William Anderson ( naval officer ) William Robert Anderson ( June 17 , 1921 – February 25 , 2007 ) was an officer in the United States Navy , and a U . S . Representative from Tennessee from 1965 to 1973 . Early life and naval career . Anderson was born in Humphreys County , Tennessee in the rural community of Bakerville , south of Waverly . He attended primary school in Waynesboro , Tennessee where his father ran a sawmill . He graduated from the former Columbia Military Academy in Columbia , Tennessee in 1938 , and from the United States Naval Academy as a member of the Class of 1943 , which graduated early in 1942 . Anderson ' s service in World War II was distinguished . He was awarded the Bronze Star and several other combat decorations from participation in a total of eleven combat submarine patrols . He was selected by Admiral Hyman G . Rickover to be the second skipper of the first working nuclear submarine to be placed into service , the USS " Nautilus " , and was its commander from 1957 to 1959 . Anderson and his crew received international notice when the " Nautilus " became the first submarine to sail successfully under the polar ice cap surrounding the North Pole . That transit was completed under direct orders of President Dwight D . Eisenhower , under extreme secrecy , and was in direct response to the launch of the Sputnik satellite by the Russians . The president felt such a display of technological and military capability would offset the advantage won by the Soviets with Sputnik . The voyage by Anderson and his crew led the way for other submarine exploration beneath the ice cap and gave a decided military advantage to the U . S . Anderson received the Legion of Merit from President Eisenhower for leading his crew and ship on this historic mission . Author . He wrote a 1959 book about his journey under the North Pole , " Nautilus 90 North " , co - written with Clay Blair Jr . An updated and more complete book about the North Pole transit , " The Ice Diaries " , with co - author Don Keith , was completed just before Anderson ' s death . The book features previously classified information and many details not available for the first book . Political career . Upon retiring from the Navy , Anderson entered politics . He mounted an independent campaign for governor of Tennessee in 1962 , finishing second to former Democratic governor Frank G . Clement . While the race was not particularly close , he made several important political contacts and provided Clement with his main competition outside of the Republican stronghold of East Tennessee . In 1964 Anderson entered the Democratic primary to replace Sixth District Congressman Ross Bass , who was running for the United States Senate to finish the term of the late Estes Kefauver , and won both the nomination and the subsequent general election . ( Fellow retired naval officer George W . Grider was elected to the Ninth District seat , in the Memphis area , on the same day . ) Anderson was reelected three times . He received less than 70 % of the vote only in 1968 , when Richard Nixon won the state . Anderson proved to be somewhat more liberal than expected for a naval veteran representing a largely rural district in western and central Tennessee . In fact , in the Tennessee congressional delegation of that time , only Richard Fulton of the neighboring 5th District ( Nashville ) had a more liberal voting record . After touring South Vietnam June 1970 , Anderson and fellow Democratic Representative Augustus F . Hawkins drafted a House Resolution urging Congress to “ condemn the cruel and inhumane treatment ” of prisoners in South Vietnam . Anderson and Hawkins had visited South Vietnam with nine other congressmen , but they were the only two to visit a civilian South Vietnamese prison on Con Son Island , which they described as being akin to “ tiger cages ” . The two Representatives also pressured President Nixon to send an independent task force to investigate the prison and “ prevent further degradation and death . ” Anderson was well regarded in some Democratic circles and was sometimes mentioned as potentially having a bright future , with some even suggesting him as a potential vice presidential nominee in 1972 based largely upon his military record . However , Anderson ' s independent gubernatorial race and his progressive tendencies had not been forgotten by many of his fellow Democrats , particularly in the $ 3 . Tennessee was slated to lose a congressional district as a result of reapportionment following the 1970 census , and Anderson ' s district was considerably reconfigured prior to the 1972 elections . Anderson ' s district received a large area around Memphis where Republican influence was strong and growing , while simultaneously losing some solidly Democratic areas . Observers felt that if there was a vulnerable Democratic incumbent in the Tennessee congressional delegation in 1972 , it was probably Anderson . This came to pass in the gigantic Republican landslide of 1972 , in which President Nixon carried 49 of 50 states and 90 of Tennessee ' s 95 counties , and Anderson lost to Republican state personnel commissioner Robin Beard by 12 points . Since then , the district — renumbered the Seventh District in 1983 — has become the state ' s most Republican region outside of East Tennessee , and Democrats made only three serious bids for the seat so far . Anderson retired from public life . He served as an officer with the Public Office Corporation , and lived in Alexandria , Virginia . He died on February 25 , 2007 , after living in Leesburg , Virginia during the final years of his life . After leaving office , Anderson played a key role in automating the administrative procedures in the constituent offices of the House of Representatives . His son William was the classic " early adopter " of mini - computer technology - the DEC 1170 , specifically - and the two of them helped establish a time - sharing company that offered members of Congress an opportunity to improve constituent services . The firm ' s offerings not only improved efficiency , but allowed members to deal efficiently with the tsunami of " interest group " postcards which were then flooding the Hill . He is survived by his wife , Patricia , and his four children , Michael , William , Jane and Thomas Anderson also known as " Mac " .