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In 1970, Beard was appointed state personnel commissioner by newly-elected Republican [[Governor]] [[Winfield Dunn]].<ref name=findagrave>Robin Leo Beard Jr. (1939-2007) - Find A Grave Memorial, accessed October 29, 2021.</ref> In 1972, Beard entered the [[Republican Party|GOP]] [[primary]] election for the reconfigured 6th congressional district,<ref name="nashpostobit"/> which was significantly redrawn by the state legislature to be more friendly to a Republican candidate.  

In 1970, Beard was appointed state personnel commissioner by newly-elected Republican [[Governor]] [[Winfield Dunn]].<ref name=findagrave>Robin Leo Beard Jr. (1939-2007) - Find A Grave Memorial, accessed October 29, 2021.</ref> In 1972, Beard entered the [[Republican Party|GOP]] [[primary]] election for the reconfigured 6th congressional district,<ref name="nashpostobit"/> which was significantly redrawn by the state legislature to be more friendly to a Republican candidate.  

In November 1972, buoyed by the reelection campaign of [[U.S. President]] [[Richard M. Nixon]], Beard unseated the Democrat U.S. Representative William Robert Anderson (born 1921), a former [[United States Navy]] commander of the ''Nautilus'' during the first underwater crossing of the [[North Pole]] in 1958. Anderson was also a stanch critic of the [[Vietnam War]] and was considered a protégé of Admiral Hyman G. Rickover (1900-1986). [[U.S. President]] [[Dwight D. Eisenhower]] presented Anderson with the Legion of Merit.<ref>Anderson, William Robert | Tennessee Encyclopedia, accessed October 29, 2021.</ref>

In November 1972, buoyed by the reelection campaign of [[U.S. President]] [[Richard M. Nixon]], Beard unseated the Democrat U.S. Representative William Robert Anderson (born 1921), a former [[United States Navy]] commander of the ''Nautilus'' during the first underwater crossing of the [[North Pole]] in 1958. Anderson was also a stanch critic of the [[Vietnam War]] and was considered a protégé of Admiral [[Hyman G. Rickover]]. [[U.S. President]] [[Dwight D. Eisenhower]] presented Anderson with the Legion of Merit.<ref>Anderson, William Robert | Tennessee Encyclopedia, accessed October 29, 2021.</ref>

Beard excelled at constituent service and held his mostly Republican district for five House terms. However, [[Conservative Democrat]]s continued to dominate in state legislative seats in the district well into the 1980s. In the heavily Democrat year of 1974, Beard was not damaged by the [[Watergate]] affair, for which voters repudiated many Republican candidates who had nothing to do with the scandal. He received that year 56.6 percent of the vote. In 1976, Beard faced former U.S. Senator Ross Bass (1918-1993) who had represented the 6th district from 1955 to 1964. However, Beard easily turned back this challenge despite [[Jimmy Carter]]'s victory over [[Gerald Ford]] in Tennessee. Despite his name recognition, Bass was unable to overcome the challenge of running in territory unfamiliar with him. Beard took over 74 percent of the vote in 1978, and was unopposed in 1980, when [[Ronald Reagan]] unseated Jimmy Carter.

Beard excelled at constituent service and held his mostly Republican district for five House terms. However, [[Conservative Democrat]]s continued to dominate in state legislative seats in the district well into the 1980s. In the heavily Democrat year of 1974, Beard was not damaged by the [[Watergate]] affair, for which voters repudiated many Republican candidates who had nothing to do with the scandal. He received that year 56.6 percent of the vote. In 1976, Beard faced former U.S. Senator Ross Bass (1918-1993) who had represented the 6th district from 1955 to 1964. However, Beard easily turned back this challenge despite [[Jimmy Carter]]'s victory over [[Gerald Ford]] in Tennessee. Despite his name recognition, Bass was unable to overcome the challenge of running in territory unfamiliar with him. Beard took over 74 percent of the vote in 1978, and was unopposed in 1980, when [[Ronald Reagan]] unseated Jimmy Carter.