William Philip Gramm (born July 8, 1942) is an American economist and politician who represented Texas in both chambers of Congress. Though he began his political career as a Democrat, Gramm switched to the Republican Party in 1983. Gramm was an unsuccessful candidate in the 1996 Republican Party presidential primaries against eventual nominee Bob Dole.

Gramm was born on July 8, 1942, in Fort Benning, Georgia, and grew up in nearby Columbus. Soon after his birth, Gramm's father, Kenneth Marsh Gramm, a career Army sergeant, suffered a stroke and was partially paralyzed. He died when Gramm was 14. Gramm's mother, Florence (née Scroggins), worked double shifts as a nurse to supplement the veterans disability pension.

Gramm attended public schools, graduated in 1961 from Georgia Military Academy (now Woodward Academy), and graduated in 1964 from the University of Georgia, where he was a member of the Phi Kappa Literary Society. He received a doctorate in economics from the University of Georgia's Terry College of Business in 1967.

Gramm taught economics at Texas A&M University from 1967 to 1978. In addition to teaching, Gramm founded the economic consulting firm Gramm and Associates (1971–1978).

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 was reelected to his House seat as a Democrat in 1980.

Gramm's voting record was very conservative, even by Texas Democratic standards of the time. During his first four terms, he tallied an average rating of 89 from the American Conservative Union, and from 1980 to 1982 he garnered the highest rating from that body of any Democrat in the Texas delegation. In 1981, he co-sponsored the Gramm-Latta Budget which implemented President Ronald Reagan's economic program, increased military spending, cut other spending, and mandated the Economic Recovery Tax Act of 1981 (the Kemp-Roth Tax Cut).^{[citation needed]}

Just days after being reelected in 1982, Gramm was thrown off the House Budget Committee. In response, Gramm resigned his House seat on January 5, 1983. He then ran as a Republican for his own vacancy in a February 12, 1983 special election, and won easily. One of his many special election opponents was the second-place finisher by only 115 votes in his 1978 Democratic Party primary, the then newly elected State Senator Chet Edwards of Waco, and later U.S. Representative for the 11th and the 17th congressional districts of Texas (January 3, 1991 – January 3, 2011). Another special election opponent was Texas State Representative Dan Kubiak of Rockdale, Texas. Gramm became the first Republican to represent the district since its creation in 1846.

After he left the House, the seat was retained for the Republican Party by Joe Barton.