William Vollie “Bill” Alexander, Jr. (born January 16, 1934) is a retired politician

Politician

A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...

 who represented the U.S. state

U.S. state

A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...

 of Arkansas

Arkansas

Arkansas is a state located in the southern region of the United States. Its name is an Algonquian name of the Quapaw Indians. Arkansas shares borders with six states , and its eastern border is largely defined by the Mississippi River...

 in the United States House of Representatives

United States House of Representatives

The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...

 from 1969 to 1993, rising to the post of Chief Deputy Majority Whip.

Biography

Alexander was born in Memphis, Tennessee

Memphis, Tennessee

Memphis is a city in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Tennessee, and the county seat of Shelby County. The city is located on the 4th Chickasaw Bluff, south of the confluence of the Wolf and Mississippi rivers....

, and graduated from Osceola High School

High school

High school is a term used in parts of the English speaking world to describe institutions which provide all or part of secondary education. The term is often incorporated into the name of such institutions....

 in Osceola, Arkansas

Osceola, Arkansas

-Notable natives & residents:* Bill Alexander, U.S. Representative from First Congressional District, 1969–1993* David Barrett, New York Jets cornerback* Maurice Carthon, former NFL and USFL player and NFL assistant coach...

, in 1951. He is an Eagle Scout

Eagle Scout (Boy Scouts of America)

Eagle Scout is the highest rank attainable in the Boy Scouting program of the Boy Scouts of America . A Scout who attains this rank is called an Eagle Scout or Eagle. Since its introduction in 1911, the Eagle Scout rank has been earned by more than 2 million young men...

. He attended the University of Arkansas

University of Arkansas

The University of Arkansas is a public, co-educational, land-grant, space-grant, research university. It is classified by the Carnegie Foundation as a research university with very high research activity. It is the flagship campus of the University of Arkansas System and is located in...

 at Fayetteville

Fayetteville, Arkansas

Fayetteville is the county seat of Washington County, and the third largest city in Arkansas. The city is centrally located within the county and is home to the University of Arkansas. Fayetteville is also deep in the Boston Mountains, a subset of The Ozarks...

 and later earned a bachelor of arts

Bachelor of Arts

A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...

 degree from Rhodes College

Rhodes College

Rhodes College is a private, predominantly undergraduate, liberal arts college located in Memphis, Tennessee, USA. Originally founded by freemasons in 1848, Rhodes became affiliated with the Presbyterian Church in 1855. Rhodes enrolls approximately 1,700 students pursuing bachelor's and master's...

 in Memphis in 1957. He earned a law

Law

Law is a system of rules and guidelines which are enforced through social institutions to govern behavior, wherever possible. It shapes politics, economics and society in numerous ways and serves as a social mediator of relations between people. Contract law regulates everything from buying a bus...

 degree from Vanderbilt University Law School

Vanderbilt University Law School

Vanderbilt University Law School is a graduate school of Vanderbilt University. Established in 1874, it is one of the oldest law schools in the southern United States. Vanderbilt Law has consistently ranked among the top 20 law schools in the nation, and is currently ranked 16th in the 2012...

 in Nashville

Nashville, Tennessee

Nashville is the capital of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat of Davidson County. It is located on the Cumberland River in Davidson County, in the north-central part of the state. The city is a center for the health care, publishing, banking and transportation industries, and is home...

 in 1960.

He was elected as a Democrat

Democratic Party (United States)

The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...

 from the 1st District of Arkansas in 1968 and was repeatedly re-elected until 1992, when he was denied party renomination by his former staff assistant and future U.S. Senator Blanche Lincoln

Blanche Lincoln

Blanche Meyers Lambert Lincoln is a former U.S. Senator from Arkansas and a member of the Democratic Party. First elected to the Senate in 1998, she was the first woman elected to the Senate from Arkansas since Hattie Caraway in 1932 and, at age 38, was the youngest woman ever elected to the...

, in part due to the House banking scandal

House banking scandal

The House banking scandal broke in early 1992, when it was revealed that the United States House of Representatives allowed members to overdraw their House checking accounts without risk of being penalized by the House bank ....

.

Most of Alexander's earlier elections were won by at least 65 percent of the vote in a heavily Democratic district. In his first election, he defeated the Republican

Republican Party (United States)

The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...

 Guy Newcomb, also of Osceola, for the right to succeed the retiring Representative Ezekiel C. Gathings

Ezekiel C. Gathings

Ezekiel Candler Gathings was a U.S. Representative from Arkansas.Born in Prairie, Mississippi, Gathings attended the public schools and the University of Alabama at Tuscaloosa. He was graduated from the law department of the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville in 1929...

. In 1976, he defeated the farmer

Farmer

A farmer is a person engaged in agriculture, who raises living organisms for food or raw materials, generally including livestock husbandry and growing crops, such as produce and grain...

, seed merchant, and later Republican state chairman Harlan "Bo" Holleman

Harlan Holleman

Harlan Harmon "Bo" Holleman was a farmer and seed merchant from Wynne, the seat of Cross County in eastern Arkansas, and a pioneer in the development of the modern Republican Party in his home state. He was the Arkansas state GOP chairman from December 6, 1980, until his death some sixteen months...

 of Wynne

Wynne, Arkansas

Wynne is the county seat and largest city of Cross County, Arkansas, United States. The population was 8,615 at the 2000 Census. Nestled between the Arkansas Delta and Crowley's Ridge, Wynne is home to the largest state park in Arkansas, Village Creek State Park.-Geography:Wynne lies at , the...

 in Cross County. In 1982, he defeated the Republican Charles A. "Chuck" Banks, who later became United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Arkansas, and unsuccessfully sought the Republican nomination for Lt. Governor in 2006.
Alexander has lived in Virginia

Virginia

The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...

 since 1993; however, he continues to vote via absentee ballot

Absentee ballot

An absentee ballot is a vote cast by someone who is unable or unwilling to attend the official polling station. Numerous methods have been devised to facilitate this...

in Mississippi County, Arkansas.