A. Willis Robertson](/source/A._Willis_Robertson)}}
{{s-ttl|title=[Democratic](/source/Democratic_Party_(United_States)) nominee for [U.S. Senator](/source/List_of_United_States_senators_from_Virginia) from [Virginia](/source/Virginia)
([Class 2](/source/Classes_of_United_States_senators))|years=[1966](/source/1966_United_States_Senate_election_in_Virginia), [1972](/source/1972_United_States_Senate_election_in_Virginia)}}
{{s-aft|after=[Andrew P. Miller](/source/Andrew_P._Miller)}}
{{S-par|us-sen}}
{{U.S. Senator box
|state=Virginia
|class=2
|before=[A. Willis Robertson](/source/A._Willis_Robertson)
|after=[William L. Scott](/source/William_L._Scott)
|years=December 31, 1966 – January 3, 1973
|alongside=[Harry F. Byrd Jr.](/source/Harry_F._Byrd_Jr.)}}
{{S-aca}}
{{Succession box| title=Dean of [the College of William & Mary Law School](/source/the_College_of_William_%26_Mary_Law_School) | before=[James P. Whyte Jr.](/source/James_P._Whyte_Jr.) | after=[Timothy J. Sullivan](/source/Timothy_J._Sullivan) | years=1976–1985}}
{{Succession box| title=President of [Old Dominion University](/source/Old_Dominion_University) | before=Dr. Joseph M. Marchello | after=Dr. James V. Koch | years=1989–1990}}
{{S-end}}
{{USSenVA}}
{{Virginia State Senators (3rd district)}}
{{USCongRep-start|congresses= 89th–92nd [United States Congress](/source/United_States_Congress) |state=[Virginia](/source/Virginia)}}
{{USCongRep/VA/89}}
{{USCongRep/VA/90}}
{{USCongRep/VA/91}}
{{USCongRep/VA/92}}
{{USCongRep-end}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Spong, William B. Jr.}}
Category:1920 births
Category:1997 deaths
Category:United States Army Air Forces personnel of World War II
Category:United States Army Air Forces soldiers
Category:American legal scholars
Category:Alumni of the University of Edinburgh
Category:College of William & Mary faculty
Category:Hampden–Sydney College alumni
Category:Virginia lawyers
Category:Democratic Party members of the Virginia House of Delegates
Category:Democratic Party Virginia state senators
Category:University of Virginia alumni
Category:Politicians from Portsmouth, Virginia
Category:Military personnel from Virginia
Category:Democratic Party United States senators from Virginia
Category:Burials at the University of Virginia Cemetery
Category:Deans of the William & Mary Law School
Category:20th-century United States senators
Category:20th-century members of the Virginia General Assembly
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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [William Spong Jr.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Spong_Jr.) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Spong_Jr.?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.