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W. Haydon Burns | |
|---|---|
 | |
| 35thGovernor of Florida | |
| In office January 5, 1965 – January 3, 1967 | |
| Preceded by | C. Farris Bryant |
| Succeeded by | Claude R. Kirk Jr. |
| 35thMayor of Jacksonville | |
| In office June 24, 1949 – January 5, 1965 | |
| Preceded by | Frank Whitehead |
| Succeeded by | Lou Ritter |
| 18thPresident of the United States Conference of Mayors | |
| In office 1961–1962 | |
| Preceded by | Richardson Dilworth |
| Succeeded by | Anthony J. Celebrezze |
| Personal details | |
| Born | William Haydon Burns (1912-03-17)March 17, 1912 Chicago, Illinois, U.S. |
| Died | November 22, 1987(1987-11-22) (aged 75) Jacksonville, Florida, U.S. |
| Party | Democratic |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 2 |
| Profession | Politician,business consulting |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |  United States |
| Branch/service |  United States Navy |
| Battles/wars | World War II |
William Haydon Burns (March 17, 1912 – November 22, 1987) was an American businessman, segregationist politician, and World War II veteran who served as the 35thGovernor of Florida from 1965 to 1967. A member of theDemocratic Party, he wasMayor ofJacksonville, Florida from 1949 to 1965.
In October 1965, Burns was the first person to publicly announce the planned opening ofWalt Disney World inOrlando, Florida, calling the new theme park "the greatest attraction in the history of Florida".[1]
Burns was born inChicago,Illinois. His family moved toJacksonville in 1922, where he attendedAndrew Jackson High School before going on to attendBabson College inMassachusetts. Before the outbreak ofWorld War II he was an appliance salesman and a flight school operator. During the war, he joined theU.S. Navy and was posted as a technical officer in the office of theSecretary of the Navy. Following the war, he returned to Jacksonville and began a public relations and business consulting firm and worked sellingappliances.[citation needed]
In 1949 Burns, a segregationist, announced his intention to run forMayor of Jacksonville against incumbentC. Frank Whitehead. He defeated Whitehead in theDemocratic Party primary, and then faced Jacksonville businessman William Ashley, a Democrat running as a politicalindependent, in the general election – an unusual occurrence, as Democrats had been dominant in city politics for decades.[2] On June 21, 1949, Burns defeated Ashley to become the mayor of Jacksonville.[3]
Burns's first term was an abbreviated two-year stint; he was thereafter re-elected four times, the longest consecutive stint of any mayor in the city's history. During his time in the mayor's office, he oversaw massive growth[clarification needed] in Jacksonville. He promoted the city around the world in an attempt to lure international investments and to get corporations to relocate offices to the city. He commissioned the production of a slide show called "The Jacksonville Story". Hundreds of audiences around the world saw it. The American National Exhibit showed a film version in theSoviet Union. Burns personally made presentations atThe Hague and inIsrael.
He was elected president of the U.S. Conference of Mayors, president of the Florida League of Municipalities, and delegate to the International Congress of Municipalities. While mayor, he won tax breaks for insurance companies andPrudential Insurance relocated fromNew Jersey to askyscraper in Jacksonville. Other insurance companies followed, and Jacksonville became known as the insurance capital of the South.[citation needed]
A new courthouse andCity Hall were built on the site of rotten wharves, and a long-promised Civic Auditorium was built on the banks of the St. John's River.Jacksonville Memorial Coliseum andSam W. Wolfson Baseball Park made the city thoroughly modern. TheAtlantic Coast Line Railroad, todayCSX, moved fromWilmington, North Carolina, to the Jacksonville riverfront. The world's largestSears Roebuck store opened on what once was skid row. A modern expressway system took shape and the city got theJacksonville Suns minor league baseball franchise and a minor league hockey team.
The city faced many problems during Burns's term. As a segregationist running on his ability to control Jacksonville’s racial conflicts, he deputized even firefighters to strengthen the city’s police force to resist integration. Racial violence ignited on August 27, 1960, during a protest to integrate downtown lunch counters in theHemming Park shopping area. Segregationists responded by attacking the protesters with baseball bats and ax handles; the day is remembered asAx Handle Saturday. Burns tried to blame the shameful incident on visitors but the police chief attributed the attacks to locals. The city's police department was ridden with scandal and multiple grand jury indictments were handed down on public officials all around him.[citation needed]
One of his final acts as mayor was his handling of theHotel Roosevelt fire in downtown. Although 23 people died, many other hotel guests survived. In 1964 he announced he would be stepping down as mayor to run forGovernor of Florida. City CommissionerLou Ritter was appointed to take his place.[4]
Burns defeated Republican Charles Holley in the November 3 general election to become Governor of Florida.[5] He was sworn in on January 5, 1965, to serve an abbreviated two-year term. This short term came about because the cycle of gubernatorial elections was changed so as not to coincide with presidential election years. While in office, he oversaw progress in the development of a new state constitution, as well as new areas of outdoor recreation and industry. Also, Governor Burns opposed thedeath penalty and allowed no executions (the lastpre-Furman execution in Florida took place in 1964).[6]
In 1961 and 1962, he served as president of theUnited States Conference of Mayors.[7]
On November 15, 1965, at a news conference inOrlando, Governor Burns introducedWalt andRoy Disney to Florida as they announced that the state would be the location of their "East Coast Disneyland",Walt Disney World.[8]
The 1966 gubernatorial elections pitted the sitting governor againstRobert King High, a popular Miami politician. This primary was significant because Burns represented the conservative wing of the Democratic Party and High was the choice of the liberals fromSouth Florida. Governor Burns lost the 1966 Democratic primary and then did not support High in the general election. Political observers in Florida[who?] point to High's supposed failure to obtain such endorsement from Burns because of Burns's conservative views on civil rights. This left the party divided in the face of united Republican support for Claude Kirk. He left office on January 3, 1967, as the first Democratic Governor of Florida in history to be succeeded by a Republican sinceReconstruction.[citation needed]
After his term ended, the governor returned to private business consulting in Jacksonville. In 1971, he made an attempt to be reelected mayor, but he was defeated by incumbentHans Tanzler in the Democratic primary.[9] Many of the projects that he helped to create, such as the Civic Auditorium, rebuilt in 1996 and renamed theTimes-Union Center for the Performing Arts,Wolfson Park, City Hall and theJacksonville Coliseum, have all been replaced with newer structures. However, his work for the city's growth remains evident today.[citation needed] Haydon Burns remained in Jacksonville until his death in 1987.
Jacksonville's main public library, built in 1965, was named theHaydon Burns Library in honor of the former mayor. It was designed by Taylor Hardwick, a local architect who designed many local structures built in Jacksonville. From 1965 to 2005 it was the main library of Jacksonville. In 2005 it was replaced by a newMain Library.
In 1966, the building located at 605 Suwannee Street inTallahassee, Florida, opened and was named the W. Haydon Burns Building. It became home to the State Road Department, now theFlorida Department of Transportation.
In 2004, the city of Jacksonville renamed the old City Hall, built by Burns, as the Haydon Burns City Hall Annex.
| Party political offices | ||
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| Preceded by | Democratic nominee forGovernor of Florida 1964 | Succeeded by |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Mayor of Jacksonville 1949–1965 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Governor of Florida January 3, 1965 – January 3, 1967 | Succeeded by |
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| Territorial(1822–1845) | ||
| State(since 1845) | ||
Democratic Party nominees forgovernor of Florida (1953–) | ||
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