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[[University of North Carolina]] (Chapel Hill)<br>

[[University of North Carolina]] (Chapel Hill)<br>

[[Harvard Law School]]

[[Harvard Law School]]

|branch=[[United States Navy]]

|branch=[[United States Navy]]

|rank=Gunnery officer

|rank=Gunnery officer

|serviceyears=1943-1946

|serviceyears=1943–1946

|battles=Liberation of [[France]] in [[World War II]]}}

|battles=Liberation of [[France]] in [[World War II]]

}}

'''William Cato Cramer, Sr.''' (August 4, 1922 &ndash; October 18, 2003), was the first [[Republican Party|Republican]] since 1880  to have been elected to the [[United States House of Representatives]] from the state of [[Florida]]. He represented three different congressional districts during his House tenure from 1955 to 1971. He was an [[attorney]] in St. Petersburg in Pinellas County. First elected in 1954 at the age of thirty-two, he went on to win repeated reelection bids until 1970, when he ran unsuccessfully for the [[United States Senate]].

'''William Cato Cramer, Sr.''' (August 4, 1922 &ndash; October 18, 2003), was the first [[Republican Party|Republican]] since 1880  to have been elected to the [[United States House of Representatives]] from the state of [[Florida]]. He represented three different congressional districts during his House tenure from 1955 to 1971. He was an [[attorney]] in St. Petersburg in Pinellas County. First elected in 1954 at the age of thirty-two, he went on to win repeated reelection bids until 1970, when he ran unsuccessfully for the [[United States Senate]].

==Background==

==Background==

Born in the capital city of [[Denver]], [[Colorado]], Cramer moved with his parents, Walter B. Cramer (1893-1979) and Doreen E. Cramer (1899-1965),<ref name=findagrave/> to St. Petersburg, often called "St. Pete," when he was only three years of age.  After the census of 2000, St. Petersburg became the fourth largest city in the state. He attended public [[Segregation|segregated]] schools and graduated from St. Petersburg High School, at which he waged his first political campaigns by running for student government. He then attended St. Petersburg Junior College, the first public community college in Florida. Cramer grew up with a strong work ethic: as a teenager, he held a variety of jobs. Before entering the [[University of North Carolina]] at Chapel Hill to complete an undergraduate degree, he worked as a bellhop at a resort hotel.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/30150884?seq=1|author=Billy Hathorn|title=Cramer v. Kirk: The Florida Republican Schism of 1970|publisher=''The Florida Historical Quarterly'' Vol. LXVII, No. 4 (April 1990)|page=404}}</ref>

Born in the capital city of [[Denver]], [[Colorado]], Cramer moved with his parents, Walter B. Cramer (1893–1979) and Doreen E. Cramer (1899–1965),<ref name=findagrave/> to St. Petersburg, often called "St. Pete," when he was only three years of age.  After the census of 2000, St. Petersburg became the fourth largest city in the state. He attended public [[Segregation|segregated]] schools and graduated from St. Petersburg High School, at which he waged his first political campaigns by running for student government. He then attended St. Petersburg Junior College, the first public community college in Florida. Cramer grew up with a strong work ethic: as a teenager, he held a variety of jobs. Before entering the [[University of North Carolina]] at Chapel Hill to complete an undergraduate degree, he worked as a bellhop at a resort hotel.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/30150884?seq=1|author=Billy Hathorn|title=Cramer v. Kirk: The Florida Republican Schism of 1970|publisher=''The Florida Historical Quarterly'' Vol. LXVII, No. 4 (April 1990)|page=404}}</ref>

In 1943, Cramer enlisted in the [[United States Navy]]. With his degree, he was commissioned as a gunnery officer and fought to liberate France during [[World War II]]. After the war, he served in the  Navy Reserve until 1946. That same year, Cramer graduated Phi Beta Kappa from the [[University of North Carolina]] in Chapel Hill. In 1948, he graduated from [[Harvard Law School]] in [[Cambridge, Massachusetts|Cambrige]], [[Massachusetts]].

In 1943, Cramer enlisted in the [[United States Navy]]. With his degree, he was commissioned as a gunnery officer and fought to liberate France during [[World War II]]. After the war, he served in the  Navy Reserve until 1946. That same year, Cramer graduated Phi Beta Kappa from the [[University of North Carolina]] in Chapel Hill. In 1948, he graduated from [[Harvard Law School]] in [[Cambridge, Massachusetts|Cambrige]], [[Massachusetts]].

Cramer married the former Alice Jones (1930-2004) of Dothan, [[Alabama]], the daughter of Clifton V. and Myrtle G. Jones and a graduate of [[Auburn University]] and the International Institute of Interior Design in [[Washington, D.C.]] She was an interior designer licensed to practice in Florida, a watercolor artist, and a Republican women's activist. Before divorcing years later, the Cramers had three sons, William, Jr. (born 1952) (wife Carolyn Thomas Cramer, the daughter of Panama City businessman [[L. E. "Tommy" Thomas]]).<ref>Alice Cramer Obituary, ''The Birmingham News,'' February 17, 2004, accessed March 15, 2021.</ref> In the early 1990s, Cramer married the former Sarah Ellen Bromelow, previously Sarah Hilber (born 1942).

