William Emerson Brock III (November 23, 1930 – March 25, 2021) was an American Republican politician who served in both chambers of the United States Congress from 1963 to 1977 and later in the United States Cabinet from 1981 to 1987. He was the grandson of William Emerson Brock Sr., a Democratic U.S. senator who represented Tennessee from 1929 to 1931. Early life and career Brock was a native of Chattanooga, where his family owned a well-known candy company. He was the son of Myra (Kruesi) and William Emerson Brock, Jr. Brock was a 1949 graduate of McCallie School and a 1953 graduate of Washington and Lee University in Lexington, Virginia, in 1953 and subsequently served in the U.S. Navy until 1956. He then worked in his family's candy business. Brock had been reared as a Democrat, but became a Republican in the 1950s. In 1962, he was elected to Congress from Tennessee's 3rd congressional district, based in Chattanooga. The 3rd had long been the only Democratic outpost in traditionally heavily Republican East Tennessee; indeed, Brock's victory ended 40 years of Democratic control in the district. Underlining this district's conservative bent, Brock was reelected in 1964 by over nine points amid Lyndon Johnson's 44-state landslide. He was again re-elected in 1966 and 1968. During Brock's tenure in the House, he voted in favor of the Civil Rights Act of 1968, but voted against the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. United States Senator Brock served four terms in the House and then won the Republican nomination to face three term incumbent U.S. Sen. Albert Gore Sr. in 1970, defeating country singer Tex Ritter in the primary. Brock's campaign was successfully able to make an issue of Gore's friendship with the Kennedy family and Gore's voting record, which was somewhat liberal by Southern standards, and defeated him. While in the Senate, Brock was a darling of the conservative movement but was less popular at home; his personality was somewhat distant by the standards of most politicians. As a freshman U.S. senator he accomplished a great deal even as a minority Republican. He was the original author of the Congressional Budget Act (S. 3984, 92nd Congress and S. 40, 93rd Congress) and as ranking minority of Committee on Government Operations, Subcommittee on Budgeting, Management, and Expenditures led the crafting of the Congressional Budget Bill. He sponsored