From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

William Leonard Hungate
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Missouri's 9th district
In office November 3, 1964 – January 3, 1977
Preceded by	Clarence Cannon
Succeeded by	Harold Volkmer
Born	December 14, 1922(1922-12-14) Benton, Illinois
Died	June 22, 2007 (aged 84) Chesterfield, Missouri
Political party	Democratic
Spouse	Dorothy Hungate
Religion	Methodist

William Leonard Hungate (December 14, 1922 - June 22, 2007) was a United States Representative from Missouri from November 3, 1964 (special election upon the death of Congressman Clarence Cannon) to January 3, 1977, representing the Ninth Congressional District. Following his retirement from the U.S. House of Representatives, Hungate was appointed to the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri in 1979 by President Jimmy Carter, where he served until his retirement in 1992.

Hungate was born in Benton, Franklin County, Illinois on December 14, 1922, and graduated from Bowling Green High School, Bowling Green, Missouri in 1940. He attended the University of Missouri, Columbia, Missouri in 1943 (B.A.) and received his law degree from Harvard Law School in 1948 (LL.B.).^[1] In 1969, he was awarded a Doctor of Jurisprudence degree from Harvard Law School.

Hungate served in the United States Army from 1943 to 1946, where he received the Combat Infantryman Badge, 3 Battle stars, and Bronze Star. He served in England, France and Germany throughout World War II.^[2]

Hungate was admitted to the Missouri bar in 1948, Illinois Bar in 1949, and immediately entered private law practice in Lincoln County (Troy), Missouri. He was then elected prosecuting attorney of Lincoln County, Missouri, serving from 1951 to 1956. From 1958 to 1964, he served as a Missouri Special Assistant Attorney General. on November 3, 1964, he was elected simultaneously as a Democrat to the Eighty-eighth and to the Eighty-ninth Congress by special election, to fill the vacancy caused by the death of United States Representative Clarence Cannon. He was reelected to the five succeeding Congresses, serving until January 3, 1977.^[3]

Hungate was a member of the House Judiciary Committee, and was the principal author of one of the three articles of impeachment of President Richard M. Nixon. He was the Chair of the Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on Criminal Justice. This "Hungate Subcommittee", as it became known, investigated the presidential pardon of Nixon by Nixon's successor, Gerald R. Ford in 1974. On September 24, 1974 Ford appeared before the subcommittee, the only occasion on which a sitting President has given sworn testimony before Congress.^[4]

Hungate was not a candidate for reelection to the Ninety-fifth Congress in 1976, and he was succeeded by fellow Democrat Harold L. Volkmer. ^[5]

Hungate was appointed as Judge to the United States District Court by President Jimmy Carter in 1979. As District Judge, Hungate presided over the St. Louis public school desegregation case, and was instrumental in designing a voluntary desegregation plan for the St. Louis City and County School Districts. ^[6]

One of the most significant findings by Hungate in the St. Louis desegregation case was, with respect to school segregation in St. Louis City and County, the "State of Missouri, which prior to 1954 mandated school segregation, never took any effective steps to dismantle the dual system it had compelled by constitution, statutory law, practice and policy." Liddell et al. v. Bd. of Ed. of City of St. Louis, et al., 491 F.Supp. 351, 357, (E.D. Mo. 1980) aff'd, 667 F.2d 643 (8th Cir.), cert. denied, 454 U.S. 1081 (1981). He concluded that "the State defendants stand before the Court as primary constitutional wrongdoers who have abdicated their remedial duty. Their efforts to pass the buck among themselves and other state instrumentalities must be rejected." Id. at 359.^[7][8]

Hungate retired from the Court in 1992. During his retirement, he was the author of It Wasn't Funny at the Time,, a collection of photographs and anecdotes from his college years, World War II, life in congress and during his judgeship, published in 1994; and Glimpses of Politics (Red, White & Blue Jokes), published in 1996.^[9]

Hungate was hospitalized on June 6, 2007 at St. Luke’s Hospital in Chesterfield for a hematoma that was likely caused by a fall at his home.

Hungate died on June 22, 2007 while in intensive care at St. Luke’s Hospital. He was survived by his wife, Dorothy; a son, William; a daughter, Katie; and four grandchildren.^[10]

• William L. Hungate at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Obituary from The St. Louis Post-Dispatch
• [1] Former Law Clerk Remembers William Hungate - The St. Louis Post-Dispatch