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George was born to sharecroppers near [[rural]] Preston in Webster County, just west of Americus, Georgia. He graduated in 1900 from Mercer University in Macon, Georgia. After competing law school at Mercer in 1901, he launched his private practice of law. From 1917 to 1922, he was a justice on the Georgia Supreme Court but resigned to run for the U.S. Senate. Considered a [[Conservative Democrat]], he still supported most of the domestic and foreign policies of [[U.S. President]] [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]]. Exceptions to this support was his neutrality in the 1932 Democratic nomination contest and five years later his strong opposition to FDR's "court packing" plan. In 2021, President [[Joe Biden]] appointed a commission to "study" a renewal of Roosevelt's "court packing" plan, which would have allowed up to fifteen justices if each member over the age of seventy did not then retire from the bench<ref>Luther Harmon Zeigler, "Senator Walter George's 1938 Campaign," ''The Georgia Historical Quarterly'' (Vol. 43; issue 4), pp.333-352.</ref>  

George was born to sharecroppers near [[rural]] Preston in Webster County, just west of Americus, Georgia. He graduated in 1900 from Mercer University in Macon, Georgia. After competing law school at Mercer in 1901, he launched his private practice of law. From 1917 to 1922, he was a justice on the Georgia Supreme Court but resigned to run for the U.S. Senate. Considered a [[Conservative Democrat]], he still supported most of the domestic and foreign policies of [[U.S. President]] [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]]. Exceptions to this support was his neutrality in the 1932 Democratic nomination contest and five years later his strong opposition to FDR's "court packing" plan. In 2021, President [[Joe Biden]] appointed a commission to "study" a renewal of Roosevelt's "court packing" plan, which would have allowed up to fifteen justices if each member over the age of seventy did not then retire from the bench<ref>Luther Harmon Zeigler, "Senator Walter George's 1938 Campaign," ''The Georgia Historical Quarterly'' (Vol. 43; issue 4), pp.333-352.</ref>  

As chairman of the Senate Finance Committee from 1941 to 1946, he also supported FDR's policies during [[World War II]]. Twice for brief periods, he was the chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee. Considered a somewhat racial moderate, he nevertheless signed the [[Southern Manifesto]], which voiced House and Senate opposition to the 1954 [[United States Supreme Court]] legal opinion, ''[[Brown v. Board of Education]],'' a decree that outlawed school [[segregation]] in the South. George still declined to renounce ''Brown'' publicly.<ref name=jhc>James H. Cockfield, ''A Giant From Georgia: The Life of U.S. Senator Walter F. George, 1878-1957,'' (Macon, Georgia:Mercer University Press, 2019), pp. 452-453, isbn=978-0-88146-676-8, pages=452–453.</ref> He was succeeded by former [[Governor]] [[Herman Talmadge]], who served four Senate terms until his own defeat in the 1980 [[general election]] by the [[Republican Party|Republican]] [[Mack Mattingly]].

As chairman of the Senate Finance Committee from 1941 to 1946, he also supported FDR's policies during [[World War II]]. Twice for brief periods, he was the chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee. Considered a somewhat racial moderate, he nevertheless signed the [[Southern Manifesto]], which voiced House and Senate opposition to the 1954 [[United States Supreme Court]] legal opinion, ''[[Brown v. Board of Education]],'' a decree that outlawed school [[segregation]] in the South. George still declined to renounce ''Brown'' publicly.<ref name=jhc>James H. Cockfield, ''A Giant From Georgia: The Life of U.S. Senator Walter F. George, 1878-1957,'' (Macon, Georgia:Mercer University Press, 2019), pp. 452-453, isbn=978-0-88146-676-8, pages=452–453.</ref> He was succeeded by former [[Governor]] [[Herman Talmadge]], who served four Senate terms until his own defeat in the 1980 [[general election]] by the [[Republican Party|Republican]] [[Mack Mattingly]].