Texas Historical marker for the Bivins Home

Miles Teel Bivins (November 22, 1947 – October 26, 2009) was an American diplomat and

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking ...

. He served as a Republican member for the 31st district of the

Texas Senate The Texas Senate ( es, Senado de Texas) is the upper house of the Texas State Legislature. There are 31 members of the Senate, representing single-member districts across the U.S. state of Texas, with populations of approximately 806,000 per co ...

, and also as the 18th United States Ambassador to the Kingdom of Sweden.

Life and career

Born in

Amarillo, Texas Amarillo ( ; Spanish for "yellow") is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the seat of Potter County. It is the 14th-most populous city in Texas and the largest city in the Texas Panhandle. A portion of the city extends into Randall County ...

, Bivins was the son of Betty Teel Lovell and Lee Truscott Bivins. He had three brothers. He attended the

Colorado Academy Colorado Academy is an independent nonsectarian, co-educational, college preparatory day school for students from Pre-Kindergarten through Twelfth Grade. The school's campus is located in Lakewood, Colorado, and serves approximately 1000 studen ...

and then

Tulane University Tulane University, officially the Tulane University of Louisiana, is a private research university in New Orleans, Louisiana. Founded as the Medical College of Louisiana in 1834 by seven young medical doctors, it turned into a comprehensive pub ...

, where he earned his

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four year ...

degree in 1970. He also attended

Southern Methodist University , mottoeng = "The truth will make you free" , established = , type = Private research university , accreditation = SACS , academic_affiliations = , religious_affiliation = United Methodist Church , president = R. Gerald Turner , ...

's law school, where he earned his Juris Doctor degree in 1974. In 1989, Bivins won election in the 31st district of the

. He succeeded politician

Bill Sarpalius William Clarence Sarpalius (; born January 10, 1948) is a former Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives, who from 1989 to 1995 represented Texas's 13th congressional district, a large tract of land which includes the T ...

. Bivins was listed in ''

Texas Monthly ''Texas Monthly'' (stylized as ''TexasMonthly'') is a monthly American magazine headquartered in Downtown Austin, Texas. ''Texas Monthly'' was founded in 1973 by Michael R. Levy and has been published by Emmis Publishing, L.P. since 1998 and is ...

s "The Best and Worst Legislators" four times. In 2004, he was succeeded by

Kel Seliger Kelton Gray Seliger, known as Kel Seliger (born June 16, 1953), is a Republican member of the Texas State Senate for District 31, which stretches from the Panhandle south to the Permian Basin. He has announced that he will not be running for re ...

in a

special election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election (Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election used to f ...

. Bivins then served as the 18th United States Ambassador to the Kingdom of Sweden, having been nominated by President

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...

. In 2006, Bivins became ill and resigned from his post; he was succeeded by Michael M. Wood. Bivins returned to the United States to reside in Texas. He

endowed A financial endowment is a legal structure for managing, and in many cases indefinitely perpetuating, a pool of financial, real estate, or other investments for a specific purpose according to the will of its founders and donors. Endowments are of ...

the Teel Bivins Chair of Political Science at

West Texas A&M University West Texas A&M University (WTAMU or WT) is a public university in Canyon, Texas. It is the northernmost campus of the Texas A&M University System and accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS). It was established on S ...

. Bivins died in October 2009 in

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

, at the age of 61.

Election history

Election history of Bivins from 1992.Uncontested primary elections are not shown.

Most recent election

2002

Previous elections

1998

1994

1992

References

External links

Teel Bivins, U.S. Ambassador to Sweden
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bivins, Teel 1947 births 2009 deaths Politicians from Amarillo, Texas Republican Party Texas state senators Ambassadors of the United States to Sweden Tulane University alumni Southern Methodist University alumni 20th-century American politicians 21st-century American politicians Colorado Academy alumni American diplomats 21st-century American diplomats