Portrait of William Scranton

Birthday profile

William Scranton

William Scranton, American captain and politician, 13th United States Ambassador to the United Nations (died 2013)

Born
July 19, 1917
Died
July 28, 2013
Zodiac sign
Cancer
Birth year
1917

About William Scranton

William Warren Scranton (July 19, 1917 – July 28, 2013) was an American Republican Party politician and diplomat. Scranton served as the 38th governor of Pennsylvania from 1963 to 1967, and as United States Ambassador to the United Nations from 1976 to 1977. Born into the prominent Scranton family, William W. Scranton graduated from Yale Law School and served in the United States Army Air Corps during World War II. After the war, he practiced law and became active in the Pennsylvania Republican Party. He won election to the United States House of Representatives in 1960 and gained a reputation as an outspoken moderate during his time in Congress. He won the Republican nomination in Pennsylvania's 1962 gubernatorial election, defeating Democrat Richardson Dilworth in the general election. As governor, Scranton presided over sweeping reforms to Pennsylvania's education system, including the creation of the state's community college system. Scranton entered the race for the 1964 Republican presidential nomination after the collapse of Nelson Rockefeller's candidacy, but Barry Goldwater won the nomination. Scranton was term-limited out of office in 1967 but remained active in politics. He chaired the President's Commission on Campus Unrest, served as a member of the transition team for President Gerald Ford, and served as the United States Ambassador to the United Nations from 1976 to 1977. He also served on the boards of several high-profile corporations and was associated with the Trilateral Commission and the Council on Foreign Relations. His father was an industrialist, general manager of the Lackawanna Iron & Coal Company founded by George W.

Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.

William Scranton timeline

  1. He won election to the United States House of Representatives in 1960 and gained a reputation as an outspoken moderate during his time in Congress.
  2. He won the Republican nomination in Pennsylvania's 1962 gubernatorial election, defeating Democrat Richardson Dilworth in the general election.
  3. Scranton served as the 38th governor of Pennsylvania from 1963 to 1967, and as United States Ambassador to the United Nations from 1976 to 1977.
  4. Scranton entered the race for the 1964 Republican presidential nomination after the collapse of Nelson Rockefeller's candidacy, but Barry Goldwater won the nomination.

The world when William Scranton was born

William Scranton was born in 1917. The year snapshot below places that birthday in its cultural and historical setting: the music and films people were following, the headlines shaping public life, and the everyday prices families encountered.

Culture in 1917

  • Best-selling book"Mr. Britling Sees It Through" – H.G. Wells

Headlines and milestones

  • Major sports momentProfessional sports curtailed as America enters World War I
  • Top headlineUS enters World War I
  • Technology milestoneFirst practical military use of sonar
  • World population~1.77B

United States snapshot

  • U.S. leaderWoodrow Wilson
  • U.S. population100.8M

1917 versus 2026

These figures put everyday life in William Scranton's birth year beside the site's latest United States snapshot.

Measure19172026
Gas$0.25$3.45/gal
Population100.8M341 million

Sources and editorial standards

This profile combines a biographical source with structured birthday and historical context. Sources recorded for this profile: Wikipedia, Encyclopaedia Britannica, Library of Congress, Wikidata. See our editorial policy for sourcing, corrections, and review standards.

Read the source biography on Wikipedia. Wikipedia text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.