Administrative Information

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Preferred Citation

Papers of William Belser Spong, 1957-1988, Accession #9838-b, Special Collections, University of Virginia Library, Charlottesville, Va.

Acquisition Information

This collection was given to the Library by Senator William B. Spong of Portsmouth, Virginia, on October 6, 1988.

Biographical/Historical Information

William B. Spong, Jr. was a member of the Young Turk revolt in the 1954 Virginia General Assembly whose purpose was to appropriate surplus funds for public education and other social needs, and Spong often sided with the leader of the "revolt," Armistead Boothe of Alexandria. Spong received statewide attention when Governor James Lindsay Almond, Jr. appointed him chairman of the Commission on Public Education "to make a thorough study and report upon the public school system of Virginia." The publication of the Spong Report gave Spong the necessary political exposure to challenge Senator A. Willis Robertson in the 1966 Democratic Primary.

In the 1966 United States senatorial race, Spong decided to run in the Democratic Primary against the seasoned political veteran A. Willis Robertson, a long-standing associate of the Bryd organization. In the same primary Armistead Boothe unsucessfully challenged Harry F. Byrd, Jr., heir-apparent to the Byrd machine. Both Spong and Boothe were from urban areas of Virginia where opposition to the Byrd organization was strong.

Spong ran as the candidate who was willing to face the complex issues of the modern twentieth century United States, as the "Man of Today" slogan exemplified. He ran against Robertson's record of opposing many bills designed to tackle urban problems and appealed to the moderate and liberal elements in Virginia politics. William Battle was Spong's campaign manager. The chief issue of the primary campaign hinged upon campaign finances. Spong fully disclosed his contributions and handled the issue of the banking industry's financial support for Robertson (who served as the Chairman of the Senate Banking and Currency Committee) to his own advantage. Spong was also helped by labor support, the growing urban vote, his relative youthfulness and an endorsement by the black delegates of the Virginia Independent Voter's League.

The defeat of both Senator Robertson by Spong and Congressman Howard Smith by George C. Rawlings, Jr. in the Democratic Primary was viewed as the first major electoral setback for the Byrd organization since 1925, and signaled the close of its all-pervasive influence in Virginia politics.

Spong served as Virginia's junior Senator during a period of rapid political change in the state, as evidenced by Linwood Holton's gubernatorial victory in 1969 as the first Republican governor since Reconstruction. The dominance of the Byrd organization, broken in the 1966 races, was now replaced by a vigorous two-party competition. Spong's defeat in 1972 was due in part to these changes. His opponent, William L. Scott, was helped by his association with Richard Nixon on the national ticket in 1972 while Spong was hurt by his admission that he would vote for McGovern. Perhaps more importantly, Scott was helped by an infusion of massive amounts of money for various campaign media in the last stages of the campaign.

Spong served on the following Senate committees: Public Works Committee, Committee on the District of Columbia, Senate Banking and Currency Committee, the Commerce Committee, the Select Committee on Standards and Ethics, the Democratic Steering Committee, and the Foreign Relations Committee, where he worked on the problems of the war powers of the President and Congress, U.S. - Canadian relations, the illicit international drug traffic, and N.A.T.O.

He worked on the drafting and passage of legislation involving the District of Columbia, higher education, financial disclosures for federal employees, environmental concerns, transportation problems, consumer matters, foreign aid, the Vietnam War and the draft, and disaster relief.

The Commission on the Organization of Government for the Conduct of Foreign Policy was created by Congress in 1972 and chaired by Ambassador Robert Murphy. The Commission was charged with "making a two year overview study of the formulation and implementation of American Foreign Policy." Spong was first placed on the Commission in his capacity as a Senator. After his political defeat in the 1972 election for Senate, the Commission hired Spong as general council. His responsibilities included any legal work required and taking charge of all parts of the study dealing with Congress and congressional-executive relations, including such things as war powers, treaty powers, executive privilege and executive agreement. He served on the Commission from 1972-1975.

Commission on Virginia's Future, 1982-1984. It was created by Governor Charles S. Robb to plan for Virginia's future needs by identifying the questions that future governors and general assemblies would be faced with in the year two thousand and making a report. The project was partially funded by The Institute of Government at the University of Virginia.

Spong was also nominated to serve on the Commission on the Future of the South in 1986 by Charles S. Robb where he chaired the Commission's committee on government structure and fiscal capacity. The Commission's report, Halfway Home, A Long Way to Go , formed the basis of the work of the Southern Growth Policies Board for the six years following its publication.

