Watch Congressman Wolf on the floor of the House

Congressman Wolf talks with students about his stuttering

Frank Wolf remembers the moment he wanted to be a Congressman. It was in the third grade in Philadelphia, when schoolmates laughed at the young man who stuttered for dreaming about going to Washington.  And the laughter from his classmates continued throughout his school days.

"How are you going to run for Congress when you can't even talk in front of the class?" they asked.

Today, Wolf has proven his young critics wrong: he represents Virginia's 10th Congressional District and has done so successfully for 33 years. 

Ironically, Wolf said he wouldn't have become a congressman if it had not been for his stutter. That's because he said it gave him the drive to succeed.

"I thank God for the fact that I stuttered," Wolf said.  "It's a good thing that happened to me.  I consider it an uncommon gift."

After graduating from Philadelphia's public schools, Wolf attended Penn State University and sought out speech therapy. While at Penn State, he recalled being sent out by his therapist to the corner store to buy a candy bar to practice his speech.  A frustrated clerk handed him the candy bar before he could finish a sentence.

Yet Wolf said he didn't let his handicap hold him back. 

For example, he took Dale Carnegie classes to improve his public speaking.

"I forced myself never to avoid doing something," he said.

Today Wolf speaks fluently, though he says that he sometimes avoids the telephone at home. Talking on the telephone is often one of the most difficult speaking situations for someone who stutters.

Asked what therapy he thought worked best, he smiled: "It was the magic pill that did it." The magic pill was his belief that therapy would work and his perseverance in carrying it out.

His advice to others is to remember that if you stutter, you're in good company. Famous people who stutter included Annie Glenn, singer Carly Simon, actors Bruce Willis and James Earl Jones, and many more.

After graduating from Penn State in 1961, Wolf received his law degree from Georgetown University in 1965 and became a lawyer.

He worked on a congressional staff and at the Department of the Interior before running for Congress.

His drive helped him overcome two electoral defeats before he was elected on his third attempt in 1980, a rare feat for any Congressman.

Updated March 11, 2014