Bill Wilson did not have an easy childhood. His parents divorced when he was eleven, and afterward went their separate ways—leaving their children behind. Fortunately, Bill’s grandparents took him and his little sister in, giving them the love and support they hadn’t received from their parents.
As a young man, Bill was drafted into the Vermont National Guard, and was soon commissioned to serve as an artillery officer. It was during his military training that Bill was first introduced to alcohol—a relationship that would tremendously impact the rest of his life. As Bill put it, he felt as though he had found “the elixir of life.” Unlike anything he’d experienced before, drinking put him at ease and liberated him from the cares of the world.
Upon returning from his military service during World War I, Bill soon spiraled into a destructive cycle of drinking binges and alcoholism. His faithful wife, Louis, tried to help keep his drinking in check, but to no avail. By the time he was in his late thirties Bill had been in and out of the hospital multiple times as a result of his drinking binges.
It was during this extremely low point in his life that Bill was visited by an old drinking buddy who had recently become sober. Bill’s friend, Ebby Thatcher, attributed his newfound sobriety to the teachings and support of the Oxford Group, an evangelical Christian organization. Not long after Ebby’s visit, Bill had a conversion experience of his own, and miraculously, his seventeen-year relationship with alcohol came to an abrupt end. Bill never drank again.
Though his drinking days were behind him, the temptation to drink never ended. Six months into his sobriety, a failed business venture threatened to pull Bill under again. In desperation, instead of heading to the hotel bar, he turned into the public phone booth, and began dialing numbers he found in a church directory. He yearned for a relationship of mutual support—he needed to talk to a fellow alcoholic who understood the struggle and could help him stay afloat when temptation threatened to overcome him.
It was in this peculiar way that Bill met Dr. Bob. After a series of random phone calls that evening, Bill dialed the number of Dr. Robert H. Smith. That phone call led to an in-person conversation that lasted about five hours. An incredible friendship and partnership was born. Within a matter of weeks of meeting, Bob too was sober. The date of Bob’s last drink is June 10, 1935—the founding date of Alcoholics Anonymous. Together Bill Wilson and Bob Smith, two ordinary men with a shared struggle, chose to use their experiences and beliefs to help guide and support others struggling with similar addictions. Little did they know they were going to help transform the lives of millions of people around the world.
As author Kristine Kaufman noted in her book, Is This Seat Taken? It’s Never Too Late to Find the Right Seat, Bill Wilson “completely transformed his life, changed the face of alcoholism, and impacted the lives of millions—all after the age of forty-three.”
The impact Bill had on Bob—and vice versa—ultimately impacted the world. As Bill liked to say: “To the world you may be one person, but to one person you may be the world.”
Who can you impact today?
