11 Facts About Bill Emerson

Norvell William Emerson was an American politician.

Bill Emerson served as a member of the United States House of Representatives from Missouri from 1981 until his death from lung cancer in Bethesda, Maryland in 1996.

Bill Emerson was succeeded in the House by his widow, Jo Ann Emerson.

Bill Emerson was raised in Jefferson County, Missouri and attended public schools in nearby Hillsboro.

Bill Emerson served as a House Page and graduated from Westminster College in Fulton, Missouri in 1959.

Bill Emerson attended law school at the University of Missouri and the University of Baltimore, graduating with his LL.

Bill Emerson was a captain in the United States Air Force Reserve from 1964 to 1992.

Bill Emerson was serving as a congressional page serving on the floor during the 1954 United States Capitol shooting incident involving Puerto Rican terrorists.

In 1988, after an intervention with his family and friends, Bill Emerson acknowledged his alcoholism and spent a month at the Betty Ford Center.

Bill Emerson later helped create the House Employee Assistance Program which provides legislative and administrative support services for the House, later expanded to the Senate, and helps alcoholics find treatment.

Bill Emerson was succeeded by his widow, Jo Ann Emerson.