Zeliff was born in East Orange, New Jersey in June 1936, Zeliff graduated from Milford High School in Milford, Connecticut in 1954 and received his B.S. at the University of Connecticut in 1959, where he was a member of the Delta Chi fraternity. He served in the Connecticut Army National Guard from 1958–64 and afterwards was in the United States Army Reserve.^{[citation needed]}.

Zeliff worked as a sales and marketing manager in the consumer products division of E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company from 1959 to 1976 and was also an innkeeper and small business owner. He ran unsuccessfully for the New Hampshire Senate in 1984 and was a delegate to the 1988 Republican National Convention which nominated George H. W. Bush for the presidency.^{[citation needed]}

He was elected to the United States House of Representatives in 1990, took seat in 1991 and was reelected in 1992 and 1994. In 1996, Zeliff opted to instead run in the gubernatorial race for Governor of New Hampshire. He lost the nomination to the chairman of the New Hampshire Board of Education Ovide Lamontagne who went on to lose the election to New Hampshire State Senator Jeanne Shaheen.^{[citation needed]} Zeliff was a member of the ReFormers Caucus of Issue One.^[1]

Zeliff lived in Jackson, New Hampshire and Venice, Florida, and worked as a private advocate. He was married to Sydna Taylor and had three children.

He died at home in Florida on October 18, 2021, at the age of 85.^[2]

• United States Congress. "Bill Zeliff (id: Z000004)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
• Electronic Frontiers New Hampshire: Bill Zeliff
• Appearances on C-SPAN