Joel T. Broyhill
Joel Thomas Broyhill (November 4, 1919 â September 24, 2006) was a Virginia Moderate Republican and establishment politician known for being among the first in the party elected to Congress from the Democratic state in decades, along with Richard Harding Poff. A segregationist, he and Poff were the only Republicans to sign the Southern Manifesto in 1956 which opposed the U.S. Supreme Court ruling Brown v. Board of Education that ordered the desegregation of public schools.[2]
| Joel Thomas Broyhill | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| |||
| Former U.S. Representative from Virginia's 10th Congressional District From: January 3, 1953 â December 31, 1974 | |||
| Predecessor | (none, district established) | ||
| Successor | Joseph L. Fisher | ||
| Information | |||
| Party | Republican | ||
| Spouse(s) | Jane M. Bragg (died 1978) Suzanne Meinert | ||
| Religion | Lutheran[1] | ||
| Military Service | |||
| Allegiance | United States | ||
| Service/branch | United States Army | ||
| Service Years | 1942â1945 | ||
| Rank | Captain | ||
| Unit | 106th Infantry Division | ||
| Battles/wars | World War II | ||
U.S. House of Representatives
In 1952, the 10th congressional district of Virginia was newly established, situated in the affluent northern counties. Broyhill ran for the seat in the election cycle coinciding with the presidential election that year and barely won by a margin of less than one percent, drastically aided by the coattails of Republican Dwight D. Eisenhower, who swept the state.[3] Broyhill went on to be reelected ten times.[4]
In Congress, Broyhill represented the interests of suburban white residents, heavily supporting segregation. Economic historian Murray N. Rothbard wrote of the Eisenhower Southern Republicans he belonged to:[5]
| â | ...the Eisenhower delegations, the representatives of the "progressive" white suburbanite businessmen of the Southern Republican future, were known quite properly as the Lilywhites. | â |
â"The Betrayal of the American Right," Ch. 10 | ||
On national issues, Broyhill was a noted opponent of the liberal New Frontier and Great Society initiatives of the John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson presidencies respectively.[6] However, he was considerably progressive especially on local issues, sponsoring:
| â | ...legislation that led to the construction of the Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson bridges across the Potomac River and the second span of the 14th Street Bridge. He also sponsored a measure that led to the widening of Shirley Highway. He fought for better pay and working conditions for federal employees, federal aid to local school systems and financial support for Metro. | â |
âWashington Post obituary, Sep. 27, 2006 | ||
He backed the 23rd Amendment, granting residents of the District of Columbia the right vote in presidential elections, in addition to the 26th Amendment that lowered the voting age for all U.S. citizens from 21 to 18.[6] The Washington Post also noted Broyhill's support for aid to grandparents who took care of their grandchildren.
Broyhill was criticized for racism when he adamantly opposed granting "home rule" to Washington, D.C., comprised mostly of blacks.[6] According to one author, he along with Democratic colleague John L. McMillan of South Carolina "did the most to restrain black Washingtonians' political freedom."[7]
He lost reelection in the 1974 midterms, when an anti-Republican wave resulting from the Watergate scandal swept the nation.[8]
Quotes
| â | Anybody who thinks war is a glorious, grand thing is crazy. It's a dirty, deadly thing. And it takes several years out of the prime of many young men's lives. I would not want to go through it again, and I wouldn't take $10 million for it. But it's an experience that I think is invaluable, learning how to exist, how to be part of a training, training other people, disciplining yourself, being subject to discipline, assessing yourself the discipline for others you are training, commanding others, having to move from place to place like you have to, learning to exist on what was there.[6] | â |
References
- â Brownlee to Brubeck. The Political Graveyard. Retrieved May 18, 2023.
- â Glass, Andrew (March 12, 2009). Southern Manifesto introduced, March 12, 1956. Politico. Retrieved May 18, 2023.
- â VA District 10 Race - Nov 04, 1952. Our Campaigns. Retrieved May 18, 2023.
- â Candidate - Joel T. Broyhill. Our Campaigns. Retrieved May 18, 2023.
- â Rothbard, Murray N. (June 21, 2011). Swan Song of the Old Right. Mises Institute. Retrieved May 18, 2023.
- â 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 Barnes, Bart (September 27, 2006). Joel T. Broyhill, 86; Vigorous 11-Term N.Va. Congressman. The Washington Post. Retrieved May 18, 2023.
- â Pearlman, Lauren (2019). Democracyâs Capital: Black Political Power in Washington, D.C., 1960sâ1970s, p. 43. Google Books. Retrieved May 18, 2023.
- â VA District 10 Race - Nov 05, 1974. Our Campaigns. Retrieved May 18, 2023.