William Windom (May 10, 1827 - January 29, 1891) was an American politician. He served in the United States House of Representatives and United States Senate as a Republican from Minnesota in the 36th, 37th, 38th, 39th, 40th, 41st, 42nd, 43rd, 44th, 45th, 46th, and 47th congresses. He was born in Belmont County, Ohio. He moved to Minnesota Territory in 1855. He served in the House from March 4, 1859 to March 3, 1869, representing the state of Minnesota. He is also the great-grandfather of actor William Windom.

Windom was appointed to the Senate to fill the vacancy in the term ending March 3, 1871, caused by the death of Daniel S. Norton, and served from July 15, 1870, to January 22, 1871, when a successor (Ozora P. Stearns) was elected to fill the term.

Windom was however elected to the regular full term that started March 4, 1871. He served until March 7, 1881 when he was appointed as United States Secretary of the Treasury by President James Garfield and served until he resigned from the Cabinet effective November 13, 1881 after having again been elected Senator to fill the vacancy caused by his own resignation, and served from November 15, 1881 to March 3, 1883.

He was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1882. He moved to New York City in 1883 and practiced law. He was appointed Secretary of Treasury again in the Cabinet of President Benjamin Harrison and served from March 1889 until his death in New York.

An engraved portrait of Windom appears on U.S. silver certificates in the $2.00 denomination. This design was used from 1891 to 1896. The revenue cutter, Windom, was named for him. Windom, Minnesota, bears his namesake, as does Windom Township in Mower County, also in Minnesota.

William Windom (born September 28, 1923) is an American actor. He is perhaps best known for his work on television, including several episodes of The Twilight Zone; playing the character of Glen Morley (a congressman from Minnesota like his own great-grandfather and namesake) in The Farmer's Daughter; the character of John Monroe on the sitcom My World and Welcome to It, for which he won an Emmy Award for Best Actor in a Comedy Series; and the character Randy Lane in the Emmy-nominated Night Gallery episode "They're Tearing Down Tim Riley's Bar".

This veteran New York-born character actor was named after his great-grandfather, Lincolnesque politician William Windom. Born in 1923, he attended Williams College and the University of Kentucky, among others, before serving the Army during WWII. Following the armistice, he studied at both Fordham and Columbia universities in New York City before settling on an acting career. Trained at the American Repertory Theatre (1946-1961), he made his minor Broadway debut with the company in November of 1946 with revolving productions of "Henry VIII," "What Every Woman Knows," "John Gabriel Borkman" and "Androcles and the Lion." The following year he continued building up his Broadway resume with roles in "Yellow Jack" and as the White Rabbit in a production of "Alice in Wonderland." In the early 1950s a new avenue opened up to him: television. For the duration of the decade he shifted between stage, which included Broadway roles in "A Girl Can Tell" (1953), "Mademoiselle Colombe" (1954), "Fallen Angels" (1956), "The Greatest Man Alive" (1957) and "Viva Madison Avenue!" (1960), and TV drama, with stalwart work in such programs as "Robert Montgomery Presents" and "Hallmark Hall of Fame." Major attention came Windom's way on TV moving into the following decade. In addition to hundreds of guest appearances on the most popular shows of the day ("Combat!," "The Fugitive," "All in the Family," "Dallas," "Highway to Heaven"), his standout work included a co-starring role opposite the luminous Inger Stevens in the popular light comedy series "Farmer's Daughter, The" (1963). On the show Windom portrayed widower Glenn Morley, a congressman who eventually falls in love with his pert and pretty Swedish governess Katy Holstrum (Stevens). Prior to this success, both he and Ms. Stevens had been singularly recognized for their sterling performances on various episodes of "The Twilight Zone." Following this success, Windom enjoyed critical notice as the cartoonist/protagonist whose vivid imagination causes problems on the homefront on the Thurberesque weekly series "My World and Welcome to It" (1969). Despite the show's critical merit and Windom's "Best Actor" Emmy win, the show, years ahead of its time, lasted only one season. Decades later Windom would play James Thurber on stage in a one-man show. The native New Yorker went on to essay a number of loungy Southerners and down-home types with incredible ease--both heroes and villains. He offered strong support in his film debut as Gregory Peck's opposing counsel in the Alabama-based To Kill a Mockingbird (1962), and went on to play prelate Norman Vincent Peale's father in One Man's Way (1964) starring Don Murray (I). Windom demonstrated the maturity to carry off the character even though he was only 5 years older than Murray. He also delivered a variety of pungent roles in such films as Detective, The (1968) (as a closeted gay married man), Robert Altman (I)'s Brewster McCloud (1970) (as a mayor facing a series of murders) and Man, The (1972) (as a rascist politician). Growing slier and stockier over the years, Windom provided TV audiences with a colorful gallery of ingratiating, cantankerous and often times unscrupulous characters. He became a regular for over a decade on the Angela Lansbury whodunnit series "Murder, She Wrote" (1984), joining the show in its second season as Dr. Seth Hazlitt. He briefly left 'Murder" to work on another series, "Parenthood" (1990), which was based on the highly popular 1989 movie starring Steve Martin (I). Here, Ed Begley Jr. took over the Martin part and Windom assumed Jason Robards's patriarchal role as Begley's father. The show was off the air within a few months, however, and Windom was invited back to the mystery series -- a semi-regular until the show folded in 1997. In addition, he has reprised a "Star Trek" part as Commodore Matt Decker; appeared in scores of mini-movies; given voice to various book readings; presented a second one-man show, this time that of combat reporter Ernie Pyle; and continues to film at age 80+, his latest being Yesterday's Dreams (2005). The five-times-married Windom has been wed to writer Patricia Veronica Tunder for 31 years. A chess, tennis and sailing enthusiast, he has four children.