Bill McCollum
American lawyer and politician (born 1944)
Ira William McCollum Jr. (born July 12, 1944) is an American politician who served as the 36th attorney general of Florida from 2007 to 2011 and in the United States House of Representatives from 1981 to 2001, representing Florida's 5th congressional district, which was redistricted to the 8th congressional district in 1993. As a member of the House, McCollum rose to become Vice Chairman of the House Republican Conference, the fifth-highest ranking position in the House Republican leadership. He voted to impeach President Bill Clinton and subsequently took a leadership role in managing Clinton's trial in the Senate, which ended in acquittal.
McCollum was the Republican nominee for the United States Senate in 2000, hoping to replace the retiring Republican Connie Mack III, losing to Democratic nominee Bill Nelson. McCollum ran for the Republican nomination for the U.S. Senate again in 2004 but lost to Mel Martínez. He was also an unsuccessful candidate for the Republican nomination in the 2010 Florida gubernatorial election, losing to businessman Rick Scott.
Early life
Born and raised in Brooksville, Florida, McCollum graduated from Hernando High School and earned his bachelor's degree and J.D. degree from the University of Florida. While at the University of Florida, he was inducted into the University of Florida Hall of Fame, the most prestigious honor a student leader could receive, was a member of The Board, and served as president of Florida Blue Key.
McCollum's professional career began in 1969 with the United States Navy's Judge Advocate General Corps where he served on active duty until 1972.
“Bill McCollum” enters the record as american lawyer and politician (born 1944). Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Bill, McCollum and American can confirm, complicate or overturn.
Why this record matters
“Bill McCollum” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Bill, McCollum and American provides the most credible route into that argument.
The entry’s evidential value lies in the named roles, institutions and publications that can be tested against primary documentation. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 18, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q862294. VIAF identifies the subject as 265207214. The Library of Congress control number is no2012118208. 3 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1944, 2007, 2011 and 1981.
Public reputation and documentary evidence do not always develop together; absence from a summary is not evidence of historical absence. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Read biographical claims against dates, named institutions and the cited references. Distinguish a subject’s later reputation from evidence produced during their lifetime.
- Establishing names and roles
- Building a first chronology
- Locating cited institutions
Personal papers, civil or court records, institutional files and the scholarship cited by the source.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Bill McCollum”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Bill McCollum primary sources, Bill McCollum archive and Bill research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Bill McCollum”?
- How has the subject’s reputation changed across later accounts?
- Which claims depend on a single source or contested interpretation?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Bill McCollum” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.