Clarence William "Bill" Nelson (born September 29, 1942) is the senior U.S. Senator from Florida. Nelson is a member of the Democratic Party. Nelson became the second sitting member of the United States Congress to fly in space (after Jake Garn) when he flew aboard the Space Shuttle Columbia as a Payload Specialist during NASA mission STS-61-C (January 12–18, 1986). Bill Nelson lives in the Baldwin Park neighborhood of Orlando (as does former Rep...
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Clarence William "Bill" Nelson (born September 29, 1942) is the senior U.S. Senator from Florida. Nelson is a member of the Democratic Party. Nelson became the second sitting member of the United States Congress to fly in space (after Jake Garn) when he flew aboard the Space Shuttle Columbia as a Payload Specialist during NASA mission STS-61-C (January 12–18, 1986). Bill Nelson lives in the Baldwin Park neighborhood of Orlando (as does former Republican Senator Mel Martinez) and Washington. The Orlando Sentinel named him among the top 25 most powerful people in Central Florida. Nelson is also a member of The Family.
Nelson was born in Miami to Nannie Merle and C. W. Nelson. He spent his formative years in Melbourne, Florida, where he attended public school. In his youth, he served as the world's International President of Key Club. He attended the University of Florida for three years, where he was a member of Beta Theta Pi, and then transferred to Yale University, where he received...
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