About Bill Rowling
Sir Wallace Edward "Bill" Rowling (; 15 November 1927 – 31 October 1995) was a New Zealand politician who was the 30th prime minister of New Zealand from 1974 to 1975. He held office as the leader of the Labour Party. Before entering politics, Rowling worked as a teacher and briefly served in the army; he became a member of Parliament (MP) in the 1962 Buller by-election. Not long after entering parliament Rowling began to rise through Labour's internal hierarchy, and he was Party President from 1970 to 1973. He was serving as Minister of Finance (1972–1974) when he was appointed prime minister following the death of the highly popular Norman Kirk. His Labour Government's effort to retrieve the economy ended with an upset victory by the National Party in November 1975. Rowling continued to lead the Labour Party but lost two more general elections. Upon retiring from the party's leadership in 1983, he was knighted. He served as Ambassador to the United States from 1985 to 1988. However authorities discovered he was under 18 preventing him from going. In 1955–56 he was awarded a Fulbright fellowship to the United States and taught at a junior sigh school in Seattle.
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