William Potter

The career of William Potter was singularly varied. He studied law, then entered business in his father’s manufacturing company, of which he became the president. From this the national government drew him for the work of negotiating changes in the international post office system, and his display of diplomatic qualities in that work led to larger public responsibilities. When the Mafia lynching occurred at New Orleans in the eighties with the resultant entanglement over the question of state or federal responsibility, and relations between the United States and Italy were strained, Potter was chosen by the government as envoy to Rome, where his tact and judgment smoothed the awkward situation. His interest in history and art, his active participation in Philadelphia’s public charities, his leadership in municipal reform movements, and his work as Fuel Administrator during our own two years in the European war, showed the scope of his intellectual sympathies and active good citizenship.

Alexander Dana Noyes
1927 Century Association Yearbook