Claude Pepper | |
|---|---|
 Pepper,c. 1940 | |
| Chair of theHouse Rules Committee | |
| In office January 3, 1983 – May 30, 1989 | |
| Preceded by | Richard W. Bolling |
| Succeeded by | Joe Moakley |
| Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromFlorida | |
| In office January 3, 1963 – May 30, 1989 | |
| Preceded by | New district (redistricting) |
| Succeeded by | Ileana Ros-Lehtinen |
| Constituency | 3rd district (1963–1967) 11th district (1967–1973) 14th district (1973–1983) 18th district (1983–1989) |
| United States Senator fromFlorida | |
| In office November 4, 1936 – January 3, 1951 | |
| Preceded by | William Luther Hill |
| Succeeded by | George Smathers |
| Member of theFlorida House of Representatives from theTaylor County district | |
| In office 1929–1931 | |
| Preceded by | W. T. Hendry |
| Succeeded by | Anton H. Wentworth |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Claude Denson Pepper (1900-09-08)September 8, 1900 nearDudleyville, Alabama, U.S. |
| Died | May 30, 1989(1989-05-30) (aged 88) Washington, D.C., U.S. |
| Party | Democratic |
| Spouse | |
| Education | University of Alabama (AB) Harvard University (LLB) |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance | United States |
| Branch/service | United States Army |
| Years of service | 1918 |
| Rank | Private |
| Unit | Student Army Training Corps |
| Battles/wars | World War I |
Claude Denson Pepper (September 8, 1900 – May 30, 1989) was an American politician of theDemocratic Party. He representedFlorida in theUnited States Senate from 1936 to 1951, and theMiami area in theUnited States House of Representatives from 1963 until his death in 1989. He was considered a spokesman forleft-liberalism and the elderly.[1][2]
Born inChambers County, Alabama, Pepper established a legal practice inPerry, Florida, after graduating fromHarvard Law School. After serving a single term in theFlorida House of Representatives, Pepper won a 1936 special election to succeed SenatorDuncan U. Fletcher. Pepper became one of the most prominent liberals in Congress, supporting legislation such as theFair Labor Standards Act of 1938. AfterWorld War II, Pepper's conciliatory views towards theSoviet Union and opposition to PresidentHarry Truman's 1948 re-nomination engendered opposition within the party. Pepper lost the1950 Senate Democratic primary to CongressmanGeorge Smathers, and returned to private legal practice the following year.
In 1962, Pepper won election to a newly created district in the United States House of Representatives. He emerged as a staunchanti-Communist, and strongly criticizedCuban leaderFidel Castro. Pepper served as chairman of theHouse Committee on Aging, and pursued reforms toSocial Security andMedicare. From 1983 to 1989, he served as chairman of the powerfulHouse Rules Committee. He died in office in 1989, and was honored with astate funeral. In 2000, the United States Postal Service issued a 33¢Distinguished Americans series postage stamp honoring Pepper.
Claude Denson Pepper was born inChambers County, Alabama on September 8, 1900,[3] the son of farmers Lena Corine Talbot (1877–1961) and Joseph Wheeler Pepper (1873–1945).[3] Pepper was the fourth child born to his parents; the first three died in infancy.[3] Pepper was an only child until he was ten years old; his younger siblings were Joseph, Sara and Frank.[3] He attended school inDudleyville andCamp Hill, and graduated from Camp Hill High School in 1917.[3] He then operated a hat cleaning and repair business, taught school inDothan and worked at anEnsley steel mill before beginning studies at theUniversity of Alabama.[3]
While in college he joined theArmy forWorld War I and served in the Student Army Training Corps (SATC, precursor to theReserve Officers' Training Corps).[3] The war ended before he saw active service, and after the SATC was disbanded, Pepper joined the ROTC.[4] While lifting ammunition crates during a training event, Pepper suffered a doublehernia, which required surgery to correct.[3][4] After graduating from the University of Alabama with hisA.B. degree in 1921, Pepper was able to use his veterans' and disability benefits to attendHarvard Law School, and he received hisLL.B. in 1924.[3]
Pepper taught law at theUniversity of Arkansas (where his students includedJ. William Fulbright) and then moved toPerry, Florida, where he opened a law practice.[3] Pepper was a member of theFlorida Democratic Party's executive committee from 1928 to 1929.[5]
He was elected to theFlorida House of Representatives in 1928 and served from 1929 to 1931.[3][6][7][8] During his term, Pepper served as chairman of the House's Committee on Constitutional Amendments.[9] In response to theGreat Depression, GovernorDoyle E. Carlton proposed austerity measures including layoffs of state employees and large tax cuts.[10] Pepper was among those who opposed Carlton's program, and popular support was with Carlton, so Pepper was among many legislators who lost when they ran for renomination in 1930.[10]
