Henry Williams

Henry Williams is an American political activist, best known for organizing and chairing the Mike Gravel 2020 presidential campaign as a college student.

Background

Williams was raised in a politically liberal household. Williams volunteered for Bernie Sanders during the 2016 Democratic Party presidential primaries.

Williams graduated from The Masters School in Dobbs Ferry, New York. As of April 2019, Williams was a student at Columbia University in New York City.

Mike Gravel 2020 presidential campaign

With high school friend David Oks, Williams contacted Mike Gravel on March 14, 2019, to propose a campaign for the Democratic primaries in 2020. The stated goal was not to win the primaries but to reach the Democratic debate stage. Gravel was hesitant at first, but Williams and Oks convinced him to launch a campaign to promote their shared left-wing political views. Both Williams and Oks had discovered Gravel in Nixonland by Rick Perlstein in reference to his disclosure of the Pentagon Papers.

Along with Oks, Williams was the subject of a June 9, 2019 profile in The New York Times Magazine.

In July 2019, Williams said in an interview with The American Prospect that he intends to remain involved in political advocacy and campaigning. He also expressed his interest in working for the Bernie Sanders 2020 presidential campaign.