Steve Flowers: The legend of Senator John Sparkman
In my 2015 book, Of Goats and Governors: Six Decades of Colorful Alabama Political Stories, I have a Chapter entitled “Alabama’s Three Greatest Senators.” I chronicle the lives and accomplishments of Richard Shelby, Lister Hill, and John Sparkman. Last week, we gave you the history of Lister Hill. This week, we will give you a brief story of the legacy of the great John Sparkman. Hill and Sparkman served as a tandem in Washington for more than 20 years and were respected giants on Capitol Hill. Our Hill-Sparkman team was unsurpassed in power and prestige from 1946 to 1970. They were admired not only in Alabama and the South but throughout the nation. They were powerful and extremely effective for our state but also portrayed a good image as erudite southern gentlemen. John Sparkman served an amazing 32 years in the United States Senate from 1946 through 1978. He served 12 years in the U.S. Congress from Huntsville and the Tennessee Valley prior to being elected to the Senate. He made his presence known as Chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, which at the time oversaw housing for America. Furthermore, he was the Democratic nominee for Vice President in 1952. John Sparkman is the Father of the Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville. His legacy lives on today with the growth and aerospace prominence of our Rocket City. Our fastest-growing and most economically prosperous metropolitan area began its presence in the 1960s because of John Sparkman. In fact, the city should probably be referred to as Sparkmanville rather than Huntsville. Senator Sparkman was not born into privilege like Senator Hill. Sparkman was born and raised on an unpretentious tenant farm near Hartselle in Morgan County. He had ten brothers and sisters. In 1917, by making a cotton crop and netting $75.00, he was able to enroll in the University of Alabama. At Alabama, he was editor of the “Crimson and White,” and like Senator Hill, he was elected President of the Student Body at the Capstone. At the same time, he worked his way through school, shoveling coal and feeding furnaces. After graduating from the University of Alabama School of Law, he practiced law in Huntsville for 12 years before being elected to Congress in 1936. Like Hill, he supported President Theodore Roosevelt’s New Deal. The passage of the Tennessee Valley Authority (“TVA”) Act was a tremendous boost for his North Alabama Tennessee Valley district. The TVA Act transformed North Alabama. In 1946, he had served his North Alabama congressional district well for over a decade and was elected to the U.S. Senate. Senator John Bankhead had died in office, and Sparkman won the seat handily with strong backing of labor unions who were in their heyday in Alabama politics. Senator Sparkman rose to power and prominence in the Senate. He made his mark as the father of federal housing for the poor. He became Chairman of the very powerful Senate Banking Committee, as well as its Housing Subcommittee. Sparkman was the author of practically every major housing bill since World War II and is also known as the father of the Small Business Administration. He was also the ranking majority member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. For more than two decades, John Sparkman and Lister Hill served together as a team, the most powerful and respected tandem in Washington. While some Southern Senators were making racist speeches on the floor of the U.S. Senate, Hill and Sparkman refused to race bait. They preferred to quietly bring home the bacon to Alabama with dignity. They had a team approach to helping Alabama, and their voting records on major issues that faced the nation were identical. Both men served as president of the student body of the University of Alabama, and both were products of what is known as the political machine at the University of Alabama. John Sparkman was a giant in the United States Senate and an icon in Alabama political history. See you next week. Steve Flowers is Alabama’s leading political columnist. His weekly column appears in over 60 Alabama newspapers. He served 16 years in the state legislature. Steve may be reached at www.steveflowers.us.
Steve Flowers: Career politicians, good or bad?
