Difference between revisions of "Spessard Holland"
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|death_date=November 6, 1971 (aged 79) | |death_date=November 6, 1971 (aged 79) | ||
|death_place=Bartow, Florida | |death_place=Bartow, Florida | ||
| − | |resting_place=Wildwood Cemetery | + | |resting_place=Wildwood Cemetery in Bartow |
|party=[[Democratic Party|Democrat]] | |party=[[Democratic Party|Democrat]] | ||
|spouse=Mary Agnes Groover Holland | |spouse=Mary Agnes Groover Holland | ||
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|predecessor3=John J. Swearingen | |predecessor3=John J. Swearingen | ||
|successor3=Harry E. King | |successor3=Harry E. King | ||
| − | |allegiance=[[United States]] | + | |allegiance=[[United States]] |
|branch=[[United States Army}}<br>Aviation Section, U.S. Signal Corps | |branch=[[United States Army}}<br>Aviation Section, U.S. Signal Corps | ||
|rank=[[Captain]] | |rank=[[Captain]] | ||
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Holland was born in Bartow in Polk County in south central Florida, named for his mother, the former Virginia Spessard, an [[educator]]. His tather was Benjamin Franklin Holland. He attended the Summerlin Institute (since the public Bartow High School). In 1909. Holland graduated from [[Emory University|Emory College]] in [[Atlanta]], [[Georgia]], and then taught high school for four years in Warrenton in eastern Georgia. | Holland was born in Bartow in Polk County in south central Florida, named for his mother, the former Virginia Spessard, an [[educator]]. His tather was Benjamin Franklin Holland. He attended the Summerlin Institute (since the public Bartow High School). In 1909. Holland graduated from [[Emory University|Emory College]] in [[Atlanta]], [[Georgia]], and then taught high school for four years in Warrenton in eastern Georgia. | ||
| − | In 1916, Holland began attending law school at the [[University of Florida]] at Gainesville, where he also taught in the university's high school. He was elected the first student body president and joined the debate club. During his time at Emory and UF, he participated in various spots, [[football]], [[basketball]], [[baseball]] and track and field. He was offered to become a pitcher for the Philadelphia Athletics by the legendary Cornelius "Connie Mack, the grandfather of [[Connie Mack III]], who was elected to Holland's former U.S. Senate seat in 1988. | + | In 1916, Holland began attending law school at the [[University of Florida]] at Gainesville, where he also taught in the university's high school. He was elected the first student body president and joined the debate club. During his time at Emory and UF, he participated in various spots, [[football]], [[basketball]], [[baseball]] and track and field. He was offered to become a pitcher for the Philadelphia Athletics by the legendary Cornelius "Connie Mack (1862-19560, the grandfather of [[Connie Mack, III]], who was elected to Holland's former U.S. Senate seat in 1988. |
==Military service== | ==Military service== | ||
| − | A Rhodes Scholar, he was a junior partner with R. B. Huffaker in the Huffaker & Holland law firm. During [[World War I]], he was commissioned a second lieutenant in the Coast Artillery Corps. He was sent o [[France]] and served in the [[Judge Advocate General's Corps]]. He served as a an aerial observer and gunne. At various times he took part in battles at Meuse-Argonne, Champagne, St. Mihiel, and Lunéville, where he managed to down two enemy planes. On one mission, Holland's plane crash-landed in a crater; on December 11, 1918, Holland was awarded the [[Distinguished Service Cross]] | + | A Rhodes Scholar, he was a junior partner with R. B. Huffaker in the Huffaker & Holland law firm. During [[World War I]], he was commissioned a second lieutenant in the Coast Artillery Corps. He was sent o [[France]] and served in the [[Judge Advocate General's Corps]]. He served as a an aerial observer and gunne. At various times he took part in battles at Meuse-Argonne, Champagne, St. Mihiel, and Lunéville, where he managed to down two enemy planes. On one mission, Holland's plane crash-landed in a crater; on December 11, 1918, Holland was awarded the [[Distinguished Service Cross]], signed by General [[John J. Pershing]]. After the war, he was promoted to captain and back in the United States resumed his law practice and participated in the Victory Loan Drive. |
==Career== | ==Career== | ||
| − | |||
