Jennings Randolph | |
|---|---|
 Official portrait, 1958 | |
| United States Senator fromWest Virginia | |
| In office November 5, 1958 – January 3, 1985 | |
| Preceded by | John D. Hoblitzell Jr. |
| Succeeded by | Jay Rockefeller |
| Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromWest Virginia's2nd district | |
| In office March 4, 1933 – January 3, 1947 | |
| Preceded by | Frank L. Bowman |
| Succeeded by | Melvin C. Snyder |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1902-03-08)March 8, 1902 Salem, West Virginia, U.S. |
| Died | May 8, 1998(1998-05-08) (aged 96) |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse | |
| Education | Salem College |
Jennings Randolph (March 8, 1902 – May 8, 1998) was an American politician fromWest Virginia. ADemocrat, he was most notable for his service in theUnited States House of Representatives from 1933 to 1947 and theUnited States Senate from 1958 to 1985. He was the last living member of the United States Congress to have served during the first 100 days ofFranklin D. Roosevelt's administration. Randolph retired in 1985, and was succeeded byJay Rockefeller.[1]
Randolph was born inSalem, West Virginia, the son of Idell (Bingham) and Ernest Fitz Randolph.[2] He was named afterWilliam Jennings Bryan.[3] Both his grandfather and father had been mayors of Salem.
He attended the public schools and graduated from the Salem Academy in 1920 andSalem College in 1922. In 1924 he engaged in newspaper work inClarksburg, West Virginia. He was the associate editor of the West Virginia Review atCharleston, West Virginia in 1925; head of the department of public speaking and journalism at Davis and Elkins College atElkins, West Virginia, 1926–1932; and a trustee of Salem College andDavis and Elkins College.
In 1930 Randolph lost a bid for election to theU.S. House of Representatives, but he won the seat in 1932 and was re-elected six times, serving from March 4, 1933, to January 3, 1947. While a congressman, he was chairman of theU.S. House Committee on the District of Columbia (Seventy-sixth through Seventy-ninth Congresses) and the U.S. House Committee on Civil Service (Seventy-ninth Congress).
Randolph was defeated for re-election in the Republican landslide of 1946. He had a longtime association withSoutheastern University inWashington, D.C., serving as a professor of public speaking there from 1935–1953, and dean of the School of Business Administration from 1952 to 1958. In February 1947 he became assistant to the president and director of public relations at Capital Airlines (later purchased byUnited Airlines) in Washington, giving up those positions in April 1958 to focus on his campaign for theU.S. Senate.
Randolph was elected in aspecial election on November 4, 1958 to the U.S. Senate to fill the vacancy caused by the death ofMatthew M. Neely. He was re-elected to a full term in1960, re-elected in1966,1972 and1978, and served from November 5, 1958 to January 3, 1985. Randolph was chairman of the Committee on Public Works (89th through95th Congresses) and its successor, the Committee on Environment and Public Works (95th and96th Congresses). He was not a candidate for reelection in1984.[4]
Randolph voted in favor of theCivil Rights Acts of 1960,[5]1964,[6] and1968,[7] as well as the24th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution,[8] theVoting Rights Act of 1965,[9] and the confirmation ofThurgood Marshall to theU.S. Supreme Court.[10] On November 4, 1977, PresidentJimmy Carter signed environmental bills H.R. 2817 and H.R. 4297, singling Randolph out as the sole senator he wanted to thank for their passage.[11]
Randolph was best known for sponsoring eleven times an amendment to theConstitution that would grant citizens aged between 18 and 21 the right to vote. He first introduced the amendment in 1942, arguing that young soldiers fighting inWorld War II should be able to vote. In 1970 amendments to theVoting Rights Act lowered the voting age to 18 in both local and national elections. After theSupreme Court found inOregon v. Mitchell that Congress only had the power to lower the voting age to 18 for national elections, and no power to lower it for state elections, Randolph was among the senators who re-introduced the amendment. It was ratified by three-fourths of the states in 1971 as theTwenty-sixth Amendment, 107 days after it was approved by Congress.
Following a request from PresidentRichard Nixon, on February 11, 1972 Jennings personally escorted Ella Mae Thompson Haddix toRandolph County Courthouse inElkins, West Virginia to register to vote, becoming the first 18-year-old registered voter in the United States.[12]
On August 26, 1970, the fiftieth anniversary of the ratification of theNineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution givingwomen the right to vote, Randolph attracted widespread media coverage for negative comments he made concerning theWomen's Liberation Movement.[13] Feminists had organized a nationwideWomen's Strike for Equality that day, and presented the sympathetic Senate leadership with a petition for theEqual Rights Amendment. Randolph derided the protesters as "braless bubbleheads" and claimed that the equal rights activists did not speak for women, citing those more radical feminists that supported, as he put it, the "right to unabridged abortions". Randolph would later admit that his "bubbleheads" comment was "perhaps ill-chosen" and went on to support the Equal Rights Amendment. In 1972, when the amendment passed the Senate, Randolph was a co-sponsor.[14]
While a member of the House of Representatives, Randolph was the main sponsor of theRandolph-Sheppard Act, which was passed by Congress in 1936. This act, which is still in force, givesblind people preference in federal contracts for food service stands on federal properties such as military bases, as well as some other jobs. Organizations for blind people such as theNational Federation of the Blind cite this act as one of the first and most successful programs to give blind people secure jobs with less supervision and more independence than other previous programs such as sheltered workshops. This act became one of the first instances ofaffirmative action legislation.
