Anthony Allen Williams (born July 28, 1951) is an American politician who was the mayor of the District of Columbia, for two terms, from 1999 to 2007. His predecessor had served twice. Williams had previously served as chief financial officer for the district, managing to balance the budget and achieve a surplus within two years of appointment. He held a variety of executive posts in cities and states around the country prior to his service in the D.C. government. Since 2012, he has served as chief executive officer/executive director of the Federal City Council. His tenure as mayor has been appraised very highly by the policy community and historians, with MSNBC branding him "one of the best and most successful mayors in US history." Early life, education and military service Williams, born Anthony Stephen Eggleton on July 28, 1951, was adopted at age three by Virginia and Lewis Williams (a postal worker), and is one of eight children raised in the home: Lewis IV, Virginia II, Carla, Cynthia, Leif Eric I, Kimberly, and Loris. Williams attended Loyola High School in Los Angeles, CA, and then Santa Clara University. There he became active in the anti-Vietnam War movement as well as President of his sophomore class. But his academics suffered and he eventually left school. Shortly thereafter he joined the Air Force. He volunteered for Vietnam, but was kept in the country to work as an aide in the 354th Tactical Fighter Wing command post. He sought an appointment to the United States Air Force Academy but was instead sent to the academy's preparatory school because of his poor grades at Santa Clara. He excelled and earned an appointment to the academy. Instead Williams sought to leave the Air Force as a conscientious objector, and was given an honorable discharge in 1974. After that, he worked giving piano and clay sculpture and other tactile art lessons to blind children and counseling Vietnam War veterans in Los Angeles. In 1975, he enrolled at Yale using his veteran's benefits to help pay the bill. He left school to start a map business that failed and returned in 1979. In 1982, he graduated magna cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Yale College, where he was a member of the literary society St. Anthony Hall. In 1987, he earned a J.D. from Harvard Law School and a Master of Public