William Matson Roth was a shipping executive, special ambassador for trade, member of the ACLU executive committee, and Regent for the University of California

University of California

The University of California is a public university system in the U.S. state of California. Under the California Master Plan for Higher Education, the University of California is a part of the state's three-tier public higher education system, which also includes the California State University...

.

In 1966 he was targeted along with Clark Kerr

Clark Kerr

Clark Kerr was an American professor of economics and academic administrator. He was the first chancellor of the University of California, Berkeley and twelfth president of the University of California.- Early years :...

 and Elinor Raas Heller by a fellow Regent, Edwin Pauley, for his alleged 'ultra-liberal' views. Ronald Reagan

Ronald Reagan

Ronald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....

 made the Free Speech Movement

Free Speech Movement

The Free Speech Movement was a student protest which took place during the 1964–1965 academic year on the campus of the University of California, Berkeley under the informal leadership of students Mario Savio, Brian Turner, Bettina Aptheker, Steve Weissman, Art Goldberg, Jackie Goldberg, and...

 and Opposition to the Vietnam War

Opposition to the Vietnam War

The movement against US involvment in the in Vietnam War began in the United States with demonstrations in 1964 and grew in strength in later years. The US became polarized between those who advocated continued involvement in Vietnam, and those who wanted peace. Peace movements consisted largely of...

 on the Berkeley

University of California, Berkeley

The University of California, Berkeley , is a teaching and research university established in 1868 and located in Berkeley, California, USA...

 campus one of his major campaign issues. Pauley, working with J. Edgar Hoover

J. Edgar Hoover

John Edgar Hoover was the first Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation of the United States. Appointed director of the Bureau of Investigation—predecessor to the FBI—in 1924, he was instrumental in founding the FBI in 1935, where he remained director until his death in 1972...

 of the FBI, succeeded in having Roth and the others removed from Berkeley when Reagan became governor of California

California

California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

 in 1967.

President Johnson appointed him United States Trade Representative from 1967-1969.

Among other activities, Roth worked as special representative for trade on US-European trade talks (named the Kennedy Round

Kennedy Round

The Kennedy round was the sixth session of General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade trade negotiations held in 1964-1967 in Geneva, Switzerland. Congressional passage of the US Trade Expansion Act in 1962 authorized the White House to conduct mutual tariff negotiations ultimately leading to the...

 negotiations). See photo of Roth at a 1967 U.S. Chamber of Commerce conference alongside US Secretary of Commerce Alexander B. Trowbridge; Secretary of Agriculture Orville Freeman

Orville Freeman

Orville Lothrop Freeman was an American Democratic politician who served as the 29th Governor of Minnesota from January 5, 1955 to January 2, 1961, and as the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture from 1961 to 1969 under Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson...

, and Under Secretary of Labor James J. Reynolds

James J. Reynolds

James J. Reynolds was the Undersecretary of Labor for Labor-Management relations during the Lyndon B. Johnson Administration in the United States. Earlier he served as Assistant Secretary for Labor-Management Relations from 1961–65, initially for President John F. Kennedy...

.

In 1974, Roth, a long-time contributor to the Democratic Party, ran for Governor of California in the Democratic Primary election. He placed fourth (receiving 10% of the vote) in a crowded field of candidates that included San Francisco Mayor Joseph Alioto

Joseph Alioto

Joseph Lawrence Alioto was the 36th mayor of San Francisco, California, from 1968 to 1976.-Biography:...

, Speaker of the Assembly Robert Moretti, Congressman Jerome Waldie, and the winner, Secretary of State Jerry Brown

Jerry Brown

Edmund Gerald "Jerry" Brown, Jr. is an American politician. Brown served as the 34th Governor of California , and is currently serving as the 39th California Governor...

, who had the advantage of name recognition, his father Pat Brown

Pat Brown

Edmund Gerald "Pat" Brown, Sr. was the 32nd Governor of California, serving from 1959 to 1967, and the father of current Governor of California Jerry Brown.-Background:...

 having been Governor eight years before.

Roth had a summer home on Sonoma Mountain

Sonoma Mountain

Sonoma Mountain is a prominent landform within the Sonoma Mountains of southern Sonoma County, California. At elevation of , Sonoma Mountain offers expansive views of the Pacific Ocean to the west and the Sonoma Valley to the east...

 with substantial area, having purchased the holding around 1950; the Roth family gifted this property to the Nature Conservancy, who transformed it into a nature preserve, presently known as the Fairfield Osborn Preserve

Fairfield Osborn Preserve

The Fairfield Osborn Preserve is a 411 acre nature reserve situated on the northwest flank of Sonoma Mountain in Sonoma County, California. There are eight plant communities within the property, oak woodland being the dominant type...

. Now his daughter Maggie Roth, wife of artist David Best, (David has two children from a previous marriage) lives on the property. They have two children together. Today William Matson Roth is 91 and lives in Ireland (for summer and spring) and New York (fall and winter). He lives with his wife Joan Osborn and has three children with her.