His return to law was soon interrupted by his appointment as the Polk County prosecutor, a post he held for two years prior to his election in 1920 to the first of his two four-year term as the county judge. Holland left the county judgeship in 1929 to join the international law firm of Holland & Bevis, now Holland & Knight. He was elected to the Florida State Senate in 1932, where he was influential in the drafting of the Florida School Code and supported increased teacher pay and retirement benefits. Holland also supported worker's compensation, tax cuts, and unemployment insurance. He was strongly opposed to both the [[sales tax]] and the [[poll tax]], which he helped repeal in Florida in 1937. | His return to law was soon interrupted by his appointment as the Polk County prosecutor, a post he held for two years prior to his election in 1920 to the first of his two four-year term as the county judge. Holland left the county judgeship in 1929 to join the international law firm of Holland & Bevis, now Holland & Knight. He was elected to the Florida State Senate in 1932, where he was influential in the drafting of the Florida School Code and supported increased teacher pay and retirement benefits. Holland also supported worker's compensation, tax cuts, and unemployment insurance. He was strongly opposed to both the [[sales tax]] and the [[poll tax]], which he helped repeal in Florida in 1937. | ||
| Line 55: | Line 54: | ||
Holland was reelected in 1952 and in his second term joined with most senators from the states of the former [[Confederate | Holland was reelected in 1952 and in his second term joined with most senators from the states of the former [[Confederate | ||
States of America|Confederacy]] in signing the [[Southern Manifesto]], which condemned the [[United States Supreme Court]] for its legal opinion, ''[[Brown v. Board of Education]]," which struck down continued segregation in southern public schools. . | States of America|Confederacy]] in signing the [[Southern Manifesto]], which condemned the [[United States Supreme Court]] for its legal opinion, ''[[Brown v. Board of Education]]," which struck down continued segregation in southern public schools. . | ||
| − | In 1958, Holland was challenged for renomination in the Democratic primary by [[U.S. Representative]] | + | In 1958, Holland was challenged for renomination in the Democratic primary by [[U.S. Representative]] Claude Denson Pepper (1900-1989), the perhaps the leading Florida liberal at that time. After he easily turned back the challenge of Pepper, he easily defeated his Republican opponent, Leland Hyzer(1896-1967) and secured his third term. He pushed successfully for the 24th Amendment to the [[United States Constitution]] to forbid states from requiring the payment of poll taxes in order to vote. |
| − | He won a fourth term in 1964 by defeating the Democrat-turned-Republican-returned Democrat Claude Roy Kirk, Jr., who two years later won the Florida governorship, the first member of his party to have done so since [[Reconstruction]]. Late in 1969, two years before his death in his hometown of | + | He won a fourth term in 1964 by defeating the Democrat-turned-Republican-returned Democrat Claude Roy Kirk, Jr., who two years later won the Florida governorship, the first member of his party to have done so since [[Reconstruction]]. Late in 1969, two years before his death in his hometown of Bartow, Holland announced that he would not seek a fifth term in 1970. Instead, he was succeeded by his fello Democrat [[Lawton Chiles]], also a native of Polk County. Chiles defeated Republican U.S. Representative William C. Cramer, whose party was divided party after Cramer defeated G. Harrold Carswell, later a Supreme Court nominee not confirmed by the Senate. Chiles said that Cramer can bring "[[Richard M. Nixon|Nixon, [[Spiro Agnew|Agnew]], [[Ronald Reagan|Reagan]] and anybody else he wants. ... I'll take Holland on my side against all of them." |
Revision as of 18:58, February 22, 2021
{{Infobox officeholder
|name=Spessard Lindsey Holland
|image=Spessard Holland of FL.jpg
|office=United States Senator for Florida
|term_start=September 25, 1946
|term_end= January 3, 1971
|predecessor=Charles O. Andrews
|successor=Lawton Chiles
|birth_date=July 10, 1892
|birth_place=Bartow, Polk County, Florida
|death_date=November 6, 1971 (aged 79)
|death_place=Bartow, Florida
|resting_place=Wildwood Cemetery in Bartow
|party=Democrat
|spouse=Mary Agnes Groover Holland
|children=Four children
|alma_mater=Emory University (Atlanta, Georgia)
University of Florida (Gainesville)
|religion=Methodist
|office 2=Governor of Florida
|term_start2=January 7, 1941
|term_end2=January 2, 1945
|predecessor2=Fred P. Cone
|successor2=Millard Caldwell
|office3=Florida State Senator for District 7
|term_start3=1932
|term_end3=1940
|predecessor3=John J. Swearingen
|successor3=Harry E. King
|allegiance=United States
|branch=[[United States Army}}
Aviation Section, U.S. Signal Corps
|rank=Captain
|unit=Coast Artillery Corps
24th Flying Squadron
|battles=World War I
|awards=Distinguished Service Cross}}
Spessard Lindsey Holland (July 10, 1892 – November 6, 1971) was an attorney and politician, who was the 28th governor of Florida from 1941 to 1945, and a United States Senator from 1946 to 1971. A Democratic Party, he was a member of the congressional conservative coalition.
