Sam Melville GIBBONS, Congress, FL (1920)

GIBBONS, Sam Melville, a Representative from Florida; born in Tampa, Hillsborough County, Fla., January 20, 1920; attended the University of Florida, Gainesville, Fla.; LL.B., University of Florida, Gainesville, Fla., 1947; admitted to the Florida bar in 1947; lawyer, private practice; United States Army, the Five Hundred and First Parachute Infantry, One Hundred and First Airborne Division, 1941-1945; member of the Florida state house of representatives, 1953-1958; member of the Florida state senate, 1959-1962; delegate, Democratic National Conventions, 1964, 1968 and 1984; elected as a Democrat to the Eighty-eighth and to the sixteen succeeding Congresses (January 3, 1963-January 3, 1997); chairman, Committee on Ways and Means (One Hundred Third Congress); was not a candidate for reelection to the One Hundred Fifth Congress in 1996.

Source: Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1771-Present