He was Ambassador of the United States to Barbados, Dominica, St Lucia, Antigua, St. Vincent, and St. Christopher-Nevis-Anguilla from 1984 to 1986 under U.S. President Ronald W.

He is a member of Epsilon Xi chapter of Sigma Nu fraternity at the University of Mississippi.

[3] Anderson served in the Mississippi National Guard before joining Hancock Bank.

[3] After his ambassadorships, Anderson ran for the U.S. House of Representatives in a 1989 special election after Republican Congressman Larkin I. Smith died in a plane crash.

In the primary, he took a strong second place to Democratic state Senator Gene Taylor and Democratic state Attorney General Mike Moore, but lost in the runoff to Taylor by a two-to-one margin.