Siler was born in
Williamsburg,
Kentucky, to Lowell (Jones) and
Eugene Siler. His father was a
United States Congressman, serving as a representative from
Kentucky's 8th Congressional District from 1955 to 1963. Following the 8th district's elimination, he represented
Kentucky's 5th Congressional District from 1963 to 1965. Previously, his father had also been elected to the
Kentucky Court of Appeals and was the
Republican nominee for governor in the
1951 Kentucky Gubernatorial election. Siler received a
Bachelor of Arts degree from
Vanderbilt University in 1958, a
Bachelor of Laws degree from the
University of Virginia School of Law in 1963, and a
Master of Laws degree from
Georgetown University Law Center in 1964. He joined the
United States Navy as a
Midshipman in 1957. The next year, he was commissioned as a
lieutenant in the
United States Naval Reserve, and saw active duty from 1958 to 1960. He would remain in the reserves until his retirement in 1983 at the rank of
commander. ==Career==