National Football Foundation

Upon graduating first in his class at Fort Benning, Ga., and receiving his commission as second lieutenant, William Winter was sent to one of the two African-American infantry training regiments in the Army. During World War II, Winter served in the United States Army infantry in the Philippines where he attained the rank of captain. During the Korean War, Winter was stationed at Fort Jackson, S.C. until he received a hardship discharge in December 1951, soon after his father suffered a heart attack as his mother needed his assistance on the family farm. After the Korean War, Major Winter served in the Mississippi National Guard in the "Dixie Division" or 31st Infantry Division until his retirement in 1957.

Winter first entered politics in 1947. While in law school, Winter was elected to the Mississippi House of Representatives. He was subsequently re-elected in 1951 and 1955. He served as Tax Collector of the State of Mississippi as well as State Treasurer. Beginning as a Trustee of the Mississippi Department of Archives and History in his early days as a representative, Winter served on this agency board and presided throughout his public and private life.

He was elected to and served as Lieutenant Governor from 1972-76. He again lost the Democratic nomination for governor in 1975. He won the nomination in 1979, having defeated Evelyn Gandy, the departing lieutenant governor, Jim Herring, a later state Republican chairman, and several other intraparty opponents. Winter then handily defeated the Republican nominee Gil Carmichael. He served as governor from 1980-84. After finishing his term as governor, he ran unsuccessfully for the United States Senate against the one-term Republican incumbent, Thad Cochran, who still holds the position. 

Winter currently practices law as Special Counsel in the Government Relations Practice Group of the law firm of Jones Walker of New Orleans, with offices in Jackson, Miss. He was a member of President Clinton’s Advisory Board on Race from 1997-98. The William Winter Institute for Racial Reconciliation on the University of Mississippi's Oxford campus is named in his honor, as is the William F. Winter Professorship in the Department of History. In March 2008, he was given the Profile in Courage Award by the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum for his work advancing education and racial reconciliation.