An aviation enthusiast, he often flew more than once a day to visit constituents in West Virginia and to commute to Washington. He was the founder and first president of the Congressional Flying Club. He was a strong advocate for programs to advance air travel and airport development. In 1938 he sponsored theCivil Aeronautics Act, which transferred the federal civil aviation responsibilities from theDepartment of Commerce to a new independent agency, theCivil Aeronautics Authority (CAA). The legislation gave the CAA the power to regulate airline fares and to determine the routes that air carriers would serve. In subsequent years, Randolph co-authored the Federal Airport Act as well as legislation that created theCivil Air Patrol, theNational Air and Space Museum, andNational Aviation Day. During his tenure in the Senate, he sponsored the Airport-Airways Development Act that created the Airport Trust Fund. As a co-author of the Appalachian Regional Development Act, he included provisions for the development of rural airports.
In 1942 Randolph proposed aSynthetic Liquid Fuels Act, which would fund the transformation of coal and its products into other useful forms of energy. To promote the viability ofsynthetic fuels, in November 1943 Randolph and a professional pilot flew in an aircraft powered by gasoline derived from coal. The small, single-engine airplane flew fromMorgantown, West Virginia to National Airport inWashington, D.C. Aided by Interior SecretaryHarold Ickes and SenatorJoseph C. O'Mahoney, the Synthetic Liquid Fuels Act was approved on April 5, 1944. The Act authorized $30 million for the construction and operation ofdemonstration plants to produce synthetic liquid fuels.
He introduced legislation to establish aDepartment of Peace in 1946 with the goal of strengthening America's capacity to resolve and manage international conflicts by both military and nonmilitary means. In the 1970s and 1980s he joined senatorsMark Hatfield andSpark Matsunaga and CongressmanDan Glickman in efforts to create a national institution dedicated to peace. After he had announced his retirement from Congress in 1984, Randolph played a key role in the passage and enactment of theUnited States Institute of Peace Act. To guarantee its passage and funding, the legislation was attached to the Department of Defense Authorization Act of 1985. Approval of the legislation was in part a tribute to Randolph's long career in public service. The Jennings Randolph Program, which awards fellowships to enable outstanding scholars, policymakers, journalists, and other professionals from around the world to conduct research at the U.S. Institute of Peace, has been named in his honor.
Randolph died inSt. Louis, Missouri in 1998. He was interred atSeventh Day Baptist Cemetery inSalem, West Virginia.
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| Party political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Democratic nominee forU.S. Senator fromWest Virginia (Class 2) 1958,1960,1966,1972,1978 | Succeeded by |
| U.S. House of Representatives | ||
| Preceded by | Member of the U.S. House of Representatives fromWest Virginia's 2nd congressional district March 4, 1933 – January 3, 1947 | Succeeded by |
| U.S. Senate | ||
| Preceded by | U.S. senator (Class 2) from West Virginia November 5, 1958 – January 3, 1985 Served alongside:W. Chapman Revercomb,Robert C. Byrd | Succeeded by |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Chairman ofSenate Public Works Committee 1966–1977 | Committee replaced by Environment and Public Works Committee |
| New title Committee created to replace Public Works Committee | Chairman ofSenate Environment and Public Works Committee 1977–1981 | Succeeded by |
| Honorary titles | ||
| Preceded by | Most senior living U.S. representative (Sitting or former) October 10, 1991 – May 8, 1998 Served alongside:Robert T. Secrest(until May 15, 1994) | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Oldest living United States senator (Sitting or former) May 29, 1995 – May 8, 1998 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Oldest living United States representative (Sitting or former) January 4, 1997 – May 8, 1998 | Succeeded by |
| Class 1 |  | |
|---|---|---|
| Class 2 | ||
| Public Buildings (1838–1857) | | |
|---|---|---|
| Public Buildings and Grounds (1857–1947) | ||
| Public Works (1947–1977) | ||
| Environment and Public Works (1977–present) | ||
| Post Office and Post Roads (1808–1947) |  | |
|---|---|---|
| (Reform in the) Civil Service* (1893–1947) | ||
| Post Office and Civil Service (1947–1995) | ||
| Note | *Name shortened fromReform in the Civil Service toCivil Service in 1925. | |
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| People | |
| Other | |
