William Hayward

Early life and education

Hayward was born on April 29, 1877, in Nebraska City, Nebraska, the son of Nebraska Senator Monroe Hayward and Jane Pelton. He graduated from Nebraska City High School in 1893. After high school, Hayward attended the University of Nebraska, where he was prominent in athletics and a member of Phi Delta Theta. He graduated in 1897. He took graduate courses in Munich, Germany, from 1896 to 1897.

Career

Hayward began practicing law in Nebraska City in 1897. When the Spanish–American War began, he became a captain in the Second Nebraska Volunteer Infantry. He was subsequently promoted to major, and then colonel of the regiment. In 1899, he served as his father's private secretary when the latter was Senator. From 1901 to 1902, he was county judge of Otoe County. He was elected chairman of the Nebraska Republican State Committee three times, and in 1908 he was made secretary of the Republican National Committee. President William Howard Taft offered to make him first assistant postmaster general, but he declined the offer and continued his law practice.

In the 1910 United States House of Representatives election, Hayward was the Republican candidate for Nebraska's 1st congressional district. He lost the election to Democratic incumbent John A. Maguire. After the election, he travelled around the world. Upon his return, he settled in New York City and began practicing law there as a member of the firm Wing & Russell on 14 Wall Street from 1911 to 1912. In 1913, he became deputy assistant New York County District Attorney. In 1914, he became the assistant district attorney. He then managed Charles Seymour Whitman's gubernatorial campaign. In 1915, Governor Whitman appointed him counsel to the governor, and later that year, he served as counsel to a New York State Legislature committee to investigate the New York Public Service Commission. He was then appointed a public service commissioner for the first district, resigning from the position in 1918.