William Henry Stevenson (September 23, 1891 – March 19, 1978) was an American lawyer and Republican politician from La Crosse County, Wisconsin.

[2] Stevenson made his first run for public office in 1924, when he was elected district attorney of Richland County, Wisconsin.

[12][13] On July 4, 1939, U.S. Representative Harry W. Griswold died of a sudden heart attack, creating a vacancy in Wisconsin's 3rd congressional district.

Despite being only six months into a two-year term, no special election was called to fill the seat for the remainder of the 76th Congress.

In July 1940, Stevenson announced that he would seek the Republican nomination to succeed Griswold in the 3rd congressional district for the 77th Congress.

[15][16] His chief opponent in the general election was the Progressive Party nominee, former U.S. representative Gardner R. Withrow, but a Democratic candidate, George T. Doherty, was also in the race.

He advocated new tariffs to prop up the price of milk and butter for Wisconsin farm producers.

[16] During the first year of the 77th Congress, Stevenson continued to oppose new trade deals aimed at lowering tariff barriers.

Walsh attacked Stevenson for his previous isolationist positions and indicated he would be a more supportive ally for Roosevelt in the war.

[22] In the general election, he faced a rematch with Progressive Gardner Withrow, who reiterated criticisms of Stevenson's past isolationist positions and fully endorsed the Roosevelt platform for domestic and foreign policy.

The Progressive Party ran no candidate that year, and Stevenson won a landslide in the general election.

A third candidate also ran in the primary, Carl Neprud, who had recently served as a technical advisor at the Bretton Woods Conference.

[30] Stevenson's attempted political comeback was fueled by stalwart Republican discontent over their progressive incumbent, Withrow.

[1] This article incorporates public domain material from the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress