Bill Nelson

For other people named Bill Nelson, see Bill Nelson (disambiguation).Clarence William "Bill" Nelson (born September 29, 1942) is the senior Democratic U.S. Senator from Florida.

Nelson was born in Miami in 1942 to English-American parents. He attended the University of Florida and Yale University, where he received his Bachelor of Arts in 1965, and later served in the U.S. Army Reserves from 1965 to 1971. During this time, Nelson studied at the University of Virginia, where he received his law degree in 1968.

Nelson worked as a fire marshal and later as a lawyer before beginning his political career in the Florida House of Representatives. Nelson served in the state house from 1972 to 1979, when he left the state house following his election to the U.S. House of Representatives the following year. Nelson served in the U.S. House from 1979 to 1991. In 1986, he became the second sitting member of congress (first from the House) to travel into space; Nelson flew aboard the Space Shuttle Columbia on the STS-61-C mission with six other astronauts from January 12-18, where he was the payload specialist. By the end of the mission, Nelson had traveled over 2.1 million miles in 96 earth orbits and logged over 146 hours in space. Ten days after his return, on January 28, 1986, the Space Shuttle Challenger exploded shortly after lift-off.

Nelson ran an unsuccessful campaign for the Democratic nomination for Governor of Florida in 1990. He lost to former U.S. Senator Lawton Chiles, who went on to win the general election. During the campaign, he tried to make an issue out of Chiles' health and age, a strategy that backfired on him in a state with a large population of retirees and senior citizens. From 1995 to 2000, Nelson was the Treasurer and Insurance Commissioner of Florida. In 2000, Nelson won the election for Florida senator, beating then-Representative Bill McCollum, the Republican candidate in an open seat election to replace retiring Republican incumbent Connie Mack.

Nelson has been a vocal opponent of oil drilling off Florida's coast. He has fought for benefits and health care for veterans and their spouses, and he has fought for a Medicare prescription drug benefit that allows the government to negotiate for lower drug prices from pharmaceutical companies. He is generally regarded as a moderate, and was among the few Democrats to vote in favor of CAFTA. He has also voted in favor of tighter bankruptcy restrictions and abolishing the estate tax. Astronaut