Changes

Ellender opposed anti-lynching measures, voting twice along with the majority of Senate Democrats to kill such rider amendments in late June 1937.<ref>[https://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/75-1/s43 TO TABLE AN AMENDMENT TO S. 69, THE INTERSTATE COMMERCE ACT. THE AMEND. OFFERED BY SENATOR COPELAND WHICH WOULD HAVE ADDED HOUSE BILL 1507, THE ANTILYNCHING BILL, TO S. 69, A BILL LIMITING THE SIZE OF TRAINS IN INTERSTATE COMMERCE.]. ''GovTrack.us''. Retrieved April 21, 2021.</ref><ref>[https://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/75-1/s58 TO TABLE AN AMENDMENT TO S. 2475. OFFERED BY SENATOR COPELAND WHICH WOULD HAVE ADDED THE ANTILYNCHING BILL AS PERFECTED BY THE SENATE COMMITTEE ON THE JUDICIARY TO THE PENDING LEGISLATION.]. ''GovTrack.us''. Retrieved April 21, 2021.</ref>

Ellender opposed anti-lynching measures, voting twice along with the majority of Senate Democrats to kill such rider amendments in late June 1937.<ref>[https://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/75-1/s43 TO TABLE AN AMENDMENT TO S. 69, THE INTERSTATE COMMERCE ACT. THE AMEND. OFFERED BY SENATOR COPELAND WHICH WOULD HAVE ADDED HOUSE BILL 1507, THE ANTILYNCHING BILL, TO S. 69, A BILL LIMITING THE SIZE OF TRAINS IN INTERSTATE COMMERCE.]. ''GovTrack.us''. Retrieved April 21, 2021.</ref><ref>[https://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/75-1/s58 TO TABLE AN AMENDMENT TO S. 2475. OFFERED BY SENATOR COPELAND WHICH WOULD HAVE ADDED THE ANTILYNCHING BILL AS PERFECTED BY THE SENATE COMMITTEE ON THE JUDICIARY TO THE PENDING LEGISLATION.]. ''GovTrack.us''. Retrieved April 21, 2021.</ref>

Following the 1946 Senate election in [[Mississippi]] where [[segregation]]ist demagogue [[Theodore Bilbo]] intimidated and threatened blacks, most of whom then were not then voters, Senate Republicans, who just gained a bare majority in the election cycle, moved to block him from being seated.<ref>[https://www.senate.gov/about/origins-foundations/electing-appointing-senators/contested-senate-elections/126Theodore_Bilbo.htm The Election Case of Theodore G. Bilbo of Mississippi (1947)]. ''United States Senate''. Retrieved February 19, 2021.</ref> Initially, a five-member Senate committee comprising of a 3–2 Democrat majority which was headed by Ellender headed to Missisippi to investigate.<ref name=bilbo.pdf>[http://www.mississippihistory.org/sites/default/files/bilbo.pdf Theodore G. Bilbo and the Decline of Public Racism, 1938-1947]. ''Mississippi Historical Society''. Retrieved June 29, 2021.</ref> Despite testimonies by blacks who were threatened and viciously attacked by Jim Crow white supremacists, Ellender defended the racist [[voter suppression]] and the committee voted along party lines to clear Bilbo; the two Republicans, [[Bourke Hickenlooper]] and [[Styles Bridges]], dissented from the verdict.<ref name=bilbo.pdf/> However, Bilbo, suffering from oral cancer after decades of inciting violence and promoting bigotry, never returned to the Senate and died in August 1947.

Following the 1946 Senate election in [[Mississippi]] where [[segregation]]ist demagogue [[Theodore Bilbo]] intimidated and threatened blacks, most of whom then were not then voters, Senate Republicans, who just gained a bare majority in the election cycle, moved to block him from being seated.<ref>[https://www.senate.gov/about/origins-foundations/electing-appointing-senators/contested-senate-elections/126Theodore_Bilbo.htm The Election Case of Theodore G. Bilbo of Mississippi (1947)]. ''United States Senate''. Retrieved February 19, 2021.</ref> Initially, a five-member Senate committee comprising of a 3–2 Democrat majority which was headed by Ellender headed to Missisippi to investigate.<ref name=bilbo.pdf>[http://www.mississippihistory.org/sites/default/files/bilbo.pdf Theodore G. Bilbo and the Decline of Public Racism, 1938-1947]. ''Mississippi Historical Society''. Retrieved June 29, 2021.</ref> Despite testimonies by blacks who were threatened and viciously attacked by Jim Crow white supremacists, Ellender defended the racist [[voter suppression]] in arguing that they were caused by "tradition and custom" rather than Bilbo's incitement of violence; the committee voted along party lines to clear Bilbo; the two Republicans, [[Bourke Hickenlooper]] and [[Styles Bridges]], dissented from the verdict.<ref name=bilbo.pdf/> However, Bilbo, suffering from oral cancer after decades of inciting violence and promoting bigotry, never returned to the Senate and died in August 1947.

In 1948, when other Southern Democrats defected to the [[Dixiecrat]] presidential campaign of [[Strom Thurmond]], Ellender remained loyal to [[Harry S. Truman]].  Although Thurmond was the official Democratic nominee in Louisiana, Truman's name was also added to the ballot by a special session of the state legislature.

In 1948, when other Southern Democrats defected to the [[Dixiecrat]] presidential campaign of [[Strom Thurmond]], Ellender remained loyal to [[Harry S. Truman]].  Although Thurmond was the official Democratic nominee in Louisiana, Truman's name was also added to the ballot by a special session of the state legislature.