The Cavalier daily :: Tuesday, October 24, 1972 :: University of Virginia Library

The tall, gray-haired, smiling
figure strides confidently into a
busy office on Arlington
Boulevard, ready to begin
another day of speech-making,
interviews and listening to
people.

The setting is a campaign
headquarters – and the man is
Murat Williams, Seventh
District Democratic candidate
for Congress.

The first item on the day's
schedule is an interview. As he
exchanges greetings, genuine
concern can be detected on his
face. The interview begins – in
an effort to discover the
anxious, dedicated side as well
as the lighthearted, down-home
side of Murat Williams –
politician, farmer and scholar.

Reflecting on his days at the
University, where his extensive
career in public service began,
he reminisced of the "much
more intimate atmosphere" of
an enrollment of two thousand
students compared to today's
thirteen thousand.

As a student, Mr. Williams
was intimately involved with
the University. Besides having
been a member of the Raven
Society, Phi Beta Kappa, and
Madison Hall, in 1934-35 he
was editor of "College Topics",
the University's student
newspaper.

Describing his job as editor,
he compared College Topics to
the Cavalier Daily. "We were
more formal – writing was so
much according to the book.
I'm glad to see the Cavalier
Daily take an interest in so
many affairs, especially
political – we certainly did
when I was there. The 1930's
was a period of great social
change, as the 1970's are."

His daughter, Kathleen, who
is fourth-year woman here, is
his main contact with the
University now. "I'm very glad
the University changed its
policy in admitting women – it
is good for all of our
universities," he said. A note of
pride is detected whenever he
discusses the University.

Mr. Williams, took his degree
from the UVa. Law School and
attended Oxford U. as a
Rhodes Scholar.

After a career in the Navy,
Mr. Williams joined the State
Department and held posts
throughout the Middle East
and Europe. As ambassador to
El Salvador, he served under
Presidents Kennedy and
Johnson.

Today, retired from foreign
service, he has returned to his
home in the farm country of
Madison Mills, Virginia. When
he isn't campaigning, he works
at home on his farm raising
cattle. Relating the two, he
leaned back and smiled,
"Milking one good Guernsey is
equal to seven hundred
handshakes."

"I've devoted all my life to
public service," he said. He's
worked with students in
teaching and graduate
experiences, with government
officials in his years of foreign
service, and for the last ten
years has lived in the Seventh
District and has learned its
layout and the needs of its
citizens.

"The relation between land
and public service is constant.
It's healthy to keep in touch.
These things, I feel, are what
have qualified me for my
candidacy," he said.

As a campaigner, the tall,
immaculately dressed Mr.
Williams lacks the patent
vulgarity of a pedagogue – he
is diplomatic and reserved,
almost to the point of being
shy. Through his travels from
town to town, he often stops to
engage in off-the-cuff
conversation; and talks to
many groups small and large.

CD/Andy Groher

Mr. Williams:

Farmer, Scholar

The real problem, Mr.
Williams says, is that special
interest groups in his district
have held the center of
attention in the past few years
in areas such as consumer
legislation and taxation. He
stops in country stores and
asks the owners if they are
aware of the unfair tax
structure in Virginia. Their
reply is always: "Yes, we
know, but they're never going
to do anything about it."

"The concern is very real.
This argument is repeated over
and over and over again," Mr.
Williams said. He stresses the
importance of simplifying the
tax structure and closing tax
loopholes, by legislation – not
by continued study of the
problem.

Mr. Williams shows great
concern for national defense
policy. His combat experiences
and relations with the State
Department gave him an
opportunity to see what the
real security question is.

"We're guilty of excesses in
our defense policy – if we can
destroy the Soviet Union and
the rest of the world six times,
it is of no benefit to increase
our destructive power ten or
twenty times." He cited a
point that Sen. John Tunney
made in his speech here that by
excess expenditure of resources
on defensive weapons, the U.S.
is depriving the society that it
intends to defend.

"Recall the fate of the
dinosaur – it built up its
defensive capabilities and
destroyed itself in the end,"
Mr. Williams said.

One of the primary issues of
Mr. Williams' campaign is his
interest in protecting the
environment. "The Seventh
District is as vulnerable as any
of the United States to abuse
because of the pressing
population and harmful
exploitation of land by
developers."

His real concern is that the
profit of a few big businesses is
placed above the protection of
our countryside. "Cooperative
efforts, and some sound
industries alone, can and
should make money available
to support anti-pollution practices."

There are many problems
facing Mr. Williams' campaign
this fall. The Seventh District is
a very large one, covering the
Shenandoah Valley from
Winchester down to
Charlottesville and the rural
counties surrounding it.

In this presidential election
year, the divisions in the ranks
of the Democratic party that
have arisen make it difficult to
solicit funds and support. Mr.
Williams, a McGovern
supporter, is aware of these
problems and explained his
own campaign strategy, "We go
to the people, from store to
store, from town to town. It's
very real – and that's our hope
of winning."