In recent years, candidates for political office have lambasted, run against, and proclaimed that they were not career politicians. Every television ad for someone who has never held office has proudly stated that they are not career politicians. That all sounds good, but is it really good? In my lifetime, the word politician has become synonymous with someone sinister and untrustworthy. In fact, politics has become something that the brightest and best people have come to avoid. That was not the case when I was a boy growing up in Alabama. The most outstanding young men in the state chose to go into public service. Having roots in the state was important towards success for the men who rose to public office. The great Alabama storyteller Katherine Tucker Windham would say, “Alabama is a big front porch.” Boys would grow up with aspirations of being governor, United States senator, or congressman. People in their hometowns would identify young men who were talented and groom them to be future governors or congressmen. A study of Alabama political history will reveal that Alabama has done pretty well over the years in the halls of the United States Congress by electing homegrown boys to be their Representatives in Washington. These gentlemen of bygone years were born, trained, and ready to be the most powerful, erudite, and respected men in Washington. Their paths were laid out to be career politicians. A look back to 60 years ago in Alabama politics reveals that we had the greatest statesmen in our state’s history representing us in Congress. They all amazingly took the same path. Their career path to Congress was textbook. They grew up in their hometown, went to The University of Alabama, continued and went to The University of Alabama School of Law, came back home and practiced law for a short time. They then went to Congress and started building seniority and power in Washington. In 1963, 60 years ago, we had the greatest tandem in history as our two U.S. Senators, Lister Hill and John Sparkman. Senator Hill grew up in Montgomery, graduated from The University of Alabama and then The University of Alabama School of Law. He served the old second district in Congress for a decade and then was elected to the Senate, where he served 30 years. Senator John Sparkman was born in rural Morgan County, graduated from The University of Alabama and then The University of Alabama School of Law. He practiced law for a few years in Huntsville before being elected to the U.S. Senate, where he served 32 years. The man who took Sparkman’s Tennessee Valley Congressional Seat in 1946 was the great Bob Jones. Congressman Jones was from Scottsboro and was one of the state’s greatest congressmen and a savior for the Tennessee Valley. He was a graduate of The University of Alabama and The University of Alabama School of Law. Carl Elliott was in that 1963 class. He was a giant in Washington. Congressman Elliott was born in Red Bay but practiced law in Jasper and called Walker County home. He was a graduate of The University of Alabama and The University of Alabama School of Law. George Andrews was a great Congressman for the old Third District. He served a decade with extreme effectiveness and distinction. Ft. Rucker would not be the mainstay of the Wiregrass if it were not for George Andrews. He was a graduate of the University of Alabama and the University of Alabama School of Law. He was born and raised in the third district. Congressman George Grant served the old second district with distinction for 28 years. He followed Lister Hill in this seat. He was born and raised in the district and practiced law in Troy before going to Congress. He was a product of The University of Alabama and The University of Alabama School of Law. Albert Rains represented the Gadsden area for decades in Congress. He was a power. He was successful in business and banking concurrently with his Congressional career. He graduated from The University of Alabama School of Law. George Huddleston Jr. represented the Birmingham area with distinction during this era. He had a law degree from The University of Alabama and was a prominent lawyer before going to Congress. The great Black Belt Congressman, Armistead Selden, was a freshman in that 1963 group. He was a graduate of Sewanee and The University of Alabama School of Law. These men, who made up the Congressional delegation representing us in Washington in 1963, will be remembered in the annals of Alabama history as some of Alabama’s greatest and most powerful public servants. Their game plan was to be a public servant. Therefore, you might say they were pretty good career politicians. See you next week. Steve Flowers is Alabama’s leading political columnist. His weekly column appears in over 60 Alabama newspapers. Steve served 16 years in the state legislature. Steve may be reached at www.steveflowers.us.
