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Peddy was the UT student body president in 1917 as well as the District 8 state representative for Shelby County. He opposed the policies of [[Governor]] James Edward "Pa" Ferguson (1871-1944)ies regarding UT funding and procedures but, like Ferguson, was a strong opponent of the Klan. During [[World War I]], Peddy accepted a commission as a captain in the [[United States Army]].<ref name=tshaonline>{{cite web|url=http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fpe13|title=George Edwin Bailey Peddy|publisher=tshaonline.org|accessdate=July 9, 2020}}</ref>
Peddy was the UT student body president in 1917 as well as the District 8 state representative for Shelby County. He opposed the policies of [[Governor]] James Edward "Pa" Ferguson (1871-1944)ies regarding UT funding and procedures but, like Ferguson, was a strong opponent of the Klan. During [[World War I]], Peddy accepted a commission as a captain in the [[United States Army]].<ref name=tshaonline>{{cite web|url=http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fpe13|title=George Edwin Bailey Peddy|publisher=tshaonline.org|accessdate=July 9, 2020}}</ref>
While in training at Camp Funston in [[Kansas]], he obtained leave to attend the [[impeachment]] proceedings against Governor Ferguson, which resulted in Ferguson's conviction in the state Senate and removal from office. Ferguson was succeeded by then Lieutenant Governor William Pettus Hobby, Sr. (1978-1964), to the governorship. Peddy resigned his House seat on September 10, 1917 to complete his military duties.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.lrl.state.tx.us/legeLeaders/members/memberDisplay.cfm?memberID=2776&searchparams=chamber=~city=~countyID=0~RcountyID=~district=~first=George~gender=~last=Peddy~leaderNote=~leg=~party=~roleDesc=~Committee=|title=George Edwin Bailey Peddy|publisher=Legislative Reference Library of Texas|accessdate=July 9, 2020}}</ref>
While in training at Camp Funston in [[Kansas]], he obtained leave to attend the [[impeachment]] proceedings against Governor Ferguson, which resulted in Ferguson's conviction in the state Senate and removal from office. Ferguson was succeeded by then Lieutenant Governor William Pettus Hobby, Sr. (1978-1964), to the governorship. Peddy resigned his House seat on September 10, 1917 to complete his military duties.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.lrl.state.tx.us/legeLeaders/members/memberDisplay.cfm?memberID=2776&searchparams=chamber=~city=~countyID=0~RcountyID=~district=~first=George~gender=~last=Peddy~leaderNote=~leg=~party=~roleDesc=~Committee=|title=George Edwin Bailey Peddy|publisher=Legislative Reference Library of Texas|accessdate=July 9, 2020}}</ref>
With his law degree in hand, Peddy and two former classmates established a law practice in [[Houston, Texas|Houston]]. For two years, he was the assistant district attorney for Harris County. Peddy was then appointed as the assistant United States Attorney assigned to prosecute [[mail fraud]] cases.<ref name=tshaonline/>
With his law degree in hand, Peddy and two former classmates established a law practice in [[Houston, Texas|Houston]]. For two years, he was the assistant district attorney for Harris County. Peddy was then appointed as the assistant United States Attorney assigned to prosecute [[mail fraud]] cases.<ref name=tshaonline/>
==Senate race==
===U.S. Senate race==
Because the Klan was backing Mayfield for the Senate, a group known as the "Independent Democrats" met in [[Dallas]] on September 16, 1922 to nominate Peddy to run in the [[general election]] scheduled for November 7. The longtime incumbent senator, Charles Allen Culberson (1855-1925), had been eliminated in the primary in which Peddy had supported Ferguson against Mayfield because of the Klan question.
Because the Klan was backing Mayfield for the Senate, a group known as the "Independent Democrats" met in [[Dallas]] on September 16, 1922 to nominate Peddy to run in the [[general election]] scheduled for November 7. The longtime incumbent senator, Charles Allen Culberson (1855-1925), had been eliminated in the primary in which Peddy had supported Ferguson against Mayfield because of the Klan question.
