William McRae

Who was William McRae?

William Allan McRae, Jr. was an American lawyer and judge.

McRae was born in 1909 in Marianna, Florida.

He received a Bachelor of Arts Academic degrees from the University of Florida in 1931, a Bachelor of Arts degree from Oxford University in 1933, a J.D. from the University of Florida College of Law in 1933, and a B.Litt. from Oxford University in 1936.

McRae was in private practice in Jacksonville, Florida from 1936 to 1940. He was a professor of law at the University of Florida College of Law from 1940 to 1941, and served as a colonel in the United States Army Air Corps from 1942 to 1945 during World War II. He served as a military adviser to the Joint Chiefs of Staff at the June 1945 San Francisco Conference, which founded the United Nations and drafted the United Nations Charter.

McRae was in private practice in Bartow, Florida from 1946 to 1961. In 1952 he served as president of the Florida Bar.

President John F. Kennedy nominated McRae to the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida on February 20, 1961, to the seat vacated by William J. Barker. Confirmed by the Senate on March 3, 1961, he received commission on March 8, 1961.