William Anderson graduated from the United States Naval Academy in 1942 and served in the United States Navy from 1957 to 1962. He participated in 11 submarine combat patrols in the Pacific and was awarded the Bronze Star and other combat awards. Anderson was the commanding officer of the Nautilus, the first atomic submarine, from 1957 to 1959 and made the first transpolar voyage under ice. He also served as assistant to Vice Admiral H. G. Rickover; was a consultant to President Kennedy for the National Service Corps, 1963; and was elected to Congress. Before his death in 2007, he was a resident of Alexandria, Virginia.
