Bill and his sister Kathy were injured, but survived, and moved to Swarthmore, Pennsylvania, to be raised by their aunt and uncle.

[1] He attended Antioch College in Yellow Springs, Ohio where he studied communications, and moved to Oregon in 1969 where he worked as a news reporter, director, and producer in Bandon, Eugene, and Portland.

[3] Following the resignation of Phil Keisling, Governor John Kitzhaber appointed Bradbury to be Oregon Secretary of State in November 1999.

As Secretary of State, Bradbury implemented the system, the first of its kind in the nation, which has increased voter participation in Oregon and decreased vote fraud.

[citation needed] He also increased the transparency of financial transactions in our elections by having the Secretary of State's website host ORESTAR, an electronic reporting system for campaign contributions and spending.

Bradbury also took the lead in coordinating state agencies to create an online business registry in Oregon to reduce paperwork and filing fees.

After leaving office, Bradbury traveled the state, giving over 200 presentations on climate change and its effects on Oregon.