Walter Flowers
Walter Winkler Flowers, Jr. (April 12, 1933 – April 12, 1984) was an American Democratic politician who served in the U.S. House of Representatives from Alabama from 1969 to 1979. He represented the 5th district (1969–1973) and the 7th district (1973–1979). Born in Greenville, Alabama, he grew up in Tuscaloosa and earned degrees from the University of Alabama in 1955 and 1957, then studied international law at the University of London in 1957–58. He served as a Reserve Lieutenant in Army Intelligence and worked as a lawyer before entering politics. He was elected on November 5, 1968, and served five terms in Congress.
On the House Judiciary Committee, he helped move impeachment proceedings against President Richard Nixon in 1974. Flowers, a conservative Democrat, initially leaned against impeachment but ultimately voted to impeach, saying there would be no acceptable standard of conduct otherwise. He was influential and worked with Republicans, and he supported George Wallace, serving as Wallace’s national campaign chairman in 1972. In 1978 he ran for the U.S. Senate but lost in the Democratic primary to Howell Heflin and then retired from politics to McLean, Virginia. He died of a heart attack in McLean on his 51st birthday and was buried in Arlington National Cemetery.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 08:08 (CET).