William Lewis Jenkins (born November 29, 1936) is an

American politician The politics of the United States function within a framework of a constitutional federal republic and presidential system, with three distinct branches that share powers. These are: the U.S. Congress which forms the legislative branch, a bic ...

from the

state State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * ''Our S ...

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

. He represented the state's 1st Congressional district, centered on the Tri-Cities
map
, from 1997 until his successor was sworn in on January 3, 2007.

Background and education

Jenkins was born in

Detroit, Michigan Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at ...

, to parents from

Rogersville, Tennessee Rogersville is a town in, and the county seat of, Hawkins County, Tennessee, United States. It was settled in 1775 by the grandparents of Davy Crockett. It is named for its founder, Joseph Rogers. Tennessee's second oldest courthouse, the Hawk ...

. He is a seventh-generation Tennessean. He served in the United States Army from 1959 to 1960, and graduated from

Tennessee Technological University Tennessee Technological University, commonly referred to as Tennessee Tech, is a public research university in Cookeville, Tennessee, United States. It was formerly known as Tennessee Polytechnic Institute, and before that as University of Dixie ...

and the

University of Tennessee College of Law The University of Tennessee College of Law is the law school of the University of Tennessee located in Knoxville, Tennessee. Founded in 1890, the College of Law is fully accredited by the American Bar Association and is a charter member of the Ass ...

Political career

Jenkins was elected to the

Tennessee General Assembly The Tennessee General Assembly (TNGA) is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is a part-time bicameral legislature consisting of a Senate and a House of Representatives. The Speaker of the Senate carries the additional title ...

as a

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

in 1962 and he served as

Speaker of the House The speaker of a deliberative assembly, especially a legislative body, is its presiding officer, or the chair. The title was first used in 1377 in England. Usage The title was first recorded in 1377 to describe the role of Thomas de Hungerf ...

from 1969 to 1971—the first Republican to hold that position since a few years after

Reconstruction Reconstruction may refer to: Politics, history, and sociology *Reconstruction (law), the transfer of a company's (or several companies') business to a new company *'' Perestroika'' (Russian for "reconstruction"), a late 20th century Soviet Unio ...

, and the last one until Kent Williams in 2009. He unsuccessfully sought the Republican nomination for

Governor of Tennessee The governor of Tennessee is the head of government of the U.S. state of Tennessee. The governor is the only official in Tennessee state government who is directly elected by the voters of the entire state. The current governor is Bill Lee, a ...

in 1970, was a Commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Conservation, serving in the Cabinet of

Winfield Dunn Bryant Winfield Culberson Dunn (born July 1, 1927) is an American businessman and politician who served as the 43rd governor of Tennessee from 1971 to 1975. He was the state's first Republican governor in fifty years.Phillip Langsdon, ''Tennessee ...

, and according to his website biography, he was a senior policy advisor on energy and legislative issues for Governor

Lamar Alexander Andrew Lamar Alexander Jr. (born July 3, 1940) is a retired American lawyer and politician who served as a United States Senator from Tennessee from 2003 to 2021. A member of the Republican Party, he also was the 45th governor of Tennessee fro ...

.Representative Jenkins' website biography
Jenkins was the only Republican to serve as Speaker of the Tennessee House in the 20th century. He was also one of the youngest persons to ever hold the office. Jenkins served on the

board of directors A board of directors (commonly referred simply as the board) is an executive committee that jointly supervises the activities of an organization, which can be either a for-profit or a nonprofit organization such as a business, nonprofit organiz ...

of the

Tennessee Valley Authority The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) is a federally owned electric utility corporation in the United States. TVA's service area covers all of Tennessee, portions of Alabama, Mississippi, and Kentucky, and small areas of Georgia, North Carolina ...

from 1971 to 1978, and he was a circuit court judge for Tennessee's Third Judicial District from 1990 to 1996.

Running for Congress

On May 10, 1996, he resigned his judgeship to run for the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...

from the First Congressional District after 17-term incumbent

Jimmy Quillen James Henry Quillen (January 11, 1916Selective Service System and U.S. Navy official records both list Quillen's date of birth as January 11, 1915. – November 2, 2003) was an American politician who served as a Republican member of the United ...

announced his retirement. The 12-way

primary election Primary elections, or direct primary are a voting process by which voters can indicate their preference for their party's candidate, or a candidate in general, in an upcoming general election, local election, or by-election. Depending on the ...

was watched very closely in Tennessee Republican circles, as the district is so heavily Republican that whoever won the primary was all but assured of being the district's next congressman. The First District has been in Republican hands for all but four years since 1859. Although Jenkins did not secure Quillen's endorsement for the primary, he narrowly won with 18% of the vote and breezed to election in November.

Reelection and legislation

He was reelected four times without serious opposition, and ran unopposed in 2000 and 2002. He won a fifth term in 2004 with 74% of the vote. Jenkins kept a relatively low profile in Congress in contrast to Quillen and

B. Carroll Reece Brazilla Carroll Reece (December 22, 1889 – March 19, 1961) was an American Republican Party politician from Tennessee. He represented eastern Tennessee in the United States House of Representatives for all but six years from 1921 to 1961 ...

, who between them represented the 1st District for all but seven of the 76 years before Jenkins won the seat. His voting record was reliably

conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...

Best bass fisherman in Congress

As seen on

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...

: "After the final cast was made, however, bragging rights for the title of "best bass fishermen in Congress" went to U.S. Representative Bill Jenkins (R-TN), who teamed up with BASS Elite Series pro Dave Wolak and

Toyota is a Japanese multinational automotive manufacturer headquartered in Toyota City, Aichi, Japan. It was founded by Kiichiro Toyoda and incorporated on . Toyota is one of the largest automobile manufacturers in the world, producing about 10 ...

's Charlie Ing to finish with five bass weighing 18 pounds, 9 ounces. Fittingly, the 70-year-old legislator from Tennessee also posted the largest fish of the event, a 4 ½-pound largemouth that he caught in

Mattawoman Creek Mattawoman Creek is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed August 15, 2011 coastal-plain tributary to the tidal Potomac River with a mouth at Indian Head, Maryland, downstr ...

, a tributary of the

Potomac River The Potomac River () drains the Mid-Atlantic United States, flowing from the Potomac Highlands into Chesapeake Bay. It is long,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map. Retrieved Augus ...

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

Retirement

On February 15, 2006, Jenkins announced that he would not run for a sixth term. He said that he wanted to spend more time with his family since he turned 70 that November.

Electoral history

Write-in and minor candidate notes: In 1996, Bill Bull Durham received 885 votes; John Curtis received 621 votes; Mike Fugate received 440 votes; Paul Schmidt received 367 votes; and write-ins received 26 votes. In 1998, write-ins received 75 votes. In 2000, write-ins received 20 votes.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Jenkins, Bill 1936 births Living people Republican Party members of the Tennessee House of Representatives People from Rogersville, Tennessee Speakers of the Tennessee House of Representatives State cabinet secretaries of Tennessee Tennessee state court judges Tennessee Technological University alumni Baptists from Tennessee Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Tennessee 20th-century American politicians 21st-century American politicians