Bill Bradley

Bill Bradley, full name William Warren Bradley (1943- ), American political leader and professional basketball player, United States senator from New Jersey (1979-1997). Born in Crystal City, Missouri, Bradley was educated at Princeton University, where he was an All-American basketball player. He was a member of the victorious 1964 U.S. Olympic basketball team and was named college player of the year in 1965. Graduating with honors in 1965, he turned down a lucrative contract offer from the New York Knickerbockers of the National Basketball Association (NBA) to accept a Rhodes Scholarship to Oxford University in England. He joined the Knicks as a forward in 1967 and retired from basketball ten years later, after a career that included two NBA championships. His book Life on the Run (1976) was hailed for its honesty and insight into the world of professional athletes. He was elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1983.

Bradley entered politics in 1978, winning his first electoral race and becoming the youngest member of the U.S. Senate. Hardworking and conscientious, he was reelected in 1984 and 1990 and developed into a leading liberal Democratic spokesman. In 1991 he opposed the use of force to end the Iraqi occupation of Kuwait. In July 1992 Bradley was a keynote speaker at the Democratic National Convention in New York City. He declined to seek reelection to the Senate in 1996, declaring that politics in the United States were “broken.” In 2000 he challenged Vice President Al Gore for the Democratic nomination for president. In March 2000 he withdrew from the race after failing to win any of the early state primaries.