Morris Sheppard | |
|---|---|
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| Senate Minority Whip | |
| In office March 4, 1929 – March 4, 1933 | |
| Leader | Joseph Taylor Robinson |
| Preceded by | Peter G. Gerry |
| Succeeded by | Felix Hebert |
| United States Senator fromTexas | |
| In office February 3, 1913 – April 9, 1941 | |
| Preceded by | Rienzi Johnston |
| Succeeded by | Andrew Houston |
| Member of the U.S. House of Representatives fromTexas | |
| In office November 15, 1902 – February 3, 1913 | |
| Preceded by | John Levi Sheppard |
| Succeeded by | Horace Worth Vaughan |
| Constituency | 4th district (1902–03) 1st district (1903–13) |
| Personal details | |
| Born | John Morris Sheppard (1875-05-28)May 28, 1875 Morris County, Texas, U.S. |
| Died | April 9, 1941(1941-04-09) (aged 65) Washington, D.C., U.S. |
| Party | Democratic |
| Spouse | Lucille Sanderson |
| Children | 3 daughters |
| Parent(s) | John Levi Sheppard Margaret Alice Eddins |
| Relatives | Connie Mack III (grandson) Richard S. Arnold (grandson) Morris S. Arnold (grandson) Connie Mack IV (great-grandson) |
| Education | University of Texas, Austin (BA,LLB) Yale University (LLM) |
John Morris Sheppard (May 28, 1875 – April 9, 1941) was aDemocraticUnited States congressman andUnited States senator fromTexas. He authored theEighteenth Amendment (prohibition) and introduced it in the Senate, and is referred to as "the father of national Prohibition."[1]
Sheppard was born inMorris County in east Texas, the oldest of seven children, to lawyerJohn Levi Sheppard, later a judge and United States Representative; and his wife, the former Margaret Alice Eddins.[2]
Through his mother Margaret, Morris Sheppard was a direct descendant ofRobert Morris (1734–1806) ofPhiladelphia, Pennsylvania, a financier who had signed theDeclaration of Independence, theArticles of Confederation, and theUnited States Constitution.[2]
Sheppard received hisB.A. degree from theUniversity of Texas at Austin in 1895, and anLL.B. from theUniversity of Texas School of Law in 1897. While in law school Sheppard became a member of theMethodist Church, and became friendly with two classmates, future GovernorPat Neff, and future U.S. SenatorTom Connally.[3] In 1898, he received hisLL.M. fromYale Law School.[4]
He began practicing law with his father inPittsburg, Texas and laterTexarkana.
In 1902, Morris Sheppard was elected as aDemocrat to replace his deceased father in theUnited States House of Representatives. He held the seat until his resignation in 1913, when theTexas legislature elected him to the United States Senate.[2] In 1914 and while holding the office of Senator, he was on the Central Committee of the First National Conference on Race Betterment, a conference on eugenics held at the Battle Creek Sanatorium.[5] He served as Democratic whip between 1929 and 1933.
In the 1928 presidential election, Texas voters abandoned the Democratic candidate,Alfred E. Smith, Governor of New York and a Catholic, carrying the state for RepublicanHerbert Hoover and contributing to his victory. In the summer of 1929,First LadyLou Hoover arranged the traditional teas for wives of congressmen, inviting Jessie De Priest, wife ofOscar Stanton De Priest of Chicago, the first African American elected to Congress in the 20th century. Senator Sheppard was among those who objected to this invitation, quoted as saying, "I regret the incident beyond measure. It is recognition of social equality between the white and black races and is fraught with infinite danger to our white civilization."[6]
Sheppard held his Senate seat until his death in Washington, D.C. in 1941. Then-RepresentativeLyndon B. Johnson ran for Sheppard's Senate seat in the 1941special election, and lost to GovernorW. Lee O'Daniel.
As Senator, Sheppard sponsored progressive reform legislation promoting rural credit programs, child labor laws, and antitrust laws. He was also an advocate ofwomen's suffrage in the United States.[2] But he supported the maintenance in Texas and the South ofracial segregation in public facilities and thedisenfranchisement of blacks.
During his tenure, Sheppard was a vocal supporter of thetemperance movement. He helped write theWebb–Kenyon Act (1913) to regulate the interstate shipment ofalcoholic beverages, authored theSheppard Bone-Dry Act (1916) to impose prohibition on theDistrict of Columbia, introduced the Senate resolution for theEighteenth Amendment establishing national prohibition, and helped write theVolstead Act that provided for its enforcement.