After being defeated for renomination, Pepper moved his law practice to Tallahassee, the state capital.[9] In 1931, he met Mildred Webster outside the governor's office.[9] They began dating, and they married in St. Petersburg on December 29, 1936.[9] They remained married until her death in 1979, and had no children.[9]
Pepper served on the Florida Board of Public Welfare from 1931 to 1932,[9] and was a member of the Florida Board ofBar Examiners in 1933.[5]
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In 1934, Pepper ran for the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate, challenging incumbentPark Trammell. Pepper lost to Trammell in the primary runoff 51%–49%.[11] But Pepper was unopposed in the 1936 special election following the death of SenatorDuncan U. Fletcher, and succeededWilliam Luther Hill, who had been appointed pending the special election. In the Senate, Pepper became a leadingNew Dealer and close ally of PresidentFranklin Delano Roosevelt. He was unusually articulate and intellectual, and, collaborating with labor unions, he was often the leader of the liberal-left forces in the Senate. His reelection in a heavily fought primary in 1938 solidified his reputation as the most prominent liberal in Congress. His campaign based on a wages-hours bill, which soon became theFair Labor Standards Act of 1938. He sponsored theLend-Lease Act.[citation needed]
In 1937, he joined other Southern senators to filibuster an anti-lynching bill,[12] but broke with them to support anti-poll tax legislation in the 1940s,[13] and the popular account of the SenateCitadel said that Pepper had broken totally with theSouthern Caucus.[14] Pepper still supported some aspects of Southernwhite supremacy such as theall white Primary because he "thought that a Senator from the South had to do that".[15]
In 1943, a confidential analysis byIsaiah Berlin of theSenate Foreign Relations Committee for the BritishForeign Office described Pepper as:
A loud-voiced and fiery New Deal politician. BeforePearl Harbor, he was a most ardent interventionist. He is equally Russophile and apt to be critical of British Imperial policy. He is an out and out internationalist and champion of labour and negro rights (Florida has nopoll tax) and thus a passionate supporter of the Administration's more internationalist policies. He is occasionally used by the President for the purpose of sending up trial balloons in matters of foreign policy. With all these qualities, he is, in his methods, a thoroughly opportunist politician.[16]
Because of the power of theConservative Coalition, he usually lost on domestic policy. He was, however, more successful in promoting an international foreign policy based on friendship with the Soviet Union. In 1946, Pepper appeared frequently in the national press and began to eye the1948 presidential race. He considered running with his close friend and fellow liberal, former Vice PresidentHenry A. Wallace, with whom he was active in the Southern Conference for Human Welfare.[17]
Pepper was re-elected in 1944.[citation needed]
By 1947, momentum was growing for theDraft Eisenhower movement which wanted GeneralDwight D. Eisenhower, former Chief of Staff of the United States Army, to run for president. On September 10, 1947, Eisenhower disclaimed any association with the movement.[18] In mid-September 1947, US RepresentativeW. Sterling Cole of New York voiced opposition to the nomination of Eisenhower or any other military leader, includingGeorge C. Marshall andDouglas MacArthur.[19] In December 1947, an actor impersonating Eisenhower sang "Kiss Me Again" during a political dinner in Washington, DC, whose attendees including President Truman (Democratic incumbent) and numerous Republican potential candidates: the song's refrain ran "but it's too soon. Some time next June, ask me, ask me again, ask me, ask me again."[20]
On April 3, 1948,Americans for Democratic Action (ADA), led by membersAdolf A. Berle Jr. andFranklin Delano Roosevelt Jr., declared its decision to support a ticket of Eisenhower and Supreme Court JusticeWilliam O. Douglas.[21] On April 5, 1948, Eisenhower stated his position remained unchanged: he would not accept a nomination.[22] In mid-April 1948, American labor unions had entered the debate, asWilliam B. Green, president of theAmerican Federation of Labor, criticized theCongress of Industrial Organizations (CIO) for supporting the "Eisenhower Boom".[23]