Steve Flowers: Don Siegelman Meets Big Jim Folsom
We are continuing this week with our summer series on Big Jim Folsom – Alabama’s most colorful governor. Those of us who grew up in and around Alabama politics have coined a descriptive term for a person who is obsessed with seeking political office constantly and tirelessly without reservation or concern for their physical, mental, or financial welfare. They will run for high-elected office at all costs. The term we use to describe those people is named for the man who best exemplified that obsession, George Wallace. Therefore, someone who is driven by obsession to win high public office has the “George Wallace Syndrome.” The Alabama baby boomer who was eaten up with George Wallace Syndrome more than any other I know was Don Siegelman. Siegelman ran nonstop beginning from the time he was a student at the University of Alabama in the 1960s. He was successful. He was President of the Student Government at Alabama and went on to become Alabama’s Secretary of State, Attorney General, Lieutenant Governor, and finally, his life’s dream of Governor. There is an old political saying that you don’t ever want to get into a race with someone who wants it more than you and will outwork you. Siegelman was never outworked. He was relentless and focused on the ultimate prize that many a young politician in Alabama aspired to, and that’s the governor’s chair. He captured the brass ring. Siegelman reminded me so much of George Wallace; he truly deserves the award for having the Wallace Syndrome. He and Wallace were so consumed with politics and being governor that neither one of them could tell you what they were eating when you had lunch with them. Eating was a sideline to any political discussion they were having and calling lunch. They ate because they had to eat to survive. Siegelman was always a little more liberal than most Alabamians. Therefore, he grew up admiring the more progressive Alabama political icons. He admired our progressive New Deal Democrats, such as Lister Hill, John Sparkman, and Carl Elliott. However, the utmost idol for young liberal politicians of my era was James E. “Big Jim” Folsom. Big Jim was truly a progressive on fiscal and social issues. Siegelman had a remarkedly similar career and educational background as Bill Clinton. Both were almost the same age, both received undergraduate degrees from their state universities, both left college and went to prestigious law schools – Clinton to Yale and Siegelman to Georgetown. They both went on to do postgraduate work at Oxford in England. Then they both started running for office right away. Clinton ran for Congress, then Governor of Arkansas. Siegelman ran for Secretary of State and then on up the Alabama political ladder to Attorney General, Lieutenant Governor, and Governor. As Siegelman was beginning his first foray into Alabama politics, I will share with you a funny story that I call the “Don Siegelman meets Big Jim story.” Siegelman was campaigning hard all day for Secretary of State in early 1978 and wound up his day late in Cullman. Big Jim, in his later years, camped out at a truck stop along the interstate in Cullman. Big Jim was drinking coffee, and Siegelman spotted his lifelong hero and liberal idol, Big Jim, and went over to introduce himself. Siegelman gave Big Jim his spiel and what he was doing, and how his campaign for Secretary of State was going. He gave Big Jim the story of his pedigree concerning all of his educational degrees: University of Alabama Student Government President, Georgetown Law School, and Oxford in England. Big Jim listened intently to the young politician and sipped on his coffee. Now, you have to realize that even though Big Jim was a progressive on fiscal and race matters, he was pretty down home when it came to country politics, patronage, and home-spun talking to folks. Big Jim was also pretty pragmatic and plain-spoken. He said, “Boy are you asking my advice about your campaign?” Siegelman said, “Sure I am Governor.” Big Jim said, “Well, first of all, you need to change your name. Ain’t nobody in Opp going to vote for some boy named Siegelman. First of all, you can’t say it. Secondly, it don’t sound like a good regular Alabama Baptist or Methodist name, and you better tell folks you went to school at Oxford High School in Calhoun County and not someplace in England. Thirdly, don’t you know you can’t steal any money in that job?” See you next week. Steve Flowers is Alabama’s leading political Columnist. His weekly column appears in over 60 Alabama newspapers. He served 16 years in the state legislature. Steve may be reached at www.steveflowers.us.
