Symington, William Stuart

Symington, William Stuart, 1901-88, U.S. Senator (1953-76), b. Amherst, Mass. He interrupted a successful business career in 1941 to accept a War Department assignment involving a study of airplane armament in England. After serving (1945-46) as administrator of the Surplus Property Administration he was appointed (Sept., 1947) by President Harry S. Truman to be the first Secretary of the Air Force. He advocated a greatly increased air force as necessary for national defense, and when appropriations for his department were reduced he resigned (Apr., 1950) in protest. After serving (1951-52) as administrator of the Reconstruction Finance Corporation, Symington, a Democrat, was elected in 1952 as U.S. Senator for Missouri. In his early years in the Senate, he was mainly preoccupied with the question of national defense and warned the nation of the danger of the Soviet lead in the missile race. Symington was easily reelected to the Senate in 1958, 1964, and 1970; in 1960 he was an unsuccessful candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination.

(born June 26, 1901, Amherst, Mass., U.S.—died Dec. 14, 1988, New Canaan, Conn.) U.S. politician. He served in World War I, attended Yale University (1919–23), and entered politics in 1945 as chairman of the Surplus Property Board in the administration of Pres. Harry S. Truman. He served as secretary of the air force (1946–50). As U.S. senator from Missouri (1953–77), he advocated a strong national defense but was an outspoken critic of U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War, considering it unimportant to national security and harmful to the economy.

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William Stuart (March 1755 – 6 March 1822) was the Bishop of St David's and then Church of Ireland Archbishop of Armagh from 1800 to his death.

He was the son of John Stuart, 3rd Earl of Bute and his wife, Mary. On 3 May 1796, he married Sophia Penn, daughter of Thomas Penn, and had three children:

• Mary Juliana Stuart (died 11 July 1866, married Thomas Knox born 19 April 1786-died 21 March 1858, 2nd Earl of Ranfurly
• Sir William Stuart (31 October 1798–7 July 1874)
• Henry Stuart born 1804-died 26 October 1854 Kempston, Bedfordshire (Source Cambridge University Alumni, 1261-1900)

He had several notable brothers and sisters, including John Stuart, 1st Marquess of Bute (1744–1814), The Hon. Sir Charles Stuart (1753–1801), a soldier who saw active service in the American Revolutionary War and the Napoleonic Wars and rose to the rank of lieutenant-general; and James Archibald Stuart (1747–1818), another soldier who raised the 92nd Regiment of Foot in 1779. His sisters were Lady Louisa Stuart (12 August 1757 – 4 August 1851), a writer who died unmarried, Lady Mary Stuart (c. 1741–1824), who married James Lowther, later the 1st Earl of Lonsdale; Lady Anne Stuart (born c. 1745), who married Lord Warkworth, later the 2nd Duke of Northumberland; Lady Jane Stuart (c. 1748–1828), who married George Macartney, later the first Earl Macartney; and Lady Caroline Stuart (before 1763–1813), who married The Hon. John Dawson, later first Earl of Portarlington.

One of his sons was Mr William Stuart of Tempsford Hall, Sandy, Beds. enjoyed the special confidence of King George III. His youngest son was Clarence Esme Stuart (1828-1903) a notable Classical Tyrwhitt scholar in Hebrew among the Plymouth Brethren

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