On July 2, 1948, the White House sentGeorge E. Allen, friend and adviser to both Truman and Eisenhower, to the general to persuade him to make yet another denial about his candidacy.[24] On July 3, 1948, Democratic state organizations in Georgia and Virginia openly backed Eisenhower, as did former New York state court judgeJeremiah T. Mahoney.[25][26][27][28] The same day, Progressive presumptive candidate Wallace scorned the Eisenhower boom's southern supporters, saying, "They have reason to believe that Ike is reactionary because of his testimony on the draft and UMT[Universal Military Training]."[29] On July 4, 1948, rumors abounded, e.g., Eisenhower would accept an "honest draft"[30] or (from theLos Angeles Times) Eisenhower would accept the nomination if made by Truman himself.[31] On July 5, 1948, aNew York Times survey completed the previous day revealed that support for Eisenhower as Democratic nominee for president was "increasing among delegates", fueled by an "Anti-Truman Group" led byJames Roosevelt of California,Jacob Arvey of Illinois, andWilliam O'Dwyer of New York.[32][33][34] US SenatorJohn C. Stennis of Mississippi declared his support for Eisenhower.[35] At 10:30 PM that night, Eisenhower issued an internal memo at Columbia for release by the university'sPR director that "I will not, at this time, identify myself with any political party, and could not accept nomination for public office or participate in a partisan political contest."[36] Support persisted nonetheless,[37] and on July 6, 1948, a local Philadelphia group seized on Eisenhower's phrases about "political party" and "partisan political contest" and declared their continued support for him.[38] The same day, Truman supporters expressed their satisfaction with the Eisenhower memo and confidence in the nomination.[39] By July 7, 1948, the week before the1948 Democratic National Convention, the Draft Eisenhower movement drifted onwards, despite flat denials by Eisenhower[40] and despite public declarations of confidence by Truman[41] and Democratic Party national chairmanJ. Howard McGrath.[42] Nevertheless, 5,000 admirers gathered in front of Eisenhower's Columbia residence to ask him to run.[43]
In 1948, Pepper supported not his friend Henry A. Wallace but Eisenhower.[1] In fact, on July 7, 1948, Pepper went further than any other supporter with an extraordinary proposal:
Senator Claude Pepper of Florida called on the Democratic party today to transform itself temporarily into a national movement, draft Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower as a "national" and hence "nonpartisan" Presidential candidate and promise him substantial control of the party's national convention opening in Philadelphia next week.
It would be necessary, Mr. Pepper suggested, for the convention to invite General Eisenhower to write his own platform and to pick the vice presidential nominee.
Moreover, the Senator said, the general should be assured that the Democrats would never make partisan claims on him, and he should be presented not as a "Democratic" candidate but the candidate of a convention "speaking not as Democrats but simply as Americans."[44]
Pepper managed to gain support from ADA.[45] TheDraft Ike movement gained support from theCIO, theLiberal Party of New York State, Democratic local leaders (Jacob Arvey of Chicago,Frank Hague of New Jersey, MayorWilliam O'Dwyer of New York City, and MayorHubert Humphrey of Minneapolis), as well as ADA leadersLeon Henderson andJames Roosevelt II.[46] Eisenhower made repeated statements that he would not accept the Democratic Party's nomination well into July, just ahead of the1948 Democratic National Convention.[47] When Eisenhower, who accepted to become president ofColumbia University in January 1948) made three statements refusing the nomination during July 1948, Pepper and others gave up and provided lukewarm support toHarry S. Truman.[citation needed] His third and last denial, sent by telegram to Pepper, ended the "Eisenhower Boom", and delegates began to reconsider Truman.[48] (Pepper also made a bid for presidential candidacy but withdrew it.[49]) On the evening of July 9, 1948, Roosevelt conceded at "Eisenhower-for-President headquarters" that the general would not accept a nomination.[50] During the convention (July 12–14, 1948) and after, concern persisted that the Eisenhower Boom had weakened Truman's hopes in the November 1948 elections.[51][52]
In 1950, Pepper lost his bid for a third full term in 1950 by a margin of over 60,000 votes.Ed Ball, a power in state politics who had broken with Pepper, financed his opponent, U.S. RepresentativeGeorge A. Smathers. A former supporter of Pepper, Smathers repeatedly attacked "Red Pepper" for having far-left sympathies, condemning both his support foruniversal health care and his alleged support for theSoviet Union. Pepper had traveled to the Soviet Union in 1945 and, after meeting Soviet leaderJoseph Stalin, declared he was "a man Americans could trust."[53] Because of his left-of-center sympathies with people like Wallace and actor-activistPaul Robeson and because of his bright red hair, he became widely nicknamed "Red Pepper".[1]
At a speech made on November 11, 1946, before a pro-Soviet group known asAmbijan, which supported the creation of aSoviet Jewish republic in the far east of the USSR, Pepper told his listeners that "Probably nowhere in the world are minorities given more freedom, recognition and respect than in the Soviet Union [and] nowhere in the world is there so little friction, between minority and majority groups, or among minorities." Democracy was "growing" in that country, he added, and he asserted that the Soviets were making such contributions to democracy "that many who decry it might well imitate and emulate rather than despair."
