With two decades of experience in labor law, including hundreds of labor management disputes, Willard Wirtz was an ideal candidate for the post of Secretary of Labor in President Kennedy’s administration. In this position, Wirtz worked largely behind the scenes, handling labor disputes and establishing a strong reputation for himself as an able mediator. When Secretary of Labor Arthur Goldberg was promoted to the Supreme Court in 1962, Wirtz was appointed to take his place. He stayed on in this position throughout the remainder of the Kennedy administration and through the entire Johnson administration. Wirtz is best known for his work toward ending and preventing several strikes, and for his involvement in controversial railroad negotiations. He also supported job-retraining programs as a way to combat unemployment, and proposed amendments such as the Manpower Development and Retraining Act. Following his career as Secretary of Labor, Wirtz practiced law in Washington D.C.
1912 March 14, Born, DeKalb, IL.
1933 A.B., Beloit College
1933-1934 High School Teacher, Kewanee, Ill.
1936 Marries Mary Jane Quisenberry
1937-1939 Instructor, University of Iowa
1939-1952 Assistant Professor of Law, Northwestern University
1942-1943 Assistant General Counsel of Board of Economic Welfare
1943-1945 Associated with War Labor Board
1946 Chairman, National Wage Stabilization Board
1946-1954 Professor of Law, Northwestern University
1956-1961 Practiced law
1962-1969 U.S. Secretary of Labor
1970-1978 Wirtz & Gentry, Washington D.C., partner
1979-- Partner, Wirtz & Lapointe
Author
Labor and the Public Interest, 1964
The Boundless Resource: A Prospectus for an Education Work Policy, 1975
Source
http://www.americanpresident.org/history/johnfkennedy/cabinet/secretaryoflabor/willardwwirtz/h_index.shtml
Contemporary Authors Online.The Gale Group, 1999