Mac Collins was born on October 15, 1944 in Jackson, Georgia. He attended Jackson High School, and afterwards he worked for his dad’s (Henry Collins) concrete company rather than attend college. He developed a passion to run a small business as a result of the success of his dad’s concrete mixing business. This decision also allowed him to marry his high school girlfriend, Julie Watkins. They had four children together. Mac Collins incorporated Collins Ready Mix Concrete, Inc., to Collins Trucking Co., Inc., and thus his business became focused on hauling timber. At its peaks, Collins Trucking Co., Inc., operated over thirty trucks that hauled timber for Georgia Pacific as part of an exclusive contract. In 1992, his son Michael (Mike) Collins purchased the company from him. Mac Collins was also a member of the Georgia Army National Guard from 1964 to 1970.

Mac Collins began his political career in 1977 as a Democrat, and he won election to the Butts County Commission. He served on the Butts County Commission until 1980 when he switched from the Democratic Party to the Republican Party. He lost election to the Georgia State Senate in the 1984 and the 1986 elections. These defeats did not demoralize him, as he won election for the Georgia State Senate’s seventeenth district in 1988. His district contained the counties of Butts, Clayton, and Henry. At the start of the 140 Georgia General Assembly, he was only one of eleven Republicans in the Georgia State Senate compared to forty-five Democrats.

Mac Collins served on the Special Judiciary committee, and he fought for stricter drug laws as part of the war on drugs. He sponsored different bills that would result in longer prison sentences for those who were convicted of drug selling and trafficking. He also served on the Corrections committee, and he argued that more money needed to be spent on the prison system. According to him, the granting of early parole allowed for many dangerous criminals to be released back into society. He worked on the Education committee and asked for more state funding for school programs that work effectively.

In 1992, the Georgia General Assembly redistricted the Six Congressional District which was the old district of Republican Newt Gingrich. This act moved much of the former territory of Newt Gingrich to the district in which Mac Collins lived. Immediately, Collins declared himself a candidate for the United States House of Representatives, and he defeated Paul Broun in the Republican primary. He later won by over ten points versus incumbent Congressman Richard Ray in the General Election. He was a member of the United States House of Representatives from 1993-2004. In 2004, he ran unsuccessfully in the Republican primary versus Johnny Isakson for the Republican nomination for the United States Senate. Mac Collins died on November 20, 2018, near Jackson, Georgia.