Star Trek: How EVERY Captain Became Captain
1. Captain William T. Riker
Will Riker was born and raised in Alaska, to parents Kyle and Betty Riker, though Betty died when Will was only two. The two men did not grow up close to one another, allowing a rift to exist between them for thirty years.
He excelled once he entered the academy, even though he felt out of place in his first year. He managed to show tactical prowess by calculating the blind spot of a Tholian vessel and hiding his ship within it. He finished eighth in his class, receiving an assignment to the USS Pegasus, under Captain Pressman.
After the mutiny and cover up aboard the Pegasus, Riker was then stationed to Betazed (where he met his future wife, Deanna Troi) and was then assigned as Lieutenant aboard the USS Potemkin. It was while serving aboard this ship that the transporter accident occurred, creating a duplicate Riker.
He was promoted again, this time to first officer aboard the USS Hood, which then resulted in him being offered his first command of the USS Drake. He turned it down to serve aboard the Enterprise-D.
During his tenure on the Enterprise, he was also offered command of the USS Aries and the USS Melbourne, both of which he turned down. HE would finally achieve the Captain's rank after Picard's assimilation by the Borg, though he went back in rank to commander after Picard's return.
He finally accepted the permanent promotion in 2379, when he took command of the USS Titan.