Two years later, on November 21, 1948, speaking to the same group, he again lauded the Soviet Union, calling it a nation which has recognized the dignity of all people, a nation wherein discrimination against anybody on account of race is a crime, and which was in fundamental sympathy with the progress of mankind.[54]
Regarding the1950 Florida Senate election, PresidentHarry Truman calledGeorge Smathers into a meeting at theWhite House and reportedly said, "I want you to do me a favor. I want you to beat that son-of-a-bitch Claude Pepper."[53] Pepper had been part of an unsuccessful 1948 campaign to "dump Truman" as the Democratic presidential nominee. Smathers ran against him in the Democratic primary (which at the time in Florida wastantamount to election, the Republican Party still being in infancy there). The contest was extremely heated, and revolved around policy issues, especially charges that Pepper represented the far left and was too supportive of Stalin. Pepper's opponents circulated widely a 49-page booklet titledThe Red Record of Senator Claude Pepper.[55] Pepper was defeated in the primary by Smathers.
Pepper returned to law practice in Miami and Washington, failing in a comeback bid to regain a Senate seat in the 1958 Democratic primary in which he challenged his former colleague,Spessard Holland.[56] However, Pepper did carry eleven counties, including populousDade County where he later staged a remarkable comeback.[citation needed]
In 1962, Pepper was elected to theUnited States House of Representatives from a newly created liberal district around Miami and Miami Beach established due to population growth in the area, becoming one of very few former United States Senators in modern times (the only other examples beingJames Wolcott Wadsworth Jr. fromNew York,Hugh Mitchell fromWashington,Alton Lennon fromNorth Carolina,Garrett Withers fromKentucky, andMagnus Johnson fromMinnesota) to be elected to the House after their Senate careers.[citation needed] (Matthew M. Neely fromWest Virginia andCharles A. Towne from New York via Minnesota were also elected to the House after their Senate careers, but they had been elected to the House before their Senate careers as well.)
Pepper remained a member of the House until his death in 1989, rising to chair of the powerful Rules Committee in 1983. Despite a reputation as a leftist in his youth, Pepper turned staunchly anti-communist in the last third of his life, opposing Cuban leaderFidel Castro and supporting aid to the NicaraguanContras. Pepper voted in favor of theCivil Rights Acts of 1964 and1968,[57][58] and theVoting Rights Act of 1965.[59] Pepper was the only Representative from Florida who voted in favor of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.[60]
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In the early 1970s, Pepper chaired the Joint House–Senate Committee on Crime; then, in 1977, he became chair of the newHouse Select Committee on Aging, which became his base as he emerged as the nation's foremost spokesman for the elderly, especially regardingSocial Security programs. He succeeded in strengtheningMedicare.[citation needed] In 1980 the committee under Pepper's leadership initiated what became a four-year investigation into health care scams that preyed on older people; the report, published in 1984 and commonly called "The Pepper Report", was entitled "Quackery, a $10 Billion Scandal".[61]
In the 1980s, he worked withAlan Greenspan in a major reform of the Social Security system that maintained its solvency by slowly raising the retirement age, thus cutting benefits for workers retiring in their mid-60s, and in 1986 he obtained the passage of a federal law that abolished most mandatory retirement ages.[citation needed] In his later years, Pepper, who customarily began each day by eating a bowl of tomato soup with crackers, sported a replaced hip and hearing aids in both ears, but continued to remain an important and often lionized figure in the House.[citation needed]
In 1988, Pepper sponsored a legislation to create theNational Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI).[62] Enacted during his final term, the NCBI has revolutionized the exchange, sharing and analysis of genetic information and aided researchers worldwide to achieve advances in medical, computational and biological sciences.[62]
