William Clark; Illinois Chief Justice, Politician Opposed Vietnam War
William G. Clark, 77, a former chief justice of Illinois who was the first politician in that state to speak out against the Vietnam War, died Aug. 17 from complications of diabetes in Skokie, Ill.
Born into a family of Democratic politicians in Chicago, Clark served in all three branches of government. In the 1950s, he was a legislator and majority leader of the state House, and in the 1960s, he was Illinois’ attorney general.
Clark, elected to his state’s highest court in 1976, retired in 1992 after 16 years. He served as chief justice from 1985 to 1988.
As an unsuccessful Democratic Senate candidate in 1968, the fiercely independent Clark criticized the Johnson administration’s Vietnam policies. As a delegate to the Democratic National Convention that year, he called for an immediate and unconditional halt to the U.S. bombing of North Vietnam.
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