A Brief Look at Bill Wilson The legacy of Bill Wilson cannot be understated, nor can the positive impact he had on society as a whole. Time Magazine listed the man who spent his public life known as Bill W. as one of their 100 most influential people of the 20th Century, and such high praise was well deserved. Because of Wilson’s co-founding of Alcoholics Anonymous with Dr. Bob Smith, his vision has helped more than 2 million peopleworldwide take the journey to sobriety – a journey that Wilson himself took long ago.
Bill Wilson’s Early Life Wilson was born in Vermont in 1895. He had a rough upbringing, as both of his parents abandoned him and his sister, leaving them both to be raised by their maternal grandparents. Despite these hardships, Wilson was able to become his school’s football team captain as well as an accomplished violinist. Later on, during military training that he would later use during World War I, he was introduced to alcohol, and this fateful introduction would run havoc in his adult life, eventually ruining his reputation as an entrepreneur and a businessman.
Wilson’s drinking got to the point to where he was committed to a New York City hospital on four separate occasions. It was during these times that he was exposed to some of what is now commonly accepted as fundamental principles of alcoholism; that it is a medical disease as opposed to immoral behavior. These revelations, coupled with an incident that Wilson would describe as a spiritual experience, would inspire Wilson to quit drinking and stay sober for the rest of his days. Interestingly
enough, Wilson wasn’t the first one in his family to allegedly have this kind of encounter. The story goes his paternal grandfather abruptly stopped drinking after a bearing witness to a similar encounter.
Meeting Dr. Bob The roots of Wilson’s eventual co-founding of Alcoholics Anonymous started because he felt compelled to connect with another alcoholic while on a business trip to Akron, Ohio as a means to help them both stay sober. This led to him meeting Dr. Bob Smith, an accomplished surgeon who suffered from a drinking problem. Eventually, Wilson helped Smith gain sobriety; together, the twosome began helping fellow alcoholics forge a path of recovery from alcoholism. This aid eventually led to the publication of the book “Alcoholics Anonymous” in 1939, which some people consider the founding of the group (although some cite Dr. Bob’s first day of sobriety in 1935 to be the official origin).
Wilson and the 12-Steps While Wilson and Dr. Bob co-founded Alcoholics Anonymous, it can be argued that Wilson’s biggest impact can be noted due to his creation of the 12 steps. He wrote the steps as an expansion of the basic tenants that he and Dr. Bob used to provide aid to alcoholics in the Akron area. These steps would be further augmented by Wilson’s writing of Twelve Traditions; a guide that groups of recovering alcoholics can use as a means of supporting one another.
The Legacy of Bill W. Throughout the rest of Wilson’s life, which ended in 1971, Wilson stood fierce to the very principles of AA. that he and Dr. Bob created. For example, he insisted that he was known publicly as Bill W, a request that was granted until his passing. The reason for this was because it was in keeping with AA’s longstanding tradition of anonymity, which was a principle that was derived from Wilson’s own Twelve Traditions.
This belief in Alcoholics Anonymous and the power that it has to transform lives was made even stronger by Wilson’s own actions. And to this day, the organization remains just as strong, as the global membership numbers clearly indicate. It is a strength that serves as a testimony to just how strong and caring Bill Wilson was, and it will continue to do so with each new member that is welcomed into the fold.