US Presidential Cabinet Secretary. He served as the fourth United States Secretary of Transportation during the Administration of President Gerald R. Ford from 1975 until 1977. Born in Philadelphia, his father was an executive director for a local boys club, William attended Germantown High School, where he was one of few black students. He received his Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Pennsylvania and following service with the United States Army Air Corps during World War II, he returned home to attain his Law degree from Harvard Law School in 1946. Because he was black, Coleman found it difficult to land a position as an attorney with a law firm. Instead, he was able to obtain a job as a United States appellate court law clerk, eventually working for United States Supreme Court Justice Felix Frankfurter, thus giving Coleman the distinction as being the first African American to serve as a Supreme Court law clerk. After this period, he was able to find work with several law groups which led to his association with Thurgood Marshall. Coleman collaborated with Marshall on several important issues while serving as a member of the NAACP's National Legal Committee. He became a key strategist and coauthor of the legal brief in Brown vs. the Board of Education in 1954 and five-years later (1959), President Eisenhower appointed him to serve as a member of the Committee on Government Employment Policy. Following President Kennedy's assassination, he served at the capacities of senior consultant and assistant counsel on the Warren Commission. In 1969, he became a member of the United States delegation to the twenty-fourth session of the United Nations General Assembly. During his tenure as Secretary of Transportation, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's automobile test facility was established in East Liberty, Ohio. He addressed the issues of pipeline safety and the safe shipment of hazardous materials. Additionally, he overruled opposition from the Environmental Protection Agency and spokespersons of airport-area residents to allow for the French supersonic Concorde airliner to service the United States. After leaving Washington, Coleman returned to practicing law privately. In 1995, he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Clinton.