Bill Sheffield

William Jennings Sheffield (born June 26, 1928, in Spokane, Washington) is an American Democratic politician who was Governor of Alaska from 1982 to 1986. Sheffield's term in the governor's mansion was marked by controversy including attempts to have him impeached. While governor, Sheffield pushed an unpopular bill through the state legislature to consolidate Alaska's time zones. Prior to the passage of this bill, Alaska was spread over four time... more

William Jennings Sheffield (born June 26, 1928, in Spokane, Washington) is an American Democratic politician who was Governor of Alaska from 1982 to 1986. Sheffield's term in the governor's mansion was marked by controversy including attempts to have him impeached. While governor, Sheffield pushed an unpopular bill through the state legislature to consolidate Alaska's time zones. Prior to the passage of this bill, Alaska was spread over four time zones (Pacific, Yukon, Alaska-Hawaii, and Bering). Sheffield's bill placed virtually the entire state (with the sole exception of the Aleutians, starting just west of Dutch Harbor) into the Yukon Time Zone (which was then renamed the Alaska Time Zone). Initially, this was poorly received; those in the panhandle lost their sense of unity with the west coast of the United States, and those in the heartland of the state were placed, in effect, in a perpetual daylight savings time. More than twenty years later, the state legislature was still... less