Pepper became known as the "grand old man of Florida politics". He was featured on the cover ofTime magazine in 1938 and 1983. During this time, Republicans often joked that he andHouse SpeakerTip O'Neill were the only Democrats who really drove PresidentRonald Reagan crazy.[citation needed]
On May 26, 1989, Pepper was presented with thePresidential Medal of Freedom by PresidentGeorge H. W. Bush.[63] Four days later, Pepper died in his sleep fromstomach cancer.[63] His bodylay in state for two days in theRotunda of the U.S. Capitol;[64] he was the 26th American so honored and was the last person to lie in state in the Capitol rotunda with an open casket. Pepper was buried at Oakland Cemetery inTallahassee.[65] Aspecial election was held in August 1989 to fill his seat, won by RepublicanIleana Ros-Lehtinen, who served until retiring at the conclusion of the115th Congress.[66]
A number of places in Florida are named for Pepper, including the Claude Pepper Center[67] atFlorida State University (housing athink tank devoted to intercultural dialogue in conjunction with the United NationsAlliance of Civilizations and an institute on aging)[68] and the Claude Pepper Federal Building in Miami, as well as several public schools.[69][70] Large sections ofU.S. Route 27 in Florida are named Claude Pepper Memorial Highway.[71] Since 2002, the Democratic Executive Committee (DEC) ofLake County has held an annual "Claude Pepper Dinner" to honor Pepper's tireless support for senior citizens.[72] The Claude Pepper Building (building number 31) at theNational Institutes of Health inBethesda, Maryland is also named for him.[73]
Pepper's wife Mildred was well known and respected for her humanitarian work and was honored with a number of places in Florida named in her honor.[74][75][76] A year after his passing, Claude Pepper was honored in a play written by Shepard Nevel and directed by Phillip Church.Pepper[77] premiered in June 1990 to a full house at theColony Theater in Miami Beach.In 1993, Bradenton, Florida actor Kelly Reynolds portrayed Pepper in several performances held at area schools, libraries and nursing homes.[78]
In 1982, Pepper received the Award for Greatest Public Service Benefiting the Disadvantaged, an annual presentation of theJefferson Awards.[79]
In 1983, he received the Golden Plate Award of theAmerican Academy of Achievement.[80][81]
In 1985, theRoosevelt Institute awarded Pepper itsFour Freedoms medal.[82]
Also in 1985, Pepper was awarded aDoctor of Humane Letters fromFlorida State University for his public service.[83]
Pepper was posthumously inducted into theFlorida Civil Rights Hall of Fame on February 29, 2012, in a ceremony held by Florida GovernorRick Scott in the Florida State Capitol. He was one of the first three inductees, along withMary McLeod Bethune andCharles Kenzie Steele Sr.[84]
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
| Party political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Democratic nominee forU.S. Senator fromFlorida (Class 3) 1936,1938,1944 | Succeeded by |
| U.S. Senate | ||
| Preceded by | U.S. Senator (Class 3) from Florida 1936–1951 Served alongside:Charles O. Andrews,Spessard Holland | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Chair of theSenate Patents Committee 1944–1947 | Position abolished |
| U.S. House of Representatives | ||
| Preceded by | Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromFlorida's 3rd congressional district 1963–1967 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromFlorida's 11th congressional district 1967–1973 | Succeeded by |
| New constituency | Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromFlorida's 14th congressional district 1973–1983 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Chair of theHouse Aging Committee 1977–1983 | Succeeded by |
| New constituency | Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromFlorida's 18th congressional district 1983–1989 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Chair of theHouse Rules Committee 1983–1989 | Succeeded by |
| Honorary titles | ||
| Preceded by | Most Senior Living U.S. senator Sitting or Former March 13, 1985 – May 30, 1989 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Oldest member of the U.S. House of Representatives 1979–1989 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Persons who havelain in state or honor in theUnited States Capitol rotunda 1989 | Succeeded by |
| Class 1 |  | |
|---|---|---|
| Class 3 | ||
Chairs of theU.S. House Committee on Rules (1880–present) | ||
|---|---|---|
 | ||
