William Philip Gramm (born July 8, 1942) is an American economist and politician who represented Texas in both chambers of Congress.

Gramm's mother, Florence (née Scroggins),[4] worked double shifts as a nurse to supplement the veterans disability pension.

In 1976, Gramm unsuccessfully challenged Texas Democratic Senator Lloyd Bentsen, in the party's senatorial primary.

Then in 1978 Gramm successfully ran as a Democrat for Representative from Texas's 6th congressional district, which stretched from the Fort Worth suburbs to College Station.

He defeated Congressman Ron Paul, former gubernatorial nominee Henry Grover, Robert Mosbacher, Jr., of Houston, and several of other contenders in the primary.

[9] In October 1985, Gramm, Fritz Hollings, and Warren Rudman sponsored an amendment to establish a budget deficits ceiling that would decline to zero by 1991 that was attached to a bill raising the debt limit of the federal government by more than $250 billion.

The amendment was approved by a vote of 75 to 24 and was stated as a possible prelude to a balanced budget in five years without a tax increase by United States Secretary of the Treasury James Baker: "I think it's important that we recognize the Gramm-Rudman amendment is basically a process designed to give the legislative branch and in some degree the executive branch, the political will to deal with the deficit.

Richard "Dickey" Flatt owns a family-run printing business started by his father and mother in Mexia, Texas, and is a longtime Gramm supporter".

[12] In Gramm's eyes, Flatt embodied the burdens that a typical Texas independent small businessman faced in the realm of taxation and government spending.

[13] Gramm ran unsuccessfully for the Republican Party nomination in the 1996 presidential election, for which he had raised $8 million as early as July 1994.

[12] Although he began the race with a full war-chest and tied for first place with Dole in the 1995 Iowa Straw Poll, his campaign was fatally wounded In 1995 when the scandal broke out that he had previously invested in the porn movies industry, which led the New York Post to nickname him "Porno-Gramm".

New Orleans Times Picayune political columnist Otis Pike noted the loss could be traced to the passion of the supporters for Buchanan compared to those for Gramm.

"[17] At least part of this was because James Dobson infamously said, "I walked into that meeting fully expecting to support Phil Gramm for President.

This poor showing in a state adjacent to Texas plus placing 5th in Iowa's caucuses resulted in Gramm's withdrawal from the contest on the Sunday before the New Hampshire primary.

[26] Gramm's support was later critical in the passage of the Commodity Futures Modernization Act of 2000, which kept derivatives transactions, including those involving credit default swaps, free of government regulation.

[27] In its 2008 coverage of the financial crisis, The Washington Post named Gramm one of seven "Key Players In the Battle Over Regulating Derivatives", for having "pushed through several major bills to deregulate the banking and investment industries, including the 1999 Gramm–Leach–Bliley act that brought down the walls separating the commercial banking, investment and insurance industries".

[31] In January 2009 Guardian City editor Julia Finch identified Gramm as one of twenty-five people who were at the heart of the financial meltdown.

He added, "We have sort of become a nation of whiners, you just hear this constant whining, complaining about a loss of competitiveness, America in decline.

"[46] Upon Rubio's withdrawal from the race, Gramm endorsed fellow Texan Ted Cruz, calling him "a fearless leader and fighter for conservatives all over the country".

He is married to Wendy Lee Gramm, a native of Hawaii, who is associated with George Mason University's Mercatus Center in Virginia.

[48] After the 1999 Aggie Bonfire collapse, Gramm offered the F-16 flyover reserved for his future funeral as a U.S. senator to be given instead to the Texas A&M community.