[1] Born in Giles County on April 20, 1939, Stafford was educated at the College of William and Mary and received a B.A.
Stafford served 2 years in the U.S. Army infantry in Korea, then practiced law in Pearisburg (the seat of Giles County) and surrounding areas in southwest Virginia.
[3] Stafford won re-election nine times against various Democrats (and twice without opposition), although in subsequent reapportionments Craig County would be added in 1974, and then the city of Radford.
[4] Stafford challenged incumbent Democrat Rick Boucher to represent Virginia's 9th district in the U.S. Congress, but lost narrowly in 1984.
[5] His wife Barbara, a fellow Giles county native and homemaker as well as president of the Pearisburg Junior Women's club, succeeded to the seat for one term upon his death in office in 1990.