Sen. William Philip 'Phil' Gramm

Sen. William Philip 'Phil' Gramm¹

• Father*: Kenneth Marsh Gramm (c 1900? - c 1957)
• Mother*: Florence Scroggins (1913 - 2005)

• Reference: [32303:0]

Vitals

Events

• Biography*: 7 Feb 1996, Washington Post, Washington, DC, * * *
  A Distaste for School
  
  As a politician, Gramm is known for his intense ambition and relentless determination, but neither was much in evidence when he was growing up in postwar Columbus, Ga. He was born at the Fort Benning base hospital on July 8, 1942, the third son of Florence Marie Scroggins, a textile worker, and her third husband, Army Sgt. Kenneth Marsh Gramm.
  
  William Philip Gramm was not quite 2 when his father had a massive stroke and heart attack that made him an invalid. But he was able to teach the boy how to shoot, and read history and mythology aloud to him, hoping to instill some larger goals than hitting targets with a .22.
  
  Gramm's older half-brother Don White, now treasurer of Gramm's Senate campaign, says Phil "resented" the forced enlightenment. He developed reading problems and a distaste for school.
  
  Phil flunked third grade at Wynnton Elementary School, he loves to tell every audience, as well as the 7th and 9th. "I played hooky a lot," he says. He was also a mischief-maker, recalled classmate Bob Upchurch, who remembered Gramm once bolting from a second-floor classroom window after a teacher's scolding. "He landed in a flower bush," Upchurch said, but before long, "his momma brought him back to class. She had him by one of those big ears of his." Mrs. Gramm, an 8th grade dropout, brooked no nonsense and "knew education was the key to a better life, to making more money," White says.
  
  Mrs. Gramm, now 82 and living alone in Phenix City, Ala., still scolds her son for campaign references to his early failures. "Yes, Momma, I know I have a PhD," aides have heard him tell her, "but I have to tell them I struggled through grade school."
  * * *.

• Last Edited: 21 Dec 2014