William M. Brodhead

Who is William M. Brodhead?

William McNulty Brodhead is a lawyer and former politician from the U.S. state of Michigan.

Brodhead was born in Cleveland, Ohio and attended elementary and secondary schools in Cleveland. He received a B.A. from Wayne State University in Detroit, in 1965 and a J.D. from the University of Michigan Law School, Ann Arbor, in 1967.

He was admitted to the Michigan Bar in 1968 and commenced practice in Detroit. He was elected to Michigan House of Representatives in 1970 and was reelected in 1972, from a district in Detroit.

In 1974, Martha W. Griffiths, Democratic incumbent for Michigan's 17th District to the United States House of Representatives was not a candidate for renomination. Brodhead won nomination as the Democratic candidate and was elected to the Ninety-fourth and to the three succeeding Congresses, serving from January 3, 1975 to January 3, 1983. While in Congress, Brodhead served on the House Ways and Means Committee and on the Budget Committee. Brodhead also served as Chair of the Democratic Study Group which was then the liberal caucus in the House.

He declined to run for reelection in 1982 and returned home to the Detroit area.

He became a partner in the Detroit law firm, Plunkett & Cooney, where he practiced from 1983 to 2003. Retiring from the law firm in October, 2003, he practiced on his own until 2006, when he retired completely.