Peddy polled 130,744 (33 percent) write-in votes, compared to Mayfield's 264,260 ballots (67 percent. Thereafter, Peddy challenged Mayfield's election before the Senate itself, mostly because Peddy had been kept off the ballot because of filing deadlines. The challenge succeeded only in delaying Mayfield's seating by nine months.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/common/contested_elections/103Peddy_Mayfield.htm|title=The Election Case of George E. B. Peddy v. Earle B. Mayfield of Texas|date=1925|publisher=[[United States Senate]]senate.gov|accessdate=April 16, 2013}}</ref> Mayfield was unseated for a second term in the Democratic runoff primary in 1928 by fellow Democrat Thomas Terry "Tom" Connally (1877-1963).
Peddy polled 130,744 (33 percent) write-in votes, compared to Mayfield's 264,260 ballots (67 percent. Thereafter, Peddy challenged Mayfield's election before the Senate itself, mostly because Peddy had been kept off the ballot because of filing deadlines. The challenge succeeded only in delaying Mayfield's seating by nine months.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/common/contested_elections/103Peddy_Mayfield.htm|title=The Election Case of George E. B. Peddy v. Earle B. Mayfield of Texas|date=1925|publisher=[[United States Senate]]senate.gov|accessdate=April 16, 2013}}</ref> Mayfield was unseated for a second term in the Democratic runoff primary in 1928 by fellow Democrat Thomas Terry "Tom" Connally (1877-1963).
==Later life==
===Later years==
From 1925 to 1942, Peddy practiced with the prominent Houston firm Vinson & Elkins.<ref name=tshaonline/>
From 1925 to 1942, Peddy practiced with the prominent Houston firm Vinson & Elkins.<ref name=tshaonline/>
During [[World War II]], Peddy, then in his early fifties, volunteered for further military service and attained the rank of [[lieutenant colonel]]. He served as a staff officer for the United States Third Army from the invasion of [[Normandy]] until the end of the war in [[Europe]] in May 1945. Peddy was then named as the deputy military governor of [[Frankfurt]], [[Germany]]. He was awarded both the [[Bronze Star]] and the French Croix de Guerre.<ref name=tshaonline/>
During [[World War II]], Peddy, then in his early fifties, volunteered for further military service and attained the rank of [[lieutenant colonel]]. He served as a staff officer for the United States Third Army from the invasion of [[Normandy]] until the end of the war in [[Europe]] in May 1945. Peddy was then named as the deputy military governor of [[Frankfurt]], [[Germany]]. He was awarded both the [[Bronze Star]] and the French Croix de Guerre.<ref name=tshaonline/>
In 1948, Peddy entered the Democratic primary for United States Senator from Texas to succeed the retiring W. Lee "Pappy" O'Daniel (1890-1969) and polled nearly 20 percent of the vote, sufficient to force his two major opponents, former Governor Coke Robert Stevenson (1888-1975) and then [[U.S. Representative]] [[Lyndon B. Johnson]] into a runoff election in which Johnson was long criticized for stealing the election with eighty-seven disputed ballots in Jim Wells County, a machine county, in South Texas.
In 1948, Peddy entered the Democratic primary for United States Senator from Texas to succeed the retiring W. Lee "Pappy" O'Daniel (1890-1969) and polled nearly 20 percent of the vote, sufficient to force his two major opponents, former Governor Coke Robert Stevenson (1888-1975) and then [[U.S. Representative]] [[Lyndon B. Johnson]] into a runoff election in which Johnson was long criticized for stealing the election with eighty-seven disputed ballots in Jim Wells County, a machine county, in South Texas.
Peddy ran on a strongly [[states' rights]] and [[Communism|anticommunist]] platform.<ref name=tshaonline/>
Peddy ran on a strongly [[states' rights]] and [[Communism|anticommunist]] platform.<ref name=tshaonline/>
In 1921, Peddy married the former Gertrude Irwin; they reared two of her nephews. Peddy died shortly before his 59th birthday while he was serving as the chairman of the Texas Cancer Crusade in Houston. He is interred at Ramah Cemetery in Tenaha.<ref name=tshaonline/>
In 1921, Peddy married the former Gertrude Irwin; they reared two of her nephews. Peddy died shortly before his 59th birthday while he was serving as the chairman of the Texas Cancer Crusade in Houston. He is interred at Ramah Cemetery in Tenaha.<ref name=tshaonline/>