William Broomfield

Broomfield, the son of Scevillian C. and Fern Broomfield was born in Royal Oak, Michigan. His father was a dentist.{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/28867253/detroit_free_press/|title=Clipped From Detroit Free Press|newspaper=Detroit Free Press|date=29 March 1975|page=11|via=newspapers.com}} He graduated from Royal Oak High School in 1940 and attended Michigan State College (now Michigan State University) at East Lansing. During World War II, he served in the United States Army Air Corps. After the war, he engaged in the real-estate and property-management business.{{cite web|url=http://politicalgraveyard.com/bio/brookshire-brough.html|title=The Political Graveyard: Index to Politicians: Brooks-bittings to Brougham|website=politicalgraveyard.com}}

File:President Ronald Reagan meeting with a group of Republican Members of Congress.jpg discuss the budget of the United States with President Ronald Reagan in 1983]]

Broomfield was a member of the Michigan State House of Representatives, 1949–1954, serving as speaker pro tempore in 1953. He served in the Michigan State Senate in 1955 and 1956.

In 1956, Broomfield was elected as a Republican from Michigan's 18th District to the United States House of Representatives for the 85th and to the seventeen succeeding Congresses, serving from January 3, 1957, to January 3, 1993. Due to redistricting following U.S. Censuses, Broomfield served the 19th District, 1973–1983 and the 18th District, 1983–1993. He was not a candidate for renomination in 1992 to the 103rd Congress. The 18th District was discontinued following the 1990 census and for the most part redistricted as the 11th which elected Joe Knollenberg in 1993.

During his tenure in Congress, Broomfield served as a member of the U.S. House Committee on Foreign Affairs and was ranking member from 1975 until his retirement in 1993. At the time of his retirement, he was the longest serving Republican then serving in the House of Representatives. During his years of service in the House, Broomfield garnered praise from both sides of the aisle for his ethics, honesty and statesmanship. When he retired, he left behind a legacy of bipartisan friendship and cooperation.{{cite web |url=http://rochester.patch.com/articles/when-congressmans-papers-come-to-museums-calf-barn-community-will-learn-from-leadership-story |title=When Congressman's Papers Come to Museum's Calf Barn, Community Will Learn from His Leadership Story - Rochester-Rochester Hills, MI Patch |website=rochester.patch.com |access-date=17 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110826081244/http://rochester.patch.com/articles/when-congressmans-papers-come-to-museums-calf-barn-community-will-learn-from-leadership-story |archive-date=26 August 2011 |url-status=dead}}

Broomfield voted in favor of the Civil Rights Acts of 1957,{{cite web|url=https://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/85-1957/h42|title=HR 6127. CIVIL RIGHTS ACT OF 1957.|work=GovTrack.us}} 1960,{{cite web|url=https://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/86-1960/h102|title=HR 8601. PASSAGE.}} 1964,{{cite web|url=https://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/88-1964/h128|title=H.R. 7152. PASSAGE.}} and 1968,{{cite web|url=https://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/90-1967/h113|title=TO PASS H.R. 2516, A BILL TO ESTABLISH PENALTIES FOR INTERFERENCE WITH CIVIL RIGHTS. INTERFERENCE WITH A PERSON ENGAGED IN ONE OF THE 8 ACTIVITIES PROTECTED UNDER THIS BILL MUST BE RACIALLY MOTIVATED TO INCUR THE BILL'S PENALTIES.}} as well as the 24th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and the Voting Rights Act of 1965.{{cite web|url=https://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/87-1962/h193|title=S.J. RES. 29. CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT TO BAN THE USE OF POLL TAX AS A REQUIREMENT FOR VOTING IN FEDERAL ELECTIONS.|work=GovTrack.us}}{{cite web|url=https://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/89-1965/h87|title=TO PASS H.R. 6400, THE 1965 VOTING RIGHTS ACT.}}

After retirement in 1993, Broomfield started a foundation that supports various charities in southeast Michigan, including the efforts to cure cancer, spina bifida and Alzheimer's, and the Salvation Army. A longtime resident of Lake Orion, Michigan, he last lived in Kensington, Maryland.

In September 2000, Congress designated the Royal Oak Post Office at 200 West 2nd Street in Royal Oak, Michigan, as the William S. Broomfield Post Office Building.

On December 30, 2006, Broomfield collapsed at the state funeral memorial for former U.S. President Gerald Ford at the United States Capitol, bringing the ceremonies to a temporary pause. The reason given for the collapse was exhaustion.{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/30/AR2006123000927_pf.html|title=Ex-Congressman Collapses at Ford Funeral|agency=Associated Press|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=December 30, 2006|access-date=December 11, 2018}}

Broomfield's wife Jane died on March 21, 2013, at the age of 97, due to heart failure.{{cite news|url=https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/dailytribune/obituary.aspx?pid=163928288|title=Jane Broomfield (Obituary)|newspaper=Daily Tribune|date=March 31, 2013|access-date=December 11, 2018}} Broomfield died on February 20, 2019, at the age of 96 in Kensington, Maryland, where he resided in his later years.{{cite web|url=https://www.rollcall.com/news/congress/william-broomfield-former-house-gop-foreign-policy-guru-dies|title=William Broomfield, former House GOP foreign policy guru, dies|first1=Griffin|last1=Connolly|date=25 February 2019|via=www.rollcall.com}}{{cite web|url=https://www.wnem.com/news/former-us-rep-william-broomfield-of-michigan-dies-at/article_5b9671fe-3951-11e9-9328-c7ab5714078a.html|title=Former US Rep. William Broomfield of Michigan dies at 96|website=WNEM Saginaw}}

{{Reflist}}

• [http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c106:h.r.4884.enr: H.R. 4884 renaming post office for Broomfield]{{Dead link|date=August 2021 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}

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• {{find a Grave|197108849}}

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Category:1922 births

Category:2019 deaths

Category:Republican Party members of the Michigan House of Representatives

Category:Michigan State University alumni

Category:Republican Party Michigan state senators

Category:Military personnel from Michigan

Category:People from Royal Oak, Michigan

Category:Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Michigan

Category:United States Army Air Forces soldiers

Category:United States Army Air Forces personnel of World War II

Category:20th-century members of the Michigan Legislature

Category:20th-century members of the United States House of Representatives