As mayor of Phoenix, Williams led efforts to grow the city that produced a series of annexations and construction of new governmental buildings.

His final term as governor was marred by a recall effort, led by Cesar Chavez, in response to his signing of a farm labor bill into law.

After surgical removal of the eye and tumor, his physicians – unsure how to proceed – asked Curie to assist with Williams' treatment.

[2] While in college he helped his family financially by writing press releases and holding part-time positions at the Phoenix Public Library and a local supermarket.

The next year one of the three members of the Elementary School board was removed from office and Williams was appointed to fill the empty seat.

[15] Williams' biggest impact on the school board came in 1951 following passage of a law by the state legislature allowing districts to voluntarily desegregate.

Barry Goldwater, another member of the city council, nominated Williams to fill the remainder of the outgoing councilman's term.

Williams focused on whether the purchase made sense for the city while the majority of the council were concerned with "not making Spence Stewart a millionaire by buying his water companies".

[11] He avoided speaking about campaign issues during the show, instead encouraging listeners to vote for the candidate of their choice in the days leading up to the election.

"[11] Williams countered that the pay raise had been in consideration for several months and only came close to the election because of delays in the city council's vote.

As mayor, he described his two major roles as helping "fill up head tables" and serving as the city's "official greeter".

He also used his radio show to discuss the advantages of living in an incorporated area, including police and fire protection, health and sanitation services, parks and playgrounds, street repair, and zoning controls.

[21] His efforts to enlarge Phoenix were largely successful with the city adding 170 square miles (440 km2) of new territory during his two terms.

[22] Soon after he left office as mayor, Republican leaders within Arizona began lobbying Williams to run for governor.

Williams and Haugh meanwhile ran on virtually identical platforms with both men promising to work more closely with the state legislature than the sitting governor.

"[23] Williams responded by claiming Goddard had "made more mistakes in twenty months than all the other governors since statehood" and accusing him of "behaved like a petty tyrant scolding his subjects.

[25] Williams used self-deprecating humor to deflect his opponent's attacks and as election day approached claimed "For the past two months Sam Goddard has been so busy thinking up new names to call me he's forgotten to talk about the issues.

He is basically a team player who believes in appointing good men to top posts and then allowing them to run their departments.

"[15] Politically, he was a hard-line conservative who worked to minimize taxes, balance the state budget, and provide a favorable business environment.

In response to claims that he was "anti-education", Williams pointed out that the state's three universities had seen a 42 percent increase in spending during his two years in office.

Williams responded by developing a plan where any demonstration that appeared likely to turn violent generated a response by city police.

County sheriffs deputies were then positioned behind the police with state Highway troopers announcing the Arizona National Guard would constitute the third line of defense.

The Arizona Republic called the race a contrast in personal styles with the primary issue being "whether the voters are in a mood for a change at the capitol.

[14] Polls shortly before election day were unable to determine a clear front runner but predicted that Williams needed a strong result in Maricopa County if he was to win reelection.

[34] Other concerns with the bill was a prohibition on secondary boycotts and the establishment of mediation board to deal with labor disputes on farms.

[33] In response to Chavez's call to action, 43 religious organizations labelled the bill "unfair" and asked for its repeal.

[33] Williams supports countered with claims that the recall was aimed at the "wrong target" and did not have the ability to overturn an act of the state legislature.

The verification process found many of the signatures to be questionable, invalid, or to have been collected by petition circulators who were not registered to vote.

[33] As part of his announcement not to run, Williams stated "I have served longer consecutively than other governors in Arizona's history, and during some extremely trying times.

An indication of his ability to nominate quality department heads came when his successor, Raul Castro, asked for many of Williams' appointees to remain at their posts.