However, during the Prohibition era, astill that produced 130 gallons ofmoonshine per day was discovered on a Texas ranch that Sheppard owned.[7]
When a resolution calling for aTwenty-first Amendment to repeal prohibition was introduced to the Senate byJohn J. Blaine ofWisconsin, Sheppard filibustered it for eight-and-a-half hours. He was not helped by a single "dry" senator and he relented, the motion passing by 63 votes to 23.[8]
Co-sponsored by Morris Sheppard andHorace Mann Towner, theSheppard–Towner Act of 1921 provided Federal matching funds for services aimed to reduce maternal and infant mortality. The funding included: midwife training; visiting nurses for pregnant women and new mothers; distribution of nutrition and hygiene information; health clinics, doctors and nurses, for pregnant women, mothers and children.[9]
Senator Morris Sheppard andCongressman Wright Patman are considered the fathers of theFederal Credit Union Act of 1934. Sheppard was the act's author. The bill had stalled in theUnited States House of Representatives, considerably shortening the time theUnited States Senate had to pass the final version. Rather than sending the bill to a conference committee, Sheppard asked the Senate to pass the bill unanimously without reading the bill or the amendments. The bill passed the Senate unanimously.[10] The Morris Sheppard Credit Union inTexarkana, Texas carries the Senator's name, while the institution's local credit union chapter is named after Congressman Patman.[11]
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On December 1, 1909, Sheppard married Lucile Sanderson. The couple had three daughters: Susan, Lucile, and Janet. Some of their descendants also became politicians.
Through their daughter Susan, Sheppard and his wife were the grandparents ofConnie Mack III,Republican U.S. Representative and U.S. Senator fromFlorida, and great-grandparents ofConnie Mack IV, Republican U.S. Representative from Florida. Other Sheppard grandsons, through daughter Janet, were DemocratRichard Sheppard Arnold (1936–2004) and RepublicanMorris Sheppard "Buzz" Arnold (born 1941), judges at different times on theUnited States District Court for the Western District of Arkansas, and later concurrently on theUnited States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, the only brothers to serve concurrently on a U.S. federal court of appeals. The federal courthouse inLittle Rock is named in Judge Richard Arnold's honor. Judge Morris Arnold, a Republican, remains on the Eighth Circuit court under senior status.
Sheppard died in office of a brain hemorrhage on April 9, 1941. He is interred at Hillcrest Cemetery in Texarkana, Texas.Andrew Jackson Houston was appointed senator in his place until a special election could be held.
The year following Sheppard's death, his widow Lucile Sanderson Sheppard marriedTom Connally, also aUnited States senator from Texas.[4] Senator Connally also pre-deceased Lucile. When she died in 1980, she was buried with her first husband Morris Sheppard in Hillcrest Cemetery.
Sheppard Air Force Base inWichita Falls, Texas was named in his honor.
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| U.S. House of Representatives | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromTexas's 4th congressional district 1902–1903 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromTexas's 1st congressional district 1903–1913 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Chair of the House Public Buildings Committee 1911–1913 | Succeeded by |
| U.S. Senate | ||
| Preceded by | U.S. Senator (Class 2) from Texas 1913–1941 Served alongside:Charles Allen Culberson,Earle B. Mayfield,Tom Connally | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Chair of the Senate Agriculture Department Expenditures Committee 1913–1917 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Chair of theSenate Census Committee 1916–1919 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Chair of the Senate Revolutionary Claims Committee 1919–1921 | Position established |
| Preceded by | Senate Minority Whip 1929–1933 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Chair of theSenate Military Affairs Committee 1933–1941 | Succeeded by |
| Party political offices | ||
| First | Democratic nominee forU.S. Senator fromTexas (Class 2) 1918,1924,1930,1936 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Senate Democratic Whip 1929–1933 | Succeeded by |
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| Class 2 | ||
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Chairs of theUnited States Senate Committee on Armed Services | ||
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| Military Affairs Committee (1816–1947) | | |
| Naval Affairs Committee (1816–1947) | ||
| Armed Services Committee (1947–present) | ||
| Public Buildings and Grounds (1837–1947) |  | |
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| Rivers and Harbors (1883–1947) | ||
| Roads (1913–1947) | ||
| Flood Control (1916–1947) | ||
| Transportation and Infrastructure* (1947–) | ||
| Note | * Alternately namedPublic Works in 80th through 93rd Congresses andPublic Works and Transportation in 94th through 103rd Congresses. | |
| International | |
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| National | |
| People | |
| Other | |
