William Stuart Symington (June 26, 1901 – December 14, 1988) was a businessman and political figure from Missouri. He served as the first Secretary of the Air Force (from 1947 until 1950) and was a Democratic United States Senator from Missouri (from 1953 until 1976).
Symington was born in Amherst, Massachusetts, and grew up in Baltimore, Maryland. He graduated from Yale University in 1923. At Yale he was a member of Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternit...
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William Stuart Symington (June 26, 1901 – December 14, 1988) was a businessman and political figure from Missouri. He served as the first Secretary of the Air Force (from 1947 until 1950) and was a Democratic United States Senator from Missouri (from 1953 until 1976).
Symington was born in Amherst, Massachusetts, and grew up in Baltimore, Maryland. He graduated from Yale University in 1923. At Yale he was a member of Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity (Phi chapter) and the Elihu senior society and served on the board of the Yale Daily News. During World War I, Symington enlisted in the United States Army and was commissioned a second lieutenant at age 17.
In 1923, Symington went to work for an uncle in the shops of the Symington Company of Rochester, New York, manufacturers of malleable iron products. Two years later he formed Eastern Clay Products, Inc., but in 1927 returned to the Symington Company as executive assistant to the president.
Symington resigned in 1930 to become president...
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