He was appointed by Governor Gerald Baliles to the Governor's Commission on Excellence in Education in 1986. "The purpose of the Commission is to consider and to recommend actions that will place Virginia's public elementary and secondary schools into the first rank in education in the nation."

As a Trustee for the Institute For Congress, 1975-1978, Spong worked to establish the organization whose purpose was "to assist the Congress of the United States in accomplishing its legislative mission by engaging in independent and nonpartisan research, study and analysis of current issues and problems of public policy and by providing all members of the Congress ... with independent, objective, and systematic analyses of these issues and problems and with alternative policies, proposals, and programs."

Jimmy Carter appointed Spong 1n 1977 as a member of the U.S. Circuit Judge Nominating Panel for the Fourth Circuit to recommend circuit judges to serve in the Federal judiciary.

Scope and Content Information

The papers of William B. Spong, Jr. contain correspondence, printed material, campaign material, photographs, topical files, speeches, articles, reports, cassette tapes, microfilm, computer data tapes, and notebooks.

This collection contains very little material pertaining to Spong's career in the Virginia House of Delegates, 1954-1956, or the Virginia Senate, 1956-1966, where he represented Portsmouth. The chief group of papers from this period came from his work on the Virginia Commission on Public Education, 1958-1962 (Boxes 57-58), which resulted in the Spong Report; constituent mail in the correspondence series (Boxes 16- 18); and several folders in the miscellaneous topical subseries (Boxes 47-52).

The largest section of Spong's papers is concerned with Spong's two campaigns for the United States Senate in 1966 and in 1972 (Series I), and other material pertaining to his work in the Senate, chiefly legislative and newsclipping files (Series III). However, most of Spong's legislative files are located in accession # 9838.

The first series of papers furnish a considerable amount of detail concerning both campaigns, including political memoranda, strategy, press releases, surveys, correspondence, lists of contributors, volunteers and supporters, newsclippings describing the daily events of the campaigns, newsclippings concerning other political figures, speeches, requests for speakers, finances, schedules, staff, and material concerning A Man For Today - a collection of speeches by Senator William B. Spong, Jr.

The second series consists of three types of correspondence, constituent mail written to Spong while he was serving in the Virginia General Assembly, 1954-1958, and 1964-1966; general correspondence written for the most part after his term in the U.S. Senate; and topical correspondence which includes folders with the following individuals: Richard J. Davis, Thomas Eagleton, and Lewis F. Powell, Jr.. Constituent mail, 1967-1971, is also present in the microfilm series seven (Boxes 67-68).

Correspondence with Virginia politicians in the topical subseries includes the following: Watkins M. Abbitt, Joel T. Broyhill, W.C. Daniel, Thomas N. Downing, Mills Godwin, Jr., Linwood Holton, Henry E. Howell, Jr., W. Pat Jennings, John O. Marsh, Jr., Andrew Miller, Richard H. Poff, Porter Hardy, Jr., J. Sargeant Reynolds, J. Kenneth Robinson, David E. Satterfield, III, William L. Scott, William F. Stone, William M. Tuck, William C. Wampler, and William G. Whitehurst.

Personalities and topics in the general correspondence include: Ambassador Anne L. Armstrong (1976 April 8); Staige D. Blackford (1976 March 3); Harry F. Byrd, Jr. (1975 January 30; 1978 January 3; 1982 December 6; 1981 September 4; 1982 December 13); Jimmy Carter (1979 April 7); Richard J. Davis (1981 April 21; November 9); Thomas F. Eagleton (1975 October 13; 1979 March 21); Electricity Costs Commission (1975 April 1); Sam J. Ervin, Jr. (1974 January 18); Mills E. Godwin, Jr. (1975 April 1; November 4); Albertis S. Harrison, Jr. (1983 March 2); Mark O. Hatfield (1980 December 22); Clement F. Haynsworth (1976 May 12); A.E. Dick Howard (1975 April 21); Andrew P. Miller (1975 July 9); Walter F. Mondale (1976 January 26); Joan Mondale (1977 July 11); Moral Re-Armament (1972 December 27); Edmund S. Muskie (1976 March 26 & 1979 December 13); Lewis F. Powell, Jr. (1976 May 17; 1987 July 20); Richardson Preyer (1980 December 8); Jennings Randolph (1975 January 30; 1976 May 18); Charles S. Robb (1980 April 29; 1981 March 5); Sargent Shriver (1975 January 20); Mary Sue Terry (1986 August 18); Thomas Jefferson Center For First Amendment Rights (1986 August 27; 1987 February 18); Joseph D. Tydings (1979 January 4; February 14); John A. Volpe (1972 December 27; 1973 January 18); and John Warner (1979 November 15).

