Charles E. Bennett | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Member of the U.S. House of Representatives fromFlorida | |
| In office January 3, 1949 – January 3, 1993 | |
| Preceded by | Emory H. Price |
| Succeeded by | Tillie Fowler (Redistricting) |
| Constituency | 2nd district (1949-1967) 3rd district (1967-1993) |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Charles Edward Bennett (1910-12-02)December 2, 1910 Canton, New York, U.S. |
| Died | September 6, 2003(2003-09-06) (aged 92) Jacksonville, Florida, U.S. |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse | Dorothy Jean |
| Occupation | Politician |
Bennett commemorates the 40th anniversary of theG.I. Bill of Rights Recorded June 21, 1984 | |
Charles Edward Bennett (December 2, 1910 – September 6, 2003) was an American politician serving as a member of theUnited States House of Representatives fromFlorida from 1949 to 1993. He was aDemocrat who resided inJacksonville, Florida. He is the longest-serving member of either house of Congress in Florida's history.
He was born inCanton, New York and moved to Florida by the end of his childhood. He graduated from high school inTampa. Bennett was anEagle Scout and received theDistinguished Eagle Scout Award from theBoy Scouts of America.
In the history of theUniversity of Florida, he is the only person to have served both as editor of the student newspaper (The Independent Florida Alligator), and president of the student body.[1] As editor of the Alligator, he wrote editorial in favor of isolation and against the nation becoming involved in foreign wars.[citation needed]
Bennett earned his bachelor's degree in 1932, then enrolled in the Law School. After graduating with aJuris Doctor in 1934, he practiced law in Jacksonville and was elected to the Florida state legislature in 1941.
He resigned in March 1942 to join the United States Army and served with distinction inNew Guinea as a guerrilla fighter during theJapanese occupation of the Philippines. While overseas, he contractedpolio which left his legs paralyzed for the remainder of his life. He went through 16 months of rehabilitation at a military hospital in Arkansas, then utilized leg braces, canes or crutches to walk.[1] He received thePhilippine Legion of Honor and theGold Cross. In the U.S., he was awarded theBronze andSilver Stars and was discharged as acaptain in 1947.[citation needed]
He married wife Dorothy Jean in 1953 and they had four children: Lucinda (Cindy), Charles Junior (who died in 1977 from a drug overdose), James and Bruce.[2]
After the war, he was elected to Congress from what was then the 2nd District. He was re-elected 21 more times from this Jacksonville-based district, which was renumbered as the 3rd District in 1967. He rarely faced serious opposition, even as the district became increasingly friendly toRepublicans nationally. For instance, in 1972 he won 82 percent of the vote against a nominal Republican challenger (one of only six times the Republicans even put up a challenger against him) even asRichard Nixon carried the district by over 70 percent of the vote.
In 1951, he began proposing a code of ethics for government employees, nicknamedThe Ten Commandments. After theSherman Adams affair, the document was adopted as the first code of ethics for government service in 1958. In 1955, he sponsored the bill that added the wordsIn God We Trust to the nation's currency. He signed the 1956Southern Manifesto, and voted against theCivil Rights Acts of 1957,[3]1960,[4]1964,[5] and1968,[6] but voted in favor of theVoting Rights Act of 1965.[7]
To prove to his constituents that his handicap did not interfere with his serving in Congress, he amassed the record for the longest unbroken string of recorded roll call votes without being absent when the roll was called.[8] Each year, he returned his veteran's disability pension andSocial Security checks to the U. S. Treasury to reduce thenational debt.[9] Leftover campaign funds were given to theNational Park Service. According toThe Almanac of American Politics 1980, "He opposes unofficial office accounts, outside income for members and congressional pay raises, which led one colleague to call him 'a bit too pious.' "[8]
However, his staunch ethical stance appeared to be too much for his colleagues in the House of Representatives, who nicknamed him, "Mr. Clean".[10] Although he was responsible for the establishment of the first temporary committee on ethics in the House, he was not named to the first formal ethics committee when it was formed.
Not surprisingly, given the large defense presence in the Jacksonville area, Bennett was somewhat hawkish on defense policy. He was in line to become chairman of theHouse Armed Services Committee in 1985, one of the most powerful panels in the body; he had served on that committee for virtually all of his House career. However, he was defeated for the post byLes Aspin. While Aspin had far less seniority than Bennett, his views on defense policy were more in line with the rest of the Democratic Caucus.[citation needed]
Bennett was set to run for a 23rd term in 1992 in the newly renumbered 4th District against Jacksonville City Council presidentTillie Fowler, his strongest Republican opponent in decades. However, he abruptly ended his bid for reelection when his wife became ill in the spring of 1992. Fowler went on to win easily in November against a replacement candidate. Proving how Republican the district had become, a Democrat would not file in this district again until 2000.
At the time of his retirement, Bennett was the second longest-serving member of the House (behind only fellow DemocratJamie Whitten). He is still the longest-serving member of either house of Congress in Florida's history.
Florida's 3rd congressional district, 1980:[11]
Florida's 3rd congressional district, 1982:[12]
Florida's 3rd congressional district, 1990:[13]
Charles Bennett was a historical scholar who researched and wrote nine books about the history of north Florida, includingGeneral MacGregor: Hero or Rogue aboutGregor MacGregor,Laudonniere & Fort Caroline,Three Voyages andTwelve on the River St. Johns. TheFort Caroline National Memorial and theTimucuan Ecological and Historic Preserve were both created through his efforts.[14]He is the only person to receive theJacksonville Historical Society'sLifetime Achievement Award, and the society stated, "His contributions of original research and his additions to the body of knowledge on the area's history are staggering."[15]TheCharles E. and Dorothy J. Bennett Fund was established in 2008 at the University of Florida to encourage research and publication of Florida history.[14]
Bennett suffered a heart attack and a stroke in 2002, after which he used a wheelchair. His health steadily declined, and he died in Jacksonville in 2003 at age 92. His ashes were interred atArlington National Cemetery.[1]
The Charles E. Bennett Federal Building at 400 West Bay Street in Jacksonville[16] is named after him as is the Charles E. Bennett Elementary School inGreen Cove Springs, Florida.[17] The bridge over theIntracoastal Waterway on Jacksonville'sWonderwood Connector was dedicated on August 27, 2004 as theCharles E. Bennett Memorial Bridge.[1][18]
A life-size cast bronze statue of Bennett was installed on a granite base in a shady corner ofHemming Plaza in Jacksonville on April 23, 2004.[19]
| U.S. House of Representatives | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Member of the U.S. House of Representatives fromFlorida's 2nd congressional district 1949–1967 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Member of the U.S. House of Representatives fromFlorida's 3rd congressional district 1967–1993 | Succeeded by |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by L. Richardson Preyer North Carolina | Chairman ofHouse Ethics Committee 1979–1981 | Succeeded by Louis Stokes Ohio |
| International | |
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| National | |
| People | |
| Other | |
