King, Willford Isbell, 1880-1962

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Economist and chairman of the Committee for Constitutional Government.

From the description of Papers, 1912-1962. (University of Oregon Libraries). WorldCat record id: 18250041

Willford Isbell King, a noted statistician, economist, and one-time chairmen of the Committee for Constitutional Government, Inc., was born in Cascade, Iowa in 1880. The son of a lawyer, King moved with his parents in April 1888, to the North Platte Valley area of Nebraska. There, Dr. King received his primary and secondary education from the local schoolhouse teachers. He enrolled at the University of Nebraska and graduated in 1905. Eventually he moved to Wisconsin to attend the University of Wisconsin where he received the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in 1913.

While working on his Ph.D., Dr. King began teaching courses on political economy. In 1917, he left for Washington, D.C. to assume a position of statistician with the United States Public Health Service. Dr. King left this position in 1920 to become the economist for the National Bureau of Economic Research, in Washington, D.C. In 1927, King moved to New York City to accept a professorship of economics at New York University; he remained there until 1945.

During the Depression years, Dr. King opposed the New Deal. Instead, he advocated a sliding scale of wages based on production, no government intervention in business, currency expansion, the reduction of taxes in upper brackets, and the abolition of all levies on incomes of corporations and from invested capital. In 1933, King founded the Committee on Economic Accord, which later produced The Handbook of Accepted Economics . By 1945, Dr. King had retired from his position at the University to become chairman of the Committee for Constitutional Government, Inc. King served as chairman, and later as advisor to the Committee, which sought to "uphold Constitutional principles and our system of free enterprise."

Willford King lived with his wife, Jane Elizabeth Patterson, and their three children, Harold J., Hugh P., and Floria Jane, in Douglaston, New York. Both of King's sons entered the fields of economics and statistics. Dr. Willford I. King died at his home on October 17, 1962, at the age of 82.

From the guide to the Willford I. King papers, 1912-1962, (Special Collections and University Archives, University of Oregon Libraries)

Archival Resources
Role Title Holding Repository
creatorOf Willford I. King papers, 1912-1962 University of Oregon Libraries. Special Collections and University Archives
referencedIn Fetter, Frank A. (Frank Albert), 1863-1949. Fetter mss., 1875-1988. Lilly Library (Indiana University, Bloomington)
creatorOf Davis, Charles Hall, b. 1872. Charles Hall Davis papers [manuscript] 1906-52. University of Virginia. Library
referencedIn Irving Fisher papers, 1861-1976, 1894-1947 Yale University. Department of Manuscripts and Archives
referencedIn Fisher, Irving, 1867-1947. Irving Fisher papers, 1861-1976 (inclusive), 1894-1947 (bulk). Yale University Library
referencedIn Richard G. Badger papers, 1917-1932. Houghton Library
referencedIn Papers, 1927-1984 Harvard Law School Library Langdell Hall Cambridge, MA 02138
referencedIn Inventory of the John R. Anthony Papers TAMU MSS 00042., 1912-1977 Cushing Memorial Library,
creatorOf King, Willford Isbell, 1880-1962. Papers, 1912-1962. University of Oregon Libraries
creatorOf American Statistical Association. Correspondence with Johan Thorsten Sellin, 1933-1954. University of Pennsylvania Library
Role Title Holding Repository
Relation Name
associatedWith American Statistical Association. corporateBody
associatedWith Anthony, John R. person
correspondedWith Badger, Richard G. person
associatedWith Bullis, Harry A. person
associatedWith Byrd, Harry Flood, 1887-1966. person
associatedWith Casner, A. James, 1907-1990 person
associatedWith Committee for Constitutional Government. corporateBody
associatedWith Committee for Economic Development. corporateBody
associatedWith Cook, Robert C. (Robert Carter), 1898-1991. person
associatedWith Davis, Charles Hall, b. 1872. person
associatedWith Dresser, Robert Bartlett, 1880-1976. person
associatedWith Dresser, Robert B. (Robert Bartlett), 1880-1976 person
associatedWith Ely, Richard T. (Richard Theodore), 1854-1943. person
associatedWith Features for America's Future. corporateBody
associatedWith Fertig, Lawrence person
associatedWith Fertig, Lawrence. person
associatedWith Fetter, Frank A. (Frank Albert), 1863-1949 person
associatedWith Fisher, Irving, 1867-1947. person
associatedWith Fisher, Irving Norton, 1900- person
associatedWith Gannett, Frank E. (Frank Ernest), 1876-1957. person
associatedWith Gerard, Sumner person
associatedWith Gerard, Sumner. person
associatedWith Gipson, James H person
associatedWith Gipson, James H. person
associatedWith Gwinn, Ralph W. (Ralph Waldo), 1884-1962. person
associatedWith Hancock, Glen E person
associatedWith Hancock, Glen E. person
associatedWith Harper, F. A. (Floyd Arthur), 1905-1973. person
associatedWith Kimmel, Joseph Stephen person
associatedWith Kimmel, Joseph Stephen. person
associatedWith Kohlberg, Alfred. person
associatedWith Kohlberg, Alfred, 1887-1960 person
associatedWith Lombard, Norman person
associatedWith Lombard, Norman. person
associatedWith Luten, Daniel B. person
associatedWith Luten, Daniel B. person
associatedWith MacArthur, Douglas, 1880-1964. person
associatedWith National Association of Manufacturers (U.S.) corporateBody
associatedWith Pettengill, Samuel Barrett, 1886-1974. person
associatedWith Rumely, Edward A. (Edward Aloysius), 1882-1964. person
associatedWith Runyon, W. Cleveland person
associatedWith Runyon, W. Cleveland. person
associatedWith Saunders, Bart person
associatedWith Saunders, Bart. person
Place Name Admin Code Country
United States
Subject
Political campaigns
Conservatism
Debts, Public
Depressions
Depressions
Economic councils
Economic development
Economic forecasting
Economic policy
Economics
Economic surveys
Economists
Economists
Photographs
Social policy
Welfare economics
Occupation
Activity

Person

Birth 1880

Death 1962-10-17

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