Floyd Lee Williams Jr. was born on July 7, 1925, in Denver, Colorado. He grew up in Colorado, Washington, and Oklahoma.
After graduating from high school in Oklahoma in 1944, Williams served for four years in an army artillery unit during World War II. After the war, he enrolled at the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, where he continued his service in the ROTC. Williams graduated from the University of Arkansas School of Law in 1953.
In 1955, Willliams began his career in Washington, DC, on Senator J. William Fulbright’s staff. He eventually became Senator Fulbright’s chief of staff in 1959, a position he held until 1974. He then served as general counsel of the Senate Democratic Policy Committee and later as senior vice president and legislative counsel for the National Retail Federation. Williams returned to Fayetteville in 1990 to practice law, and in 1992 he joined Public Strategies Inc. in Washington, DC. The next year President Bill Clinton appointed Williams to the Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board, where he served for ten years.
Williams passed away on June 3, 2015.
#1: Still frame from Pryor Center video interview with Lee Williams at the Pryor Center; Fayetteville, Arkansas, 2012
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#2: Senator David Pryor (2nd row on left) with Senator J. William Fulbright (3rd row, 3rd from left) and members of his staff, including Lee Williams (3rd row, 2nd from left), Hoyt Purvis (2nd row, 3rd from left), and David Lambert (1st row on right); 116 Club, Washington, DC, ca. 1972
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#3: Right to left: Lee Williams, Marsha Scott, Senator J. William Fulbright, President Bill Clinton, David Lambert, and Bruce Lindsey in the Oval Office; 1993
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#4: Joe O'Neill, President Bill Clinton, Lee Williams, and David Lambert; Belle Haven Country Club, Alexandria, Virginia, 1995
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#5: Luncheon in honor of Lee Williams at the establishment of the Lee Williams Fellowship in Public Service: (back row, left to right) David Lambert, Katie Eldridge, Taylor Lambert, Marsha Scott, George Eldridge, Huey Yu, Mary Berry, Paul Berry; (front row, left to right) Joe O'Neill, Harriet Fulbright, Lee Williams, Vicky Williams; Doe's Eat Place, Little Rock, Arkansas, 2006
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#6: Behind-the-scenes photo from Pryor Center interview with Lee Williams at the Pryor Center; Fayetteville, Arkansas, 2012
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#7: Behind-the-scenes photo from Pryor Center interview with Lee Williams at the Pryor Center; Fayetteville, Arkansas, 2012
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#8: Behind-the-scenes photo from Pryor Center interview with Lee Williams at the Pryor Center; Fayetteville, Arkansas, 2012
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
