John H. Bankhead II

John Hollis Bankhead II (July 8, 1872 – June 12, 1946) was a U.S. senator from the state of Alabama. Like his father, John H. Bankhead, he was elected three times to the Senate, and like his father, he died in office.[1]

John H. Bankhead II
United States Senator
from Alabama
In office
March 4, 1931 – June 12, 1946
Preceded byJ. Thomas Heflin
Succeeded byGeorge R. Swift
Personal details
Born
John Hollis Bankhead II

July 8, 1872
near Old Moscow, Lamar County, Alabama, U.S.
DiedJune 12, 1946(1946-06-12) (aged 73)
United States Naval Hospital, Bethesda, Maryland, U.S.
Political partyDemocratic
SpouseMusa Bernice Harkins
Children3, including Walter
Parent
Relatives
Alma materUniversity of Alabama
Georgetown University
Military service
Branch/serviceUnited States National Guard
Years of service1901–1903
RankMajor
UnitAlabama

He served in the Senate from March 4, 1931, to his death on June 12, 1946. He was first elected to the Senate in 1930 by defeating J. Thomas Heflin, the man who succeeded his father. Though Bankhead won the election by 20 points, Heflin challenged the results for over a year. He served as chairman of the Committee on Irrigation and Reclamation. After his death, Bankhead was succeeded by George R. Swift, who was appointed to fill his seat until a successor, John J. Sparkman, could be elected. Bankhead is remembered as a spokesman for farmers and against civil rights for African Americans.

Life and career

Bankhead was born on July 8, 1872, at the Bankhead plantation in Lamar County, Alabama, the son of Tallulah James Brockman and John Hollis Bankhead. After earning his law degree in 1893 and practicing law for ten with his brother William, Bankhead was elected to the Alabama House of Representatives in 1903. After Alabama's grandfather clause, which disenfranchised most black voters, was declared unconstitutional, Bankhead was one of the drafters of Alabama's revised voting law effectively preventing most black voters from registering via a series of tests and poll taxes.[2]

Following his controversial win over Heflin in 1930, the Senator from Alabama worked at the passage of various pieces of New Deal legislation to benefit cotton farmers, including the Subsistence Homestead Act of 1933, the Cotton Control Act of 1934 and the parity payment amendments to the Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1938. After World War II began in Europe, Bankhead was an interventionist. He took a "pro-British" stance and favored President Franklin Roosevelt's Lend-Lease program. On October 23, 1941, Bankhead voted in favor of additional lend-lease funding to provide more funding to the British Army.[3] On November 7, 1941, he voted in favor of legislation to amend several sections of the neutrality acts. This vote made it easier for the United States to provide direct military aid to the United Kingdom during World War II.[4] In 1943, he sponsored legislation to exempt "substantially fulltime" farm workers from the draft during World War II.[5] Bankhead was among twelve nominated at the 1944 Democratic National Convention to serve as Franklin D. Roosevelt's running mate in the presidential election that year.[6] He was in third place, with 98 votes, when Bankhead made a surprise withdrawal of his candidacy in favor of his Senate colleague, Harry S. Truman, who was elected vice president and succeeded to the presidency in 1945.[1]

On May 24, 1946, Senator Bankhead suffered a stroke while attending an evening Senate committee meeting.[7] Three weeks later, he died at the U.S. Naval Hospital in Bethesda, Maryland.[1] He was the brother of Speaker of the House William B. Bankhead, and the uncle of actress Tallulah Bankhead.

See also

References
  1. "Sen. Bankhead Succumbs". Associated Press. June 13, 1946. Retrieved 2010-11-24.
  2. Current Biography 1943, pp23-26
  3. "Voteview | Plot Vote: 77th Congress > Senate > 79".
  4. "Voteview | Plot Vote: 77th Congress > Senate > 84".
  5. Current Biography 1943, p25
  6. Catledge, Turner (1944-07-22). "Truman Nominated for Vice Presidency". The New York Times. Retrieved 2017-10-25.
  7. "Senator Bankhead Collapses," The Milwaukee Sentinel, May 25, 1946, p1
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