Williams received a degree from the College of the Holy Cross in 1941 before serving in the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) during World War II.

[1] Williams represented many high-profile clients, including Sam Giancana, John Hinckley Jr., Frank Sinatra, former Governor of Texas and Secretary of the Treasury John B. Connally Jr., financier Robert Vesco, Playboy publisher Hugh Hefner, Jimmy Hoffa, organized crime figure Frank Costello, oil commodity trader Marc Rich, U.S.

Senator Joseph McCarthy, corporate raider Victor Posner, Michael Milken, The Washington Post newspaper, the Reverend Sun Myung Moon, former CIA director Richard Helms, Bobby Baker, The Washington Post, various FBI agents accused of bag jobs[clarification needed] in New York, and Aldo Icardi, an OSS agent accused of killing his commander.

[4] As owner, Williams spent heavily on appointing high-profile coaches and general managers, beginning with Otto Graham in 1966 and continuing with Vince Lombardi in 1969, George Allen in 1971, and Bobby Beathard in 1978.

[6] His interest in purchasing the franchise began when he represented in negotiations William E. Simon, who had attempted to do the same thing earlier that year until he withdrew his offer on February 5.

[7][8] As part of the deal, Williams bought a block of publicly traded shares that had been issued in 1936 when the team was still the St. Louis Browns, making the Orioles privately held once again.

His funeral was attended by most of Washington's power elite, including then U.S. vice president George H. W. Bush, Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall, baseball legend Joe DiMaggio, boxing champion Sugar Ray Leonard, NFL commissioner Pete Rozelle, Eunice Kennedy and Sargent Shriver, and Michael Milken (of the famous 1980s junk-bond scandal).