William Allain

William Aloysius Allain (February 14, 1928 – December 2, 2013) was an American politician and lawyer who held office as the 59th governor of Mississippi as a Democrat from 1984 to 1988.

William Allain was born in Washington in Adams County, Mississippi, United States on February 14, 1928.

He was educated in county public schools and graduated from Natchez High School.

Born in Adams County, Mississippi, he attended the University of Notre Dame and received a law degree from the University of Mississippi School of Law in 1948.

He studied pre-law at University of Notre Dame and enrolled at the University of Mississippi School of Law in 1948, graduating with a law degree in May 1950.

Allain opened a law office in Natchez later that year, though upon the outbreak of the Korean War he enlisted in the United States Army infantry.

Honorably discharged in 1953, he returned to legal practice.

He was a member of the American Legion and Veterans of Foreign Wars.

He served in the U.S. Army during the Korean War and practiced law in Natchez until he was appointed Assistant Attorney General of Mississippi in 1962.

He continued to practice law until he was appointed Assistant Attorney General of Mississippi in 1962.

In that capacity he represented the state government in state courts, federal district and appellate courts, and the United States Supreme Court.

He helped to represent the state to the federal government during the integration of the University of Mississippi and in the Conner v. Johnson reapportionment cases.

He married Dorus Johnson in 1964 and divorced her in 1970.

Leaving the post in 1975, he practiced law in Jackson until 1979.

In 1979 he was elected Attorney General of Mississippi.

In that capacity he fought utility rate increases and sued to have members of the Mississippi State Legislature removed from executive boards in state government.

In 1979 Allain sought election to the office of Attorney General of Mississippi.

A Democrat, he faced Republican Charles W. Pickering in the general election.

Opinion polls showed Pickering with a lead throughout most of the campaign.

Two days before the election date, Pickering's campaign organization ran a series of radio ads in black-majority communities which accused Allain of opposing civil rights for blacks throughout his career and being a former member of a Citizens' Council.

Allain's campaign publicized the ads further and denounced them as "gutter tactics", with the hopes of assuaging blacks' possible concerns while also garnering support from conservative whites.

The following day both candidates scheduled press conferences in each major city in the state with a television media market.

Allain's campaign scheduled him just before Pickering's appearances.

In Jackson, Allain was slated to appear at the same hotel room as his opponent.

His campaign team arranged for the room to be professionally lit, and Allain denounced Pickering for having "lied to the people of the state of Mississippi. He says one thing to the black community and another to the whites."

Allain's team then removed their lights, leaving Pickering to deliver his press conference in a comparatively dim setting while overwhelmed with questions about his ads from reporters.

Allain was elected state attorney general on November 6, with Pickering attributing his defeat to the fallout from his ads.

Allain earned a reputation as a consumer advocate.

He fought utility rate increases and stopped the storage of nuclear waste in Mississippi.

State labor president Claude Ramsay sought to broker an agreement between Democratic Party presidential candidate Walter F. Mondale and Allain when the latter sought a veto over the federal storage of nuclear waste in Mississippi as a condition for his political support of Mondale.

In December 1981 Allain advised 36 members of the Mississippi State Legislature that they should be removed from executive boards in state government, arguing that their participation on these bodies violated the separation of powers language in the Mississippi Constitution.

After the legislature ignored the issue during its 1982 session, he warned them that he would pursue legal action against them.

When final negotiations between the two parties failed, the legislators sued Allain on April 7, 1982 to secure a legal judgement in their favor.

He filed his own lawsuit several hours later.

Allain ran for gubernatorial office in 1983.

During the general election allegations emerged that Allain had engaged in sexual activity with transvestites.

The veracity of the allegations were disputed and Allain won the election, but his credibility with the public was damaged and made it difficult for him to secure public support for his ideas as governor.

Taking office in January 1984, he blocked tax increases and unsuccessfully pushed for a constitutional convention.

Leaving office in January 1988, he opened a law practice in Jackson.

He died there after becoming stricken with pneumonia in 2013.