William Dodd Hathaway Papers

William Dodd Hathaway, a Representative and a Senator from Maine, was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts in 1924. He attended Boston public schools, then served in the United States Army Air Corps from 1942 to 1946. He was shot down over Romania and held a prisoner of war for two months. Upon returning to civilian life, Hathaway graduated from Harvard University in 1949, and Harvard Law School in 1953. He was admitted to the bar in 1953 and began the practice of law in Lewiston, Maine.

After holding various state-wide positions, Hathaway was elected as a Democrat to the 89th Congress and reelected to the three succeeding Congresses (January 3, 1965-January 3, 1973). He was elected in 1972 to the United States Senate, and served from January 3, 1973, to January 3, 1979.

Following an unsuccessful reelection campaign in 1978, he resumed the practice of law in Washington, D.C., until 1990, when appointed to the Federal Maritime Commission by President George H.W. Bush and served until 1996. He retired in 1996 and was a resident of McLean, Virginia, until his death on June 24, 2013 (edited from U.S. Senate Historical Office).