Jones became a
businessman. Soon after graduation he married and started a family. After getting established in local life, Jones was elected as
mayor of
Farmville from 1949 to 1953. He was elected to the
North Carolina General Assembly from 1955 to 1959, and to the North Carolina State Senate in 1965. Jones was elected as a
Democrat to the
89th United States Congress by
special election to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Representative
Herbert C. Bonner. He was reelected to the
90th,
91st,
92nd,
93rd,
94th,
95th,
96th,
97th,
98th,
99th,
100th,
101st, and
102nd United States Congresses, serving from February 5, 1966 to September 15, 1992. He was the chairman of the
Committee on Merchant Marine and Fisheries from the 97th through 102nd Congresses. He died in
Norfolk, Virginia. His son
Walter B. Jones Jr. served as a
Republican congressman in North Carolina from 1995 to 2019. Walter Sr. is buried in Forest Hills Cemetery in
Farmville, North Carolina. ==See also==