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William Bradley Umstead | |
|---|---|
 Umstead,c. 1952 | |
| 63rdGovernor of North Carolina | |
| In office January 8, 1953 – November 7, 1954 | |
| Lieutenant | Luther H. Hodges |
| Preceded by | W. Kerr Scott |
| Succeeded by | Luther H. Hodges |
| United States Senator fromNorth Carolina | |
| In office December 18, 1946 – December 30, 1948 | |
| Appointed by | R. Gregg Cherry |
| Preceded by | Josiah Bailey |
| Succeeded by | J. Melville Broughton |
| Member of the U.S. House of Representatives fromNorth Carolina's6th district | |
| In office March 4, 1933 – January 3, 1939 | |
| Preceded by | J. Bayard Clark |
| Succeeded by | Carl T. Durham |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1895-05-13)May 13, 1895 |
| Died | November 7, 1954(1954-11-07) (aged 59) Durham, North Carolina, U.S. |
| Resting place | Mount Tabor Church CemeteryRougemont, North Carolina |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse | Merle Holland Davis |
| Children | 1 |
| Alma mater | University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Trinity College |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance | United States |
| Branch/service | United States Army |
| Years of service | 1917–1918 |
| Rank | First Lieutenant |
| Battles/wars | World War I |
William Bradley Umstead (May 13, 1895 – November 7, 1954) was an American politician who served as the63rdgovernor of North Carolina from 1953 until his death in 1954. ASouthern Democrat, he previously represented North Carolina in theU.S. Senate from 1946 to 1948 and in theU.S. House of Representatives from 1933 to 1939. He was a veteran ofWorld War I.
Umstead was born in the northernDurham County township ofMangum Township in 1895. In 1916, he earned a bachelor's degree in history from theUniversity of North Carolina at Chapel Hill where, like several of North Carolina's UNC-alumni Governors before him, he was a member of thePhilanthropic Society. Reflecting on his time as a Phi, in 1948 Umstead (then a U.S. Senator) asserted in an article to theDaily Tar Heel "If I had in my hand everything I learned in the halls of [the Philanthropic Society] and in my left hand everything I learned in the University, I wouldn't swap my experiences in debating for other things I've learned here in the University."[1]
Umstead taught high school history for approximately one school year before joining theUnited States Army after theAmerican entry into World War I in April 1917. He served as an officer and saw combat inFrance; Umstead was discharged in 1919 as afirst lieutenant. He served with the317th Machine Gun Battalion of the81st "Wildcat" Division.[2]
He later entered law school at Trinity College (nowDuke University). Umstead was a prosecutor for most of his legal career and served as the elected solicitor (today calleddistrict attorney) for a five-county district from 1927 to 1933.
He served from 1933 to 1939 in theUnited States House of Representatives, choosing not to seek re-election in 1938. Umstead was chairman of theNorth Carolina Democratic Party for several years until he was appointed to fill a vacantUnited States Senate seat in 1946.[citation needed] After PresidentHarry Truman proposed civil rights legislation in 1948, Umstead suggested he not seek reelection and told a state Democrat official that he would not support his candidacy.[3] Defeated for a Senate term of his own in 1948, Umstead ran for governor in1952 and won.
