Nelson, Bill (1942-…), served as a member of the United States Senate from 2001 to 2019. Nelson, a Democrat, represented Florida. Before becoming a senator, Nelson served as the state’s treasurer, insurance commissioner, and fire marshal.
Nelson was born in Miami, Florida, on Sept. 29, 1942. His full name is Clarence William Nelson. He earned a bachelor’s degree from Yale University in 1965 and a law degree from the University of Virginia in 1968. Nelson served in the U.S. Army from 1968 until 1970. The next year, he started work as a legislative assistant to Governor Reubin Askew of Florida. Nelson was elected to the Florida House of Representatives in 1972 and served there from 1973 to 1979. In 1978, voters elected him to the U.S. House of Representatives. He served there from 1979 to 1991. While in the House, Nelson worked for a balanced federal budget, and he opposed offshore oil drilling. He also traveled aboard the space shuttle Columbia in 1986 as a congressional observer.
Nelson ran for governor of Florida in 1990 but was defeated in the Democratic primary election. After he left the U.S. House, Nelson worked as an attorney in private practice. In 1994, Florida voters elected him to the combined office of treasurer, insurance commissioner, and state fire marshal. In that role, Nelson helped rebuild the market for homeowners insurance coverage in the state after Hurricane Andrew damaged parts of southern Florida in 1992. Nelson also emphasized the investigation of insurance fraud.
Nelson won election to the U.S. Senate in 2000. He took office in 2001. As a senator, Nelson served on the Armed Services and Finance committees and became a ranking member of the Committee on Commerce, Science & Transportation. He was reelected in 2006 and 2012. In 2018, Nelson lost a reelection campaign to Republican Rick Scott, a two-term Florida governor. In 2021, Nelson became the administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) in the administration of President Joe Biden.
