
William Thomas Cahill (25 June 1912 – 1 June 1996) was a member of the US House of Representatives (R-NJ 1) from 3 January 1959 to 3 January 1967 (succeeding Charles A. Wolverton and preceding John E. Hunt) and from NJ-6 from 3 January 1967 to 19 January 1970 (succeeding Florence P. Dwyer and preceding Edwin B. Forsythe), and Governor of New Jersey from 20 January 1970 to 15 January 1974 (succeeding Richard J. Hughes and preceding Brendan Byrne).
Biography[]
William Thomas Cahill was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1912 to Irish immigrant parents. He was raised in Camden, New Jersey, and he served as an FBI special agent from 1937 to 1938, as a lawyer in Collingswood, as Camden city prosecutor from 1944 to 1945, as Camden County assistant prosecutor from 1948 to 1951, as a State Assemblyman from 1951 to 1953, in the US House of Representatives from 1959 to 1970 (supporting civil rights legislation), and as Governor from 1970 to 1974. He was more liberal than 88% of Republicans in the House by the end of his tenure in Congress, and, as Governor, he implemented automobile emission caps, an increase in the sales tax from 3% to 5%, the introduction of the state lottery, the passage of no-fault auto insurance, and bringing the New York Giants to a stadium in the Hackensack Meadowlands. However, his reputation suffered as the result of a scandal involving illegal donations to his campaign. He died in 1996.