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History and Government—Congressional Biographies—Florida

Clarence William (Bill) NELSON

(1942- )

Senate Years of Service:

2001-

Party:

Democrat

NELSON, Clarence William (Bill), a Senator and a Representative from Florida; born in Miami, Dade County, Fla., September 29, 1942; attended the Brevard County public schools; graduated from Melbourne High School 1960; B.A., Yale University 1965; J.D., University of Virginia School of Law 1968; admitted to the Florida bar in 1968 and commenced practice in Melbourne in 1970; served in United States Army Reserve 1965-1971; United States Army, active duty, 1968-1970, achieving rank of captain; legislative assistant to Governor Reubin Askew 1971; elected to Florida State house of representatives in 1972 and reelected in 1974 and 1976; elected as a Democrat to the Ninety-sixth and to the five succeeding Congresses (January 3, 1979-January 3, 1991); was not a candidate for reelection in 1990 to the House of Representatives, but was a candidate for nomination for governor of Florida; crewmember on the twenty-fourth flight of the Space Shuttle Columbia, January 12-18, 1986; Florida treasurer and insurance commissioner 1995-2000; elected to the United States Senate in 2000, and again in 2006 for the term ending January 3, 2013.