- most remembered for commanding the nuclear-powered submarine Nautilus on the first cruise beneath the North Pole in August 1958

- career Navy man and submariner, graduating from the US Naval Academy in 1942, seeing action in both WW II and the Korean War and later serving as an aide to Admiral Rickover, the father of the Nuclear Navy

- He was a highly decorated officer, including a Bronze Star.

- co-authored two books, "Nautilus 90 North" and later, after the details were declassified, "The Ice Diaries: The True Story of One of Mankind's Greatest Adventures"

- "Nautilus" was the submarine in Jules Verne's 1869 novels, "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea" and "The Mysterious Island." Capt. Anderson's Nautilus descended to about 400 feet--about a million times shallower than 20,000 leagues (using the 19th Century French league of 4 km).

- ran as an independent for Governor of Tennessee in 1962 with no politic experience or organization. He lost.

- successfully ran for Congressman in 1964 as a Democrat

- He supported the Vietnam War at first, but that started to change in 1970 when he visited South Vietnam.

- Also in 1970, in December, he criticized FBI head J. Edgar Hoover for defaming the anti-war Roman Catholic priests, Daniel J. and Philip F. Berrigan.

- After his surprising support of the antiwar protestors, his popularity dropped and he was defeated in 1972.

- He was described as modest and disliked "all the hoopla" around the North Pole expedition, although the expedition was specifically intended by President Eisenhower to be "spectacular" in reaction to Russia's Sputnik launch.

- Not to be confused with the many other William Andersons. He was in the Navy and the Congress. He was not known for any other fields. His entry at bioguide.congress.gov is very brief. He was certainly not William West Anderson (Adam West), Batman on TV.