The third series comprises legislative files and newsclippings pertaining to legislation and related topics of interest to Spong. Spong served on the following Senate committees: Public Works Committee, Committee on the District of Columbia, Senate Banking and Currency Committee, the Commerce Committee, the Select Committee on Standards and Ethics, the Democratic Steering Committee, and the Foreign Relations Committee, where he worked on the problems of the war powers of the President and Congress, U.S. - Canadian relations, the illicit international drug traffic, and N.A.T.O.

This series contains files on the nominations of G. Harrold Carswell, Abe Fortas, Clement Haynsworth, and Lewis F. Powell, Jr. to the Supreme Court of the United States; the University of Virginia student unrest of 1970; financial disclosure and campaign financing reform; aid to Virginia, including Appalachia, the Alexandria Waterfront, the Disaster Relief Act for victims of Hurricane Camille, and Hunger in Virginia; and foreign policy and Vietnam, including the invasion of Cambodia, ABM treaty, the Trident Submarine, the Middle East, North Atlantic Treaty Organization, Strategic Arms Limitation Talks, and the War Powers Legislation.

Newsclippings concerning defense and foreign affairs, economy and finance, education, environment & consumer affairs, health and welfare, the judiciary, special coverage files, and transportation are also present (Boxes 36-37).

The next series contains papers from Spong's career outside of his Senatorial service from 1966-1972.

Papers are also present from his appointment as Chairman of the Virginia Commission on Public Education by Governor J. Lindsay Almond, Jr., 1958-1962, which was charged "to make a thorough study and report upon the public school system of Virginia, including among other matters, the effectiveness of the present curriculum and the training and certification of teachers."

There are also subseries concerning Spong's activities in the Virginia Bar Association (he was President in 1976) and his deanship at the William and Mary Marshall-Wythe School of Law (1976-1985).

The fifth series contains speeches and articles by Spong arranged alphabetically. Photographs and slides form the sixth series and are predominantly concerned with his Senatorial activities or campaigning. The last two series contain microfilms of constituent mail arranged alphabetically, a master file of form letters on computer data tapes, tape recordings of campaign speeches (1966), a speech at the College of William and Mary, and notebooks containing Senate roll call votes.

Organization

This collection has been organized in eight series according to the type of material or the time period of Spong's career as follows: Series I. CAMPAIGN MATERIAL, Subseries A. 1966 U.S. Senate Election (Boxes 1-3), Subseries B. 1972 U.S. Senate Election (Boxes 4-11), Subseries C. Campaign Related Material (Boxes 12-15); Series II. CORRESPONDENCE, Subseries A. Constituent Mail (Boxes 16-18), Subseries B. General Correspondence (Boxes 18-20), Subseries C. Topical Correspondence (Boxes 20-22); Series III. PAPERS RE: THE U.S. SENATE, Subseries A. Legislative Files (Boxes 22-35), Subseries B. Newsclippings re Legislation and Related Matters (Boxes 36-37); Series IV. PAPERS RE: SPONG'S NON-SENATORIAL ACTIVITIES, Subseries A. Commission on the Organization of Government for the Conduct of Foreign Policy (Boxes 38-41), Subseries B. Governor's Commission on Virginia's Future (Meetings (Boxes 42-45) Related Material (Boxes (46-47)), Subseries C. Miscellaneous Topical (Boxes 47-52), Subseries D. Virginia Bar Association (Boxes 53-56), Subseries E. Virginia Commission on Public Education (Boxes 57-58), Subseries F. College of William and Mary (Boxes 59-61); Series V. SPEECHES and ARTICLES (Boxes 62-65); Series VI. PHOTOGRAPHS and SLIDES (Boxes 65- 66); Series VII. MICROFILMS, COMPUTER DATA TAPES and REEL-TO-REEL TAPE RECORDINGS (Boxes 67-70); Series VIII. SENATE ROLL CALL VOTE NOTEBOOKS