John Sparkman
| John Jackson Sparkman | |
 | |
Chairman of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee
| |
| In office January 3, 1975 – January 3, 1979 | |
| Preceded by | J. William Fulbright |
|---|---|
| Succeeded by | Frank Church |
Chairman of the Senate Banking Committee
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| In office January 3, 1967 – January 3, 1975 | |
| Preceded by | A. Willis Robertson |
| Succeeded by | William Proxmire |
Chairman of the Senate Small
Business Committee | |
| In office February 20, 1950 – January 3, 1953 | |
| Preceded by | Edward Thye |
| Succeeded by | George Armistead Smathers |
| In office November 6, 1946 – January 3, 1979 | |
| Preceded by | George R. Swift (interim for John H. Bankhead, II) |
| Succeeded by | Howell Heflin |
House Majority Whip
| |
| In office January 1, 1946 – November 6, 1946 | |
| Leader | John William McCormack |
| Preceded by | Robert Ramspeck |
| Succeeded by | Leslie C. "Les" Arends |
U.S. Representative for Alabama's 8th Congressional District
| |
| In office January 3, 1937 – November 6, 1946 | |
| Preceded by | Archibald Hill Carmichael |
| Succeeded by | Robert E. Jones, Jr. |
| Born | December 20, 1899 Hartselle, Morgan County, Alabama |
| Died | November 16, 1985 (aged 85) Huntsville, Alabama |
| Resting place | Maple Hill Cemetery in Huntsville |
| Political party | Democrat |
| Spouse(s) | Ivo Hall Sparkman (1899–1999) |
| Alma mater | University of Alabama at Tuscaloosa (B.A. and LLB) |
| Occupation | Attorney |
Military Service
| |
| Allegiance | United States |
| Service/branch | United States Army |
| Unit | Student Army Training Corps |
| Battles/wars | World War I |
John Jackson Sparkman (December 20, 1899 – November 16, 1985) was an American politician from his native Morgan County, Alabama, who served in the United States House of Representatives from 1937 to 1946 and then the United States Senate from 1946 to 1979. He was also the Democratic nominee for Vice President in the 1952 national election, paired opposite Senator Richard M. Nixon of California. His ticket-mate, Adlai Stevenson, lost the first of two consecutive races for President against Dwight Eisenhower. Therefore, Nixon, not Sparkman, began in 1953 an eight-year stint as vice president.
Sparkman voted against anti-lynching legislation as a representative in 1937.[1]
The paths of Sparkman and Nixon met again when Nixon was elected president in 1968 over Hubert Humphrey and George Wallace. In 1972, as Nixon won reelection, he declined to assist Sparkman's unsuccessful Republican challenger, Winton Blount, who had been Postmaster General in the first Nixon administration. Instead Nixon sought to curry favor with Sparkman in what turned out to have been be an abbreviated second term as president.
Sparkman established his law office in Huntsville after his graduation from the University of Alabama School of Law at Tuscaloosa. He won election to the House in 1936 and served during most of 1946 as the House Majority Whip under Majority Leader John William McCormack (1891–1980) of Massachusetts. He left the House that same year after he won a special election to succeed Senator John H. Bankhead, II. He is remembered his sponsorship of the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville and as the chairman of both the Senate Banking and Foreign Relations committees.
See also
- Liberalism and racism
- Lister Hill
- J. William Fulbright, liberal segregationist senator from Arkansas
- U.S. "Party-switch" myth
References
- ↑ TO PASS H. R. 1507, AN ANTI-LYNCHING BILL.. GovTrack.us. Retrieved April 17, 2021.
External links
- John J. Sparkman via Encyclopedia of Alabama
- Profile at senate.gov
- Profile at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
- Obituary via The New York Times
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