Background
Jenkins, Bill was born on November 29, 1936 in Detroit, Michigan, United States.
lawyer politician representative
Jenkins, Bill was born on November 29, 1936 in Detroit, Michigan, United States.
He served in the United States Army from 1959 to 1960, and graduated from Tennessee Technological University and the University of Tennessee College of Law.
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. He is a seventh-generation Tennessean. 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. On May 10, 1996, he resigned his judgeship to run for the House of Representatives from the First Congressional District after 17-term incumbent Jimmy Quillen announced his retirement.
The First District has been in Republican hands for all but four years since 1859.
He was reelected four times without serious opposition, and ran unopposed in 2000 and 2002. His voting record was reliably conservative. As seen on Entertainment and Sports Programming Network: "After the final cast was made, however, bragging rights for the title of "best bass fishermen in Congress" went to United States. Representative Bill Jenkins (R-Tennessee), who teamed up with BASS Elite Series pro Dave Wolak and Toyota"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, a tributary of the Potomac River in Maryland."
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 is turning 70 in November.
Commissioner Tennessee Department Conservation. Policy advisory energy and legislation issues to governor State of Tennessee. Member Tennessee Bar Association, Hawkins County Farm Bureau, American Legion, Masons.
Married Mary Kathryn Myers. 4 children.