About Bill Jenkins (politician)
William Lewis Jenkins (born November 29, 1936) is an American politician from the state of Tennessee. 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, to parents from Rogersville, Tennessee. He is a seventh-generation Tennessean. He served in the United States Army from 1959 to 1960, and graduated from Tennessee Tech and the University of Tennessee College of Law. == Political career == Jenkins was elected to the Tennessee General Assembly as a Republican in 1962 and he served as Speaker of the House from 1969 to 1971—the first Republican to hold that position since a few years after Reconstruction, and the last one until Kent Williams in 2009. He unsuccessfully sought the Republican nomination for Governor of Tennessee in 1970, was a Commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Conservation, serving in the Cabinet of Winfield Dunn, and according to his website biography, he was a senior policy advisor on energy and legislative issues for Governor Lamar Alexander. 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 of the Tennessee Valley Authority from 1971 to 1978, and he was a circuit court judge for Tennessee's Third Judicial District from 1990 to 1996.
Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.