Anderson, William Robert, CAPT

“He loved Tennessee, and he loved the Navy,” said Pat Anderson, who married Captain Anderson in 1980 and lives in Virginia.“His real strength was in giving other people the credit,” she said. “He treated everyone with great respect. … He was just totally unpretentious. He truly was shy. He hated cocktail parties and dreaded reunions. He was not a show guy.”

Born in Bakerville, Tennessee, on June 17, 1921, Captain Anderson graduated from Columbia Military Academy in Columbia, Tennessee, and the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis in 1942. He quickly advanced, becoming a Captain at 39.

He participated in 11 submarine combat patrol missions missions and was honored with the Bronze Star as well as other awards.

In 1964, Captain Anderson was elected to the U.S. Congress and represented Tennessee’s 6th District as a Democrat for four terms. At that time, the 6th District included 16 counties, including Trousdale, Sumner, Robertson, Cheatham, Montgomery, Dickson, Williamson, Maury and Rutherford.

“The people in this district are people with confidence in Tennessee and the nation to move forward to meet the challenges of this complicated era,” Captain Anderson was quoted as saying in November 1964 after winning the congressional seat. He was defeated in 1972 after he spoke out against the Vietnam war and publicly challenged then FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover about the treatment of anti-war activists and brothers Daniel and Philip Berrigan. Captain Anderson also served as consultant to Presidents John Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson on the National Service Corps.

After his retirement from the Navy, Captain Anderson and his wife, Pat, founded Public Office Corporation, a data management firm.

Submarine combat war patrols:
USS Tarpon (SS-175) - 4th
USS Narwhal (SS-167) - 5th through 12th
USS Trutta (SS-421) - 1st through 3rd