William Averell Harriman (15 November 1891-26 July 1986) was Governor of New York (D) from 1 January 1955 to 31 December 1958, succeeding Thomas E. Dewey and preceding Nelson Rockefeller; he previously served as US Secretary of Commerce from 7 October 1946 to 22 April 1948, succeeding Henry A. Wallace and preceding Charles Sawyer.
Biography[]
William Averell Harriman was born in New York City, New York in 1891, the son of railroad executive E.H. Harriman. He attended Groton School and Yale University, and he later co-founded the banking firm Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. with contacts made in college. Harriman expanded his business, and President Franklin D. Roosevelt appointed him to the Business Advisory Council, the National Recovery Administration, and foreign policy roles. From 1943 to 1946, he served as ambassador to the Soviet Union, and he served as ambassador to the United Kingdom in 1946. From 1946 to 1948, he served in Harry S. Truman's administration as Secretary of Commerce, and he coordinated the implementation of the Marshall Plan. In 1954, he became Governor of New York, serving a single term. In 1956, he had Truman's backing during the Democratic National Convention, but Adlai Stevenson II was chosen as the Democratic presidential nominee. He became a widely respected foreign policy elder during John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson's administrations, having a key input on US policy during the Vietnam War. He died in Yorktown Heights, New York in 1986 at the age of 94.