Umstead spent several weeks preparing his inaugural address. He was inaugurated as Governor of North Carolina on January 8, 1953, at theMemorial Auditorium. He delivered an hour-long speech outlining his extensive legislative program,[4] including a 10 percent salary increase for public school staff retroactive to 1 July 1952, passage of a bill requiringvehicle inspections and establishment of a drivers' education program in every public high school, bond issues to construct facilities for the treatment and education of the mentally ill and to build schools, and a statewide referendum on the legalization of liquor sales.[5] He also criticized his predecessor's road construction program, saying it placed a large financial burden upon the state.[4] Umstead was exhausted by the days' ceremonies and was feeling ill, but he stood to greet visitors at theExecutive Mansion for four hours and attended a ball in the evening.[6]
Umstead spent most of the following day getting his office in order, and on January 10 he went to work in his Durham law firm before retiring to his home near Bahama in the evening. He called a doctor when he could not fall asleep due to a cough, and after midnight he was taken toWatts Hospital in Durham. Once there, his doctor discovered that he had suffered a heart attack and was close to developing pneumonia. His doctor released a statement saying that the governor had suffered "a mild attack of heart trouble" and was quickly improving, hoping to be released in 12 to 15 days. Leaders in theNorth Carolina General Assembly were unsure if they should proceed with their session while Umstead was hospitalized, but he insisted they begin their work while at the same time giving no instructions to the presiding officer of the Senate,Lieutenant GovernorLuther H. Hodges.[7] The two men had tense relations since their campaigns, when Umstead sought to distance himself from Hodges. Umstead also gave Hodges no indications of his legislative agenda,[8] and ignored him throughout his term.[9]
Umstead remained in the hospital for 27 days and returned to the Executive Mansion under the condition that he stay in bed and work limited hours. He had his brother John and former Speaker of the House W. Frank Taylor direct most of his legislative program. Small groups of legislators would visit him in his bedroom to discuss his plans.[10] He never fully recovered from his heart attack and remained unwell.[11] In June 1953 U.S. SenatorWillis Smith died. The media immediately began speculating about who Umstead would appoint to serve the remaining 18 months of Smith's term.[12] Umstead said little publicly other than that his choice would be of someone with agricultural concerns and respect North Carolina's traditional east–west balance in representation in government. North Carolina's other senator,Clyde Hoey, hailed from the western portion of the state, so it was assumed that Umstead would nominate an easterner. On July 10 Umstead made the surprise appointment ofAlton Lennon to the office, a lawyer from Wilmington who had worked on Umstead's Senate and gubernatorial campaigns. Umstead's friends suggested that the governor had made the decision simply to get over with it, while observers speculated that Lennon was intended to be adark horse candidate who could prevail through the next Senate election by being attached to Umstead's popularity.[13]
Hoey died on May 12, 1954, thus presenting Umstead with the chance to fill a second U.S. Senate vacancy, an opportunity not afforded to a governor in the United States since 1936.[14] Shortly thereafter theSupreme Court of the United States issued its decision inBrown v. Board of Education, ruling that the racial segregation of public schools was unconstitutional. Umstead was angered by the decision, feeling the court had overstepped its bounds and undercut state's rights to spend their own money, but he believed in therule of law and felt obligated not to dismiss the ruling out of hand. He also thought a charged public response would be undignified and politically risky.[15] In June 1954, Umstead appointedSam Ervin to fill Hoey's vacancy.
Umstead's health declined over the course of his term, worsened by his insistence on his strenuous amount of work. On the afternoon of November 4 Umstead, feeling ill, retired from his office to his bed in the Executive Mansion. His doctor ordered him to be taken to Watts Hospital, while the governor's office released a statement saying a severe cold had disturbed Umstead's heart. Umstead packed a briefcase full of documents so he could continue to work while hospitalized, but his health did not improve and he did not open the briefcase while at Watts. He died there at 9:10 AM on November 7 with his wife and daughter at his side. A funeral was held two days later and immediately afterwards Hodges was sworn in as Governor of North Carolina.[11] Umstead is buried in the Mount Tabor Church Cemetery inMangum Township inRougemont, near Bahama.[5]
TheWilliam B. Umstead Bridge inDare County, North Carolina was named in his honor in 1957.[16] In 1966, the state of North Carolina named theWilliam B. Umstead State Park inRaleigh, North Carolina in his honor, as well.[17]
| Party political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Democratic nominee forGovernor of North Carolina 1952 | Succeeded by |
| U.S. House of Representatives | ||
| Preceded by | Member of the U.S. House of Representatives fromNorth Carolina's 6th congressional district March 4, 1933-January 3, 1939 | Succeeded by |
| U.S. Senate | ||
| Preceded by | U.S. senator (Class 2) from North Carolina December 18, 1946– December 30, 1948 Served alongside:Clyde Roark Hoey | Succeeded by |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Governor of North Carolina January 8, 1953– November 7, 1954 | Succeeded by |
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| Class 3 | ||
| International | |
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| National | |
| People | |
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