Preceded by Vance Wilkins Spouse Cecelia Stump (m. 1966) | Preceded by Thomas Moncure Role Politician Preceded by Clinton Miller Name William Howell Succeeded by Jim Scott | |
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Full Name William James Howell Born May 8, 1943 (age 81) Washington, D.C., U.S. ( 1943-05-08 ) Education University of Virginia, University of Richmond, University of Virginia School of Law | ||
Remarks of speaker william j howell on 2014 session
William James "Bill" Howell (born May 8, 1943) is an American politician from the Commonwealth of Virginia. He represents Virginia's 28th House of Delegates district and has served as Speaker of the Virginia House of Delegates since 2003. He also serves as chairman of the Virginia Sesquicentennial of the American Civil War Commission.
Contents
- Remarks of speaker william j howell on 2014 session
- Virginia house of delegates district 28 candidate forum r william j howell d kandy a hilliard
- Early life and education
- House of Delegates service and speakership
- Personal life
- References
Virginia house of delegates district 28 candidate forum r william j howell d kandy a hilliard
Early life and education
William James Howell was born on May 8, 1943 in Washington, D.C., the second of four children of William Fayette Howell and the former Eileen Hill. His father, an employee of the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration, joined the World Bank in 1946, where he served in a number of executive positions until his death in 1964. His mother, a native of England and daughter of trade unionist and academic Levi Hill, accompanied her father on a lecture tour of the United States, where she met her future husband.
About a year after Howell's birth, the family moved to Alexandria, Virginia, where he grew up. After graduating from Francis C. Hammond High School in 1960, he studied business administration at the University of Richmond, where he was classmates with Robert S. Jepson, Jr. and Leslie M. Baker, Jr. He attended the University of Virginia School of Law and was admitted to the state bar in 1967.
Howell was raised in a civically active family and described both of his parents as "New Deal Democrats." Citing a need to discover his own political philosophy while at college, he spent a summer reading different authors from across the ideological spectrum and was eventually influenced by the conservative ideas of Barry Goldwater and Ronald Reagan.
House of Delegates service and speakership
In 1987, three-term incumbent Republican delegate Thomas M. Moncure Jr. announced that he would not be seeking reelection. Howell ran for the open seat at the urging of state senator John Chichester and easily won the three-way race against Democrat Thomas Savage and Independent Al Fagan.
Personal life
Howell married Cecelia Joy "Cessie" Stump in 1966. They live in Falmouth in Stafford County, Virginia. The couple had two sons, William Fayette Howell, II and Leland Jack Howell. Howell is a deeply religious Baptist, and, in the 1990s, along with Bob McDonnell, Randy Forbes, and one other delegate, he founded a prayer group and Bible study that meets weekly when the Virginia General Assembly is in session.