Background
Holland was born in Bartow in Polk County in south central Florida, named for his mother, the former Virginia Spessard, an educator. His tather was Benjamin Franklin Holland. He attended the Summerlin Institute (since the public Bartow High School). In 1909. Holland graduated from Emory College in Atlanta, Georgia, and then taught high school for four years in Warrenton in eastern Georgia.
In 1916, Holland began attending law school at the University of Florida at Gainesville, where he also taught in the university's high school. He was elected the first student body president and joined the debate club. During his time at Emory and UF, he participated in various spots, football, basketball, baseball and track and field. He was offered to become a pitcher for the Philadelphia Athletics by the legendary Cornelius "Connie Mack (1862-19560, the grandfather of Connie Mack, III, who was elected to Holland's former U.S. Senate seat in 1988.
Military service
A Rhodes Scholar, he was a junior partner with R. B. Huffaker in the Huffaker & Holland law firm. During World War I, he was commissioned a second lieutenant in the Coast Artillery Corps. He was sent o France and served in the Judge Advocate General's Corps. He served as a an aerial observer and gunne. At various times he took part in battles at Meuse-Argonne, Champagne, St. Mihiel, and Lunéville, where he managed to down two enemy planes. On one mission, Holland's plane crash-landed in a crater; on December 11, 1918, Holland was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross, signed by General John J. Pershing. After the war, he was promoted to captain and back in the United States resumed his law practice and participated in the Victory Loan Drive.
Career
His return to law was soon interrupted by his appointment as the Polk County prosecutor, a post he held for two years prior to his election in 1920 to the first of his two four-year term as the county judge. Holland left the county judgeship in 1929 to join the international law firm of Holland & Bevis, now Holland & Knight. He was elected to the Florida State Senate in 1932, where he was influential in the drafting of the Florida School Code and supported increased teacher pay and retirement benefits. Holland also supported worker's compensation, tax cuts, and unemployment insurance. He was strongly opposed to both the sales tax and the poll tax, which he helped repeal in Florida in 1937.
Florida governor
An alternate delegate to the 1940 Democratic National Convention, which nominated [[Franklin D. Roosevelt], he was elected that same year as governor of Florida. During his time as governor, Holland was noted for reforming the state tax. He backed taxes on tobacco products to reduce his state's then $4 million debt. He pushed for uniform real estate assessments. He pushed too for four state constitutional amendments, including new gasoline taxes to build highways and the establishment of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. After Pearl Harbor, Governor Holland in 1942 encouraged the establishment of new military bases in Florida. In 1944. he arranged the purchase of what three years later became Everglades National Park. n September 25, 1946, Holland assumed the U.S. Senate seat vacated by fellow Democrat Charles O. Andrews, who died in office a week earlier. In November 1946 he defeated Republican John Harry Schad (1893-1948), a native of Baltimore, Maryland, to win a full six-year term. Holland was reelected in 1952 and in his second term joined with most senators from the states of the former [[Confederate States of America|Confederacy]] in signing the Southern Manifesto, which condemned the United States Supreme Court for its legal opinion, Brown v. Board of Education," which struck down continued segregation in southern public schools. . In 1958, Holland was challenged for renomination in the Democratic primary by U.S. Representative Claude Denson Pepper (1900-1989), the perhaps the leading Florida liberal at that time. After he easily turned back the challenge of Pepper, he easily defeated his Republican opponent, Leland Hyzer(1896-1967) and secured his third term. He pushed successfully for the 24th Amendment to the United States Constitution to forbid states from requiring the payment of poll taxes in order to vote. He won a fourth term in 1964 by defeating the Democrat-turned-Republican-returned Democrat Claude Roy Kirk, Jr., who two years later won the Florida governorship, the first member of his party to have done so since Reconstruction. Late in 1969, two years before his death in his hometown of Bartow, Holland announced that he would not seek a fifth term in 1970. Instead, he was succeeded by his fello Democrat Lawton Chiles, also a native of Polk County. Chiles defeated Republican U.S. Representative William C. Cramer, whose party was divided party after Cramer defeated G. Harrold Carswell, later a Supreme Court nominee not confirmed by the Senate. Chiles said that Cramer can bring "[[Richard M. Nixon|Nixon, Agnew, Reagan and anybody else he wants. ... I'll take Holland on my side against all of them."
