William Knowland

**William Fife Knowland** (June 26, 1908 – February 23, 1974) was an American politician, newspaper publisher, and Republican Party leader. He was a U.S. Senator representing California from 1945 to 1959. He was Senate Majority Leader from August 1953 to January 1955 after the death of Robert A. Taft. In 1958, he made a failed run for Governor of California.

On February 23, 1974, Knowland shot himself in the head at his summer home near Guerneville, California at the age of 65. He died owing over $900,000 to banks and impatient mobsters.

## Other websites

Retrieved on 2008-02-09
- Oakland Tribune Archives
- **William F. Knowland Papers** Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley
- Knowland Family California at Political Graveyard
- William Knowland Political History
- Oral history interview http://digitalassets.lib.berkeley.edu/roho/ucb/text/knowland_remembering.pdf

## Infobox (officeholder)

- **name**: William Knowland
- **image**: William F. Knowland headshot.jpg
- **office**: Party leaders of the United States Senate, Senate Minority Leader
- **deputy**: Leverett Saltonstall
Everett Dirksen
- **term start**: January 3, 1955
- **term end**: January 3, 1959
- **predecessor**: Lyndon B. Johnson
- **successor**: Everett Dirksen
- **office1**: Party leaders of the United States Senate, Senate Majority Leader
- **deputy1**: Leverett Saltonstall
- **term start1**: August 4, 1953
- **term end1**: January 3, 1955
- **predecessor1**: Robert A. Taft
- **successor1**: Lyndon B. Johnson
- **office2**: Senate Republican Conference#Floor Leaders, Leader of the Senate Republican Conference
- **deputy2**: Leverett Saltonstall
 Everett Dirksen
- **term start2**: August 4, 1953
- **term end2**: January 3, 1959
- **predecessor2**: Robert A. Taft
- **successor2**: Everett Dirksen
- **office3**: Chair of the Senate Republican Policy Committee
- **leader3**: Robert A. Taft
- **term start3**: January 3, 1953
- **term end3**: August 4, 1953
- **predecessor3**: Robert A. Taft
- **successor3**: Homer S. Ferguson
- **jr/sr4**: United States Senator
- **state4**: California
- **term start4**: August 26, 1945
- **term end4**: January 3, 1959
- **predecessor4**: Hiram Johnson
- **successor4**: Clair Engle
- **state senate5**: California
- **district5**: California's 16th State Senate district, 16th
- **term start5**: 1935
- **term end5**: 1939
- **predecessor5**: Arthur Breed Sr.
- **successor5**: Arthur Breed Jr.
- **state assembly6**: California
- **district6**: California's 14th State Assembly district, 14th
- **term start6**: 1933
- **term end6**: 1935
- **predecessor6**: Frank Israel
- **successor6**: Charles Wagner (California politician), Charles Wagner
- **birth name**: William Fife Knowland
- **birth place**: Alameda, California, U.S.
- **death cause**: Suicide by gunshot
- **death place**: Guerneville, California, U.S.
- **party**: Republican Party (United States), Republican
- **spouse**:

- **children**: 3, including Joe Knowland, Joe
2 stepchildren
- **relatives**: Joseph R. Knowland (Father)
- **education**: University of California, Berkeley (Bachelor of Arts, BA)
- **serviceyears**: 1942–1945
- **unit**: FECOMZ, Forward Echelon Communications Zone
Fifteenth United States Army
- **rank**: Major (United States), Major
- **battles**: World War II
*Operation Overlord, Invasion of France
*Allied-occupied Germany, Occupation of Germany