William H. Kennedy, Jr.: chairman and CEO, National Bank of Commerce Pine Bluff, Arkansas.
William H. Kennedy, Jr. rose to national prominence as the first Arkansan to become president of the American Bankers Association. As chairman of National Bank of Commerce, devoted civic leader, tireless volunteer and mentor to young bankers, he also made a significant impact on Arkansas and in his own community. Kennedy came from the greatest generation and became a leader who built institutions to endure.Kennedy was born in 1917 to a family of Memphis cotton brokers who had operated in the Pine Bluff area for two generations. He graduated in 1939 from Hendrix College, where he was an all-around athlete. Kennedy became a salesman for Aetna Life Insurance before serving in World War II as a Marine Corps officer. Before going overseas, Kennedy served as an aide to President Franklin D. Roosevelt and as an official escort for the Roosevelt family. He was wounded on Iwo Jima and received a Purple Heart and the Silver Star, the nation's fourth highest award for valor. He retired in 1963 as a colonel in the Marine Corps Reserves.
He married Marylena Lowe in 1947, and they had five children: Mary Lowe Kennedy, William H. Kennedy III, Susan Kennedy Harris, Betty Kennedy Brinker, and Robert T. Kennedy.
From 1947 to 1957, Kennedy worked for Arkansas Power & Light as vice president of industrial development, working with local communities to bring industry to the state. He was recalled to active duty with the Marine Corps and served from 1950 to 1952 during the Korean conflict.
He joined National Bank of Commerce of Pine Bluff in 1957 as executive vice president. Kennedy once said, "It took me a while to figure out what a bank did, but I used the discipline I'd learned in the Marines and began moving up the line quickly." He received a master's in banking from the Stonier Graduate School of Banking at Rutgers University in 1960. Kennedy became president of the bank in 1965 and was appointed chairman of the board in 1978.
Kennedy served as president of the Arkansas Bankers Association in 1976, where he helped rewrite the Arkansas tax code that put banks on equal terms with corporations.
In 1981, Kennedy became the first Arkansan elected as president of the American Bankers Association, presiding over 14,000 bank members. He reached out to the disparate pieces of an industry, on the brink of change and created a consensus process in which banks of all types could play a role. The structure he helped put in place was key to addressing crucial banking issues and the transformation of the banking industry ongoing at that time. That same structure continues to serve the Association well today.
Among the many issues he fought for was legislation to remove restrictions preventing the nation's banks from competing with non-regulated businesses offering bank services.
A 1984 Arkansas Gazette article describes the high point of Kennedy's term as president as "the successful repeal of a proposed 10 percent withholding on interest and dividends, which would have meant mounds of paperwork for the nation's financial institutions." The grassroots effort was one of the most massive campaigns Washington had ever seen. A 1983 Fortune article said, "Without his unpretentious grit, the campaign could have ended differently." Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker said, "His [Kennedy's] calm and commonsense manner in the midst of all the bank turmoil and change have been important for banking and the country at large."
Several times during his association presidency, Kennedy met with President Reagan and senior members of congress in connection with the administration's tax proposals.
A 1983 U.S. News & World Report article, "Who Runs America," in which the publication asked prominent individuals to list those they considered the most influential in their fields, named Kennedy the third most influential American in the area of finance.
When Kennedy assumed the presidency of National Bank of Commerce, its assets were $45 million, and when he retired in 1984, its assets exceeded $200 million--no mean feat over 19 years for a bank in the poverty-ridden Delta.
Perhaps Kennedy's most valuable contribution to Arkansas business was his extraordinary ability to train, nurture and mentor young banker's into stellar performers. He created a learning organization long before business discovered the concept. Today, many of Iris alumni are in key positions across the state.
Kennedy was named to the Arkansas River Hall of Fame in 1995 for his leadership in the development of the $2 billion McClellan-Kerr Navigation System. He served as chairman of the Arkansas Waterways Commission and was president of the Arkansas Basin Association. When Congress approved the navigation system, the previous annual flood threat had been transformed into a perennial asset lot the cities and township and down the once feared Arkansas River.
He also stowed as president of the Arkansas Chamber of Commerce and the Arkansas State Council on Economic Education.
Kennedy was devoted to Pine Bluff He said, "I learned a long time ago, when a community is good to you, you ought to try to respond in kind."
He was president of the Pine Bluff Chamber of Commerce, chairman of the Jefferson County Industrial Foundation and the Pine Bluff/Jefferson County Public Library System, and the first campaign chairman for Jefferson County United Way. He was especially involved in the Pine Bluff Utility Commission, where he helped to develop one of the finest sewer systems in the state. He was a trustee of the Midwest Research Institute in Kansas City and a director and chairman of the board for Worthen Banking Corp., which acquired National Bank of Commerce.
Kennedy died in 1991. He is survived by his with, children, 10 grandchildren and one great grandchild.
The obituary in the Pine Bluff News said, "It is said that the good a man does in this life will live after him.... Pine Bluff and Arkansas will continue to reap the blessings of the good that Bill Kennedy wrought for his community and his state for many years to come."
----------
Please note: Illustration(s) are not available due to copyright restrictions.
 Printer friendly
 Cite/link
 Email
 Feedback
| |
| Publication: | Arkansas Business |
|---|---|
| Date: | Jan 28, 2008 |
| Words: | 1003 |
| Previous Article: | Harvey C. Couch: founder, Arkansas Power & Light Co. (now Entergy) Little Rock, Arkansas. |
| Next Article: | 2008 Arkansas Business Hall of Fame: Sam M. Walton College of Business. |
| Topics: | |