| | George supported most of the domestic and foreign policies of [[U.S. President]] [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]], voting for most [[New Deal]] policies up until 1937.<ref name="New Deal">[https://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/articles/history-archaeology/new-deal New Deal]. ''New Georgia Encyclopedia''. Retrieved April 21, 2021.</ref> 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 supported most of the domestic and foreign policies of [[U.S. President]] [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]], voting for most [[New Deal]] policies up until 1937.<ref name="New Deal">[https://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/articles/history-archaeology/new-deal New Deal]. ''New Georgia Encyclopedia''. Retrieved April 21, 2021.</ref> 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 opposed anti-lynching legislation, joining Southern senators [[Richard Russell, Jr.]], Tom Connally, and [[Claude Pepper]] in filibustering the Wagner–Van Nuys Act in 1937.<ref>[https://www.loc.gov/item/2016872930/ Filibuster against anti-lynching bill. Washington, D.C., Jan. 27. Members of the bloc of Southern Senators who have been filibusting against the anti-lynching bill for the last 20 days and are still going strong, left to right: Senator Tom Connaly, of Texas, Sen. Walter F. George, of Ga.; Sen. Richard Russell of Ga.; and Sen. Claude Pepper of Florida, 1/27/38]. ''Library of Congress''. Retrieved April 21, 2021.</ref> | + | George consistently blocked anti-lynching legislation, though differed from Southern colleagues in directly condemning lynching and using constitutional arguments rather than racial ones, such as when participating in the Southern filibustering of the 1935 [[Costigan–Wagner Act]] (also known as the [[Anti-Lynching Bill of 1935]]).<ref>Greenbaum, Fred (1967). [https://archive.org/details/sim_journal-of-human-relations_third-quarter-1967_15_3 "The Anti-Lynching Bill of 1935: The Irony of "Equal Justice—Under Law"]," p. 79–82. Internet Archive. Retrieved December 3, 2022.</ref> In 1937, he joined Southern senators [[Richard Russell, Jr.]], Tom Connally, and Claude Pepper in filibustering the Wagner–Van Nuys Act.<ref>[https://www.loc.gov/item/2016872930/ Filibuster against anti-lynching bill. Washington, D.C., Jan. 27. Members of the bloc of Southern Senators who have been filibusting against the anti-lynching bill for the last 20 days and are still going strong, left to right: Senator Tom Connaly, of Texas, Sen. Walter F. George, of Ga.; Sen. Richard Russell of Ga.; and Sen. Claude Pepper of Florida, 1/27/38]. ''Library of Congress''. Retrieved April 21, 2021.</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. He signed the [[Southern Manifesto]],<ref>[https://www.congress.gov/84/crecb/1956/03/12/GPO-CRECB-1956-pt4-3.pdf GP-CRECB-1956-pt4-3.pdf]. ''Congressional Record''. Retrieved April 21, 2021.</ref> 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]], the first Republican U.S. Senator from Georgia since [[Reconstruction]]. | | 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. He signed the [[Southern Manifesto]],<ref>[https://www.congress.gov/84/crecb/1956/03/12/GPO-CRECB-1956-pt4-3.pdf GP-CRECB-1956-pt4-3.pdf]. ''Congressional Record''. Retrieved April 21, 2021.</ref> 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]], the first Republican U.S. Senator from Georgia since [[Reconstruction]]. |