Cramer married the former Alice Jones (1930–2004) of Dothan, [[Alabama]], the daughter of Clifton V. and Myrtle G. Jones and a graduate of [[Auburn University]] and the International Institute of Interior Design in [[Washington, D.C.]] She was an interior designer licensed to practice in Florida, a watercolor artist, and a Republican women's activist. Before divorcing years later, the Cramers had three sons, William, Jr. (born 1952) (wife Carolyn Thomas Cramer, the daughter of Panama City businessman [[L. E. "Tommy" Thomas]]).<ref>Alice Cramer Obituary, ''The Birmingham News,'' February 17, 2004, accessed March 15, 2021.</ref> In the early 1990s, Cramer married the former Sarah Ellen Bromelow, previously Sarah Hilber (born 1942).

==Career==

==Career==

===Election to Congress===

===Election to Congress===

In 1954, with a stronger organization, Cramer ran again and unseated the one-term incumbent Courtney Warren Campbell ((1895-1971) by the same 0.7 percent margin by which he had lost in 1952.<ref>State of Florida, General election returns, November 4, 1952, and November 2, 1954</ref> Cramer found that the $40,000 he spent in 1954 was insufficient for advertising in the still new medium of television, but the state party had contributed several thousand dollars to his campaign.<ref>"Cramer v. Kirk,"" p. 406.</ref>Assigned to the House Public Works Committee, Cramer worked to expand interstate highways and to keep them without tolls. He backed a federal interstate project to tie [[Miami]] with [[Tampa]], the large city next to St. Petersburg.

In 1954, with a stronger organization, Cramer ran again and unseated the one-term incumbent Courtney Warren Campbell (1895–1971) by the same 0.7 percent margin by which he had lost in 1952.<ref>State of Florida, General election returns, November 4, 1952, and November 2, 1954</ref> Cramer found that the $40,000 he spent in 1954 was insufficient for advertising in the still new medium of television, but the state party had contributed several thousand dollars to his campaign.<ref>"Cramer v. Kirk,"" p. 406.</ref>Assigned to the House Public Works Committee, Cramer worked to expand interstate highways and to keep them without tolls. He backed a federal interstate project to tie [[Miami]] with [[Tampa]], the large city next to St. Petersburg.

===Senatorial election of 1970===

===Senatorial election of 1970===

In 1970, at the urging of [[U.S. President]] [[Richard M. Nixon]], Cramer relinquished his House seat after seven terms to run for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by the Democrat [[Spessard Holland]]. Cramer won the Republican [[primary]] over George Harrold Carswell (1919-1992), a circuit court judge whom Nixon had earlier in the years nominated to fill a vacancy on the [[United States Supreme Court]]. The nomination was rejected by a majority of the Senate in part because Carswell had been a [[segregation]]ist in his native [[Georgia]]. Carswell had the support of then [[Governor]] [[Claude Kirk]] and U.S. Senator [[Edward Gurney]], who served a single term from 1969 to 1974. Cramer defeated Carswell in the primary, 220,553 votes (64.6 percent) to 121,281 (35.4 percent). However, Cramer lost the [[general election]] to the Democrat [[Lawton Chiles]], known as "Walking Lawton" because he walked a large swath of the state as a campaign tool. After three terms in the Senate, Chiles was elected governor in 1990, but Cramer never again sought public office after the Senate bid.<ref> "Cramer v. Kirk," p. 425.</ref> Cramer received 772,817 votes (46.1 percent) and gained crossover votes of 61,716 more ballots than the number of registered Republicans in Florida at that time. Chiles' 902,438 tabulation (53.9 percent) was less than half of registered Democrats, but he gained majorities in fifty-five counties, compared to thirteen counties for Cramer. While Cramer went down to defeat, so did Kirk, who was handily unseated by the Democrat [[Reubin Askew]].<ref>State of Florida, General election returns, November 3, 1970.</ref>

In 1970, at the urging of [[U.S. President]] [[Richard M. Nixon]], Cramer relinquished his House seat after seven terms to run for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by the Democrat [[Spessard Holland]]. Cramer won the Republican [[primary]] over George Harrold Carswell (1919–1992), a circuit court judge whom Nixon had earlier in the years nominated to fill a vacancy on the [[United States Supreme Court]]. The nomination was rejected by a majority of the Senate in part because Carswell had been a [[segregation]]ist in his native [[Georgia]]. Carswell had the support of then [[Governor]] [[Claude Kirk]] and U.S. Senator [[Edward Gurney]], who served a single term from 1969 to 1974. Cramer defeated Carswell in the primary, 220,553 votes (64.6 percent) to 121,281 (35.4 percent). However, Cramer lost the [[general election]] to the Democrat [[Lawton Chiles]], known as "Walking Lawton" because he walked a large swath of the state as a campaign tool. After three terms in the Senate, Chiles was elected governor in 1990, but Cramer never again sought public office after the Senate bid.<ref> "Cramer v. Kirk," p. 425.</ref> Cramer received 772,817 votes (46.1 percent) and gained crossover votes of 61,716 more ballots than the number of registered Republicans in Florida at that time. Chiles' 902,438 tabulation (53.9 percent) was less than half of registered Democrats, but he gained majorities in fifty-five counties, compared to thirteen counties for Cramer. While Cramer went down to defeat, so did Kirk, who was handily unseated by the Democrat [[Reubin Askew]].<ref>State of Florida, General election returns, November 3, 1970.</ref>

Governor Kirk also lost his bid for a second term to the Democrat [[Reubin Askew]]. Kirk and Cramer were the candidates at the top of the Florida ballot, but they had never been close politically. The feuding between the two played some part in the defeat of both men.  

Governor Kirk also lost his bid for a second term to the Democrat [[Reubin Askew]]. Kirk and Cramer were the candidates at the top of the Florida ballot, but they had never been close politically. The feuding between the two played some part in the defeat of both men.