Representative William Courtland Lantaff

William Courtland Lantaff (July 31, 1913 – January 28, 1970) was an American lawyer, jurist, and Democratic politician who served as a U.S. Representative from Florida for two terms from 1951 to 1955. Over the course of his career he practiced law, held judicial office at the municipal level, served in the Florida House of Representatives, and represented his state in the United States Congress during a significant period in mid-twentieth-century American history.

Lantaff was born on July 31, 1913. His family moved to Jacksonville, Florida, in 1921 and later relocated to Miami, Florida, in 1929, where he came of age as the region was undergoing rapid growth and development. He attended the University of Florida, where he was a member of the Phi Kappa Tau fraternity, and graduated in 1935. He continued his studies at the University of Florida College of Law, earning his law degree in 1936. The following year, in 1937, he was admitted to the Florida bar and began the practice of law in Miami.

Early in his legal career, Lantaff combined private practice with public service. He served as assistant city judge of Miami Beach in 1939 and 1940, gaining experience on the bench in municipal matters. His work as a state court judge in Florida and his growing involvement in civic affairs helped establish his reputation in the Miami area and laid the groundwork for his later political career. During this period he also entered state politics, serving as a member of the Florida House of Representatives, where he participated in the legislative process at the state level.

With the onset of World War II, Lantaff entered military service. He was inducted into the Florida National Guard as a first lieutenant in January 1941 and was assigned to the War Department General Staff in Washington, D.C., where he served as executive officer for the Military Intelligence Division. He rose to the rank of lieutenant colonel before his discharge in November 1945. His military service did not fully conclude at that point; he returned to active duty from September through December 1950, even as he was running for a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives, reflecting his continued commitment to national defense during the early Cold War era.

In 1950, Lantaff was elected as a Democrat to the United States House of Representatives from Florida, beginning his first term in Congress in January 1951. He served two consecutive terms, remaining in office until January 1955. As a member of the House of Representatives, William Courtland Lantaff participated in the democratic process and represented the interests of his Florida constituents during a period marked by the Korean War, the early stages of the civil rights movement, and the intensification of Cold War tensions. During his tenure he contributed to the legislative process and aligned with the Democratic Party’s positions on national policy. His public profile extended beyond the House chamber; on January 25, 1953, he appeared as a contestant on the popular television panel show “What’s My Line?”, reflecting the growing intersection of politics and mass media in the early 1950s.

After leaving Congress in 1955, Lantaff remained active in national Democratic politics. He served as a delegate to the Democratic National Conventions in 1956 and 1960, participating in the nomination processes that shaped the party’s leadership in the Eisenhower and Kennedy eras. At the conclusion of his congressional and major political career, he returned to the practice of law and became involved in the banking and advertising fields, contributing his legal and governmental experience to the private sector in the rapidly expanding South Florida economy.

In his later years, Lantaff also played a role in the development of local philanthropic institutions. In 1967, he became a founding board member of the Dade Community Foundation, an organization established to support charitable and community initiatives in the Miami area. William Courtland Lantaff died on January 28, 1970, at the age of 56. He was interred at Woodlawn Park Cemetery and Mausoleum, now known as Caballero Rivero Woodlawn North Park Cemetery and Mausoleum, in Miami, Florida, closing a career that spanned law, military service, state and national politics, and community leadership.