A shrewd "head counter" within the Senate Republican leadership, Bill Hildenbrand first came to Capitol Hill in 1957 to serve on the staff of a Delaware representative. In 1961 he joined the office of Delaware senator J. Caleb Boggs. When Senator Hugh Scott became Republican whip in 1969, he made Hildenbrand his administrative assistant. In 1974 Hildenbrand was elected secretary for the minority and became a familiar figure on the Senate floor. After the Republicans won the majority in 1980, Hildenbrand was elected secretary of the Senate. He served as secretary during a time when the Office of the Secretary was rapidly expanding and the role of the secretary was evolving from that of a political agent back to an institutional and administrative officer. Both as Republican party secretary and as secretary of the Senate, Hildenbrand helped to facilitate the rapid computerization of the workplace, including introducing a new computerized catalog for the Senate Library and the adoption of computer use in the Chamber by Senate parliamentarians.
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