William Brown Stansbury
53rd Mayor of Louisville, Kentucky
In office
December 1, 1977 – January 1, 1982
Preceded byHarvey I. Sloane
Succeeded byHarvey I. Sloane
Personal details
Born(1923-03-18)March 18, 1923
Corydon, Indiana, U.S.
DiedApril 4, 1985(1985-04-04) (aged 62)
Louisville, Kentucky, U.S.
Resting placeCalvary Cemetery
Louisville, Kentucky, U.S.
Political partyDemocratic
Occupation
  • Lawyer
  • politician
Military career
Allegiance United States
Service/branchU.S. Army Air Corps
RankCaptain
Unit457th Bomb Group
Battles/warsWorld War II

William Brown Stansbury (March 18, 1923 – April 4, 1985) was an American lawyer and politician who held the office of the Mayor of Louisville, Kentucky from 1977 to 1982. Stansbury's tenure as mayor was embroiled in controversy and scandal, culminating in an attempted impeachment. Though it failed, in its aftermath, Stansbury kept a low profile before leaving office in 1982. He died in 1985 after being hit by a car.

Early life

Stansbury was born on March 18, 1923, in Corydon, Indiana, the son of James Bernard Stansbury and Alliene (Brown).[1] He graduated from St. Xavier High School in 1941.[1] He served as an Army Air Corps pilot in World War II[2] in the 457th Bomb Group.[3] He rose to the rank of captain[1] He earned a law degree from the University of Louisville in 1947 with an economics degree and received a law degree from there in 1950.[1][4] He began practicing law in 1952.[4]

Political career

In 1965, he challenged Jefferson County Judge Marlow Cook for the job, and at one point, appeared at a campaign event with Ted Kennedy.[5] He was defeated by a landslide.[6] He became chair of the Jefferson County Democratic Party chairman in 1968. In 1973, Stansbury became a member of the Louisville Board of Aldermen, becoming its president in 1974.[7]

Mayor of Louisville (1977–1982)

Stansbury was elected Mayor of Lousville in 1977. Among the accomplishments of his tenure was bringing the Louisville Redbirds, a minor league baseball team, to the city.[1] He also focused heavily on downtown development, including the beginning of construction on the Kentucky Center for the Arts and redeveloping a portion of the River City Mall to become the Louisville Galleria.[1][8] In November 1978, he signed a then-controversial ordinance that renamed downtown thoroughfare Walnut Street to Muhammad Ali Boulevard in honor of the city's most famous native Muhammad Ali, who had recently become heavyweight champion of the world for the third and final time.[9][10]

Scandals

Stansbury became unpopular for being out of town with a woman named Mary Ellen Farmer during a firefighters' strike in 1978.[11] Initially, he had claimed to be in Atlanta for a conference, but later admitted his true whereabouts.[12] The scandal caused him to grow unpopular, and lead to a probe being launched into him.[13] At one point, polling showed that 56% of the people of Louisville wanted him out of office.[14] Not helping matters, Stansbury also appeared before a federal grand jury to testify about alleged campaign finance violations.[15] Also at the time, there was an ongoing Democratic schism at the time. Stansbury had been considered a party favorite, dating back to his 1977 win.[1] But the Louisville Board of Aldermen was increasingly filled with younger and more liberal Democratic politicians, elected post-Watergate.[11] As a result, the schisms weakened Stansbury's position.

Over the next year, his political capital would take further hits. 1979 saw Stansbury accused by gubernatorial candidate Carroll Hubbard for coercing city employees to back Terry McBrayer for Governor.[16] In August, Stansbury divorced from his wife of 33 years Dorothy.[17] In September, the Louisville Board of Aldermen voted 10–2 in favor of a resolution calling for the mayor to resign.[18] Not long after, he was subjected to an impeachment attempt. In response, Stansbury vetoed the measures that would allow the process to go through, calling the process a "vendetta".[19] The process was eventually thwarted by court rulings denying investigators access to Stansbury's records and the ability to subpoena witnesses.[7][1] Capping off the year, in December, Governor-elect John Y. Brown called for his resignation.[20] In spite of all this, Stansbury refused calls for him to resign.[21] That said, he largely withdrew from the public eye after these events.[1] Barred from running again due to term limits, Stansbury served out the remainder of his term, and was succeeded by his predecessor Harvey Sloane.[22]

Post-mayoral tenure

After his tenure in office ended, Stansbury returned to practicing law and was a hearing officer for state government.[23] He also became a state legislature lobbyist in 1982.[1] In 1983, he married Mary Ellen Farmer, the woman with whom he went out of town in 1978.[7]

Death and legacy

Stansbury and his mother, Aileen Stansbury, were hit by a car on April 4, 1985, while crossing the 1900 block of Bardstown Rd. in Louisville on their way to church. Stansbury's leg was severed and he died at 10:21 EST of cardiac arrest that night, with his mother dying only 10 minutes later.[23] Stansbury's second wife Mary Ellen was also injured. Stansbury was interred at Calvary Cemetery on Newburg Road in Louisville.

