US Congressman. He served in the United States House of Representatives from the 6th District of Alabama from January 3, 1965 to January 3, 1981. He served in the United States Navy from 1945 to 1946. After his military service, he relocated to Alabama to attend Samford University in Birmingham where he graduated from in 1949. He went on to do graduate work at the University of Virginia before transferring to the Southern Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky. He graduated from the seminary in 1957 and later served as pastor of churches in Tennessee, Alabama, and Virginia. While as a pastor in Birmingham, Alabama, he made an unsuccessful run, as a Republican, for a seat in the United States House of Representatives in 1962. He continued as a pastor and also served as the finance director for the Alabama Republican Party from 1962 to 1964. He ran again in 1964 for Congress against incumbent Democratic Rep. George Huddleston Jr. in Alabama's 6th District and was successful in the November general election. He would serve in the House of Representatives for eight terms before losing re-nomination to fellow Republican Albert L. Smith Jr. in 1980. During his House tenure, he was considered a moderate-to-liberal Republican and was a strong advocate for both civil rights and women's rights. He was also a member of the United States delegation to the United Nations (1973 and 1984) and a member of the United States delegation to the United Nations Human Rights Committee (1978-1980). After leaving the House, he was the chairman of the Fund for the Improvement of Post-Secondary Education in the Department of Education from 1981 to 1983. He was also on the board of the group People for the American Way from 1982 to 2018.