William R. Day

William Rufus Day (April 17, 1849–July 9, 1923) was an American diplomat and jurist.

He was born in Ohio, graduated from the University of Michigan in 1870 and began practicing law in Ohio. A judge for many years, he was appointed Assistant Secretary of State from 1897 to 1898. He was a U.S. Secretary of State under President William McKinley. As Secretary of State he kept the European powers out of the Spanish-American War and later signed the peace treaty for that war.

He was a judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit from 1899 until 1903 and then served as an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court from 1903 until 1922.

He died on Mackinac Island in Michigan in 1923. He is buried at West Lawn Cemetery in Canton, Ohio.

|- style="text-align: center;" | width="30%" |Preceded by:
George Shiras, Jr. | width="40%" style="text-align: center;" |Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States
March 2, 1903 – November 13, 1922 | width="30%" |Succeeded by:
Pierce Butler