The 7-acre, Olmsted-designed Triangle Park at the intersection of South 3rd Street and Eastern Parkway (next to University of Louisville's Belknap Campus) was soon thereafter renamed to William B. Stansbury Park in his honor.[1][24]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Kleber, John E., ed. (2001). "Stansbury, William Brown". The Encyclopedia of Louisville. Lexington, Kentucky: University Press of Kentucky. pp. 848–49. ISBN 0-8131-2100-0. OCLC 247857447. Retrieved December 11, 2023.
  2. ↑ "William Stansbury, Ex-Mayor Of Louisville, Is Killed by Car". UPI. The New York Times. April 6, 1985. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved September 27, 2023.
  3. ↑ "Missions and Loading Lists of The 457th Bomb Group". 457thbombgroupassoc.org. Retrieved December 11, 2023.
  4. 1 2 "Portraits of Louisville Mayors". City of Louisville. Archived from the original on October 21, 2022.
  5. ↑ "Democrats Needed For Great Society". Middlesboro Daily News. UPI. September 18, 1965. p. 1. Retrieved September 27, 2023.
  6. ↑ "Demos Gain In Legislature". Kentucky New Era. Associated Press. November 3, 1965. p. 15. Retrieved September 27, 2023.
  7. 1 2 3 "Stansbury, mother killed by auto hurts". Daily News. April 7, 1985. pp. 12A. Retrieved September 27, 2023.
  8. ↑ Kleber, John E., ed. (2001). "River City Mall". The Encyclopedia of Louisville. Lexington, Kentucky: University Press of Kentucky. p. 764. ISBN 0-8131-2100-0. OCLC 247857447. Retrieved December 11, 2023.
  9. ↑ "Mayor signs law naming street for Ali". The Courier-Journal. November 29, 1978. p. A2. Retrieved December 9, 2023 – via newspapers.com.
  10. ↑ Hill, Bob (November 19, 2005). "Ali stirs conflicting emotions in hometown". The Courier-Journal. p. K5. Retrieved December 9, 2023 – via newspapers.com.
  11. 1 2 Bachrach, Judy (August 10, 1978). "Louisville's Mayor: It Was the Wrong Time and the Wrong Place". Washington Post. Retrieved July 16, 2019.
  12. ↑ "Mayor's Trip Causes Furor". Observer-Report. Associated Press. July 28, 1978. pp. A6. Retrieved September 27, 2023.
  13. ↑ "Stansbury Probe To Go Beyond The Single Trip". Kentucky New Era. Associated Press. July 31, 1978. p. 12. Retrieved September 27, 2023.
  14. ↑ Bachrach, Judy (August 10, 1978). "Louisville's Mayor: It Was the Wrong Time and the Wrong Place". Washington Post. Archived from the original on July 16, 2019. Retrieved September 27, 2023.
  15. ↑ "Stansbury declines to talk". Park City Daily News. Associated Press. December 13, 1978. pp. 9A. Retrieved September 27, 2023.
  16. ↑ Ramsey, Sy (April 20, 1979). "Hubbard charges coercion". Williamson Daily News. p. 11. Retrieved September 27, 2023.
  17. ↑ "Mayor of Louisville is beset with more problems". Williamson Daily News. Associated Press. August 30, 1979. p. 11. Retrieved September 27, 2023.
  18. ↑ Fillatreau, John (September 9, 1979). "Mayor Treading Hot Water In Louisville, the Political Lifeboats Are Pulling Away". Washington Post. Archived from the original on September 27, 2023. Retrieved September 27, 2023.
  19. ↑ "Stansbury Veto Ordinance That Could Threaten Office". Kentucky New Era. Associated Press. September 15, 1979. p. 3. Retrieved September 27, 2023.
  20. ↑ "Brown Requests Stansbury to Resign; Sloane is Eyed". Kentucky New Era. Associated Press. December 7, 1979. p. 17. Retrieved September 27, 2023.
  21. ↑ Taylor, Diana (July 29, 1978). "Stansbury Says He Won't Resign". Sarasota Herald-Tribune. pp. 8B. Retrieved September 27, 2023.
  22. ↑ "Democrat Harvey Sloane was elected mayor of Louisville by... - UPI Archives". UPI. Retrieved September 27, 2023.
  23. 1 2 "Former Mayor William Stansbury and his elderly mother were... - UPI Archives". UPI. Retrieved September 27, 2023.
  24. ↑ "The Political Graveyard: Index to Politicians: Stanly to Stant". politicalgraveyard.com. Retrieved September 27, 2023.
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