High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! Lawton Mainor Chiles, Jr. (April 3, 1930 – December 12, 1998), was an American politician from the U.S. state of Florida. Originally a Korean War veteran, Chiles later return to Florida for law school and eventually opened his own private practice in 1955. Three years later, Chiles entered politics by a successful bid for the Florida House of Representatives in 1958, as a member of Democratic Party. By 1966, Chiles left the Florida House to run for the Florida Senate. Despite 12 years in the Florida Legislature, Chiles was relatively unknown when he initially decided to bid for United States Senate in 1970. Thus, he embarked on a 1,003 mile walk from Key West to Pensacola, earning him the nickname "Walkin` Lawton". It was successful and Chiles defeated his opponent William C. Cramer by a 53.9%-46.1% margin. Chiles retired from the United States Senate and from politics entirely in 1989.