Steve Flowers: Alabama has a host of outstanding political leaders under 45
It may appear to you and most casual observers of Alabama politics that our Alabama elected officials are old. That observation is accurate when you observe our current leaders in the highest offices. The governor’s office has been held by mature folks in recent years. Our current Governor, Kay Ivey, is 78 and has been the object of national media humor for appearing to be a pistol-toting great-grandmother. Dr. Robert Bentley, her predecessor, was in his 70’s, but he may have been sprier than he appeared. Bob Riley was no spring chicken while governor at age 65, although he looked younger. Our iconic senator, Richard Shelby, retired in January at 88 after a record-breaking 36 years in the U.S. Senate. Our new Senior Senator, Tommy Tuberville, is 68. This was not always the case in the Heart of Dixie. In the period from 1930 through 1970, we elected the youngest political leaders in the nation, beginning with our legendary tandem of United States Senators Lister Hill and John Sparkman, who served together close to 30 years. Lister Hill was elected to Congress from Montgomery in 1923 at age 29 and was elected to the U.S. Senate at age 44. John Sparkman was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1946 at 46 after serving as the Congressman for the Tennessee Valley. If you think Hill and Sparkman were young when they went to Washington, you have not seen anything like the governors we elected from 1946 -1966. James E. “Big Jim” Folsom was 38 when he was elected in 1946. John Patterson was 37 when he was elected in 1958. Patterson was referred to as the “Boy Governor.” When George Wallace was elected to his first term in 1962, he was only 43. When his wife Lurleen Wallace was elected in 1966, she was 40. She died in office of cancer less than two years later at 41. Lurleen Wallace was succeeded by Lt. Governor Albert Brewer, who had been Speaker of the Alabama House at 34, Lt. Governor at 38, and was 39 when he became governor. Bill Baxley was the youngest Attorney General in America when he was elected Attorney General of Alabama at 29 years old in 1970. He had been a 25-year-old District Attorney in Houston and Henry Counties. Baxley still practices law in Birmingham at 81. Well, folks, a cursory look at our current top elected officials may appear old. However, we have a generation of young political leaders arriving on the scene in Alabama. We already have superstars on the horizon and already on the scene who are under 45. Our new United States Senator, Katie Britt, is only 40 years old. She has the ability and youthfulness to be one of Alabama’s greatest senators. She has gotten to the Senate at a younger age than Hill, Sparkman, or Shelby. Marshall County has become the hotbed and breeding ground for the next generations of Alabama political leaders. This beautiful pristine lake area of North Alabama lays claim to Lt. Governor Will Ainsworth, age 41, State Senate Majority leader Clay Scofield, age 42, and State Representative Wes Kitchens, who is 35 and is Vice Chairman of the House Republican Caucus. Andrew Sorrell, the newly elected State Auditor, is only 37. He has a bright future. The brightest star in the Democratic ranks is Huntsville State Representative Anthony Daniels. At age 40, Daniels is a superstar. He is in his third term in the House from Huntsville. He is the Minority Leader in the House. This gentleman is also a successful high-tech businessman in Rocket City. There are several other stars under 45 in the Alabama House of Representatives besides Daniels and Kitchens, including Kyle South of Fayette, Matt Simpson of Daphne, Joe Lovvorn of Auburn, Ben Robbins of Sylacauga, Scott Stadthagen of Madison, Corey Harbison of Cullman, and very young newcomers James Lomax of Huntsville and Brock Colvin of Albertville. Joining the affable and accomplished 42-year-old Senate Majority Leader, Clay Scofield in the powerful State Senate in the under 45 superstar group are Senator Chris Elliott, 42, of Baldwin, Senator Andrew Jones, 38, of Cherokee, and newly elected Senator Josh Carnley from Coffee County who is 44. Alabama has a host of under 45 political leaders. See you next week. Steve Flowers is Alabama’s leading political columnist. His weekly column is seen in over 60 Alabama newspapers. Steve served 16 years in the legislature. He may be reached at: www.steveflowers.us.
‘Alabama’s greatest builder’: State officials honor Richard Shelby
Gov. Kay Ivey and other state officials on Thursday paid tribute to former U.S. Sen. Richard Shelby, saying he transformed the economic and education landscape of the state during his decades of public service. Shelby, 88, retired this year after serving 36 years in the U.S. Senate in a career where he harnessed seniority, political savvy, and relationships to become one of the Senate’s most influential members. The Alabama Legislature met in a Thursday morning session held at the state Capitol to honor Shelby. “When we think of Alabama’s monumental U.S. senators, for many, Lister Hill, Jim Allen, and John Sparkman come to mind. While each was known for expertly navigating Washington politics to benefit our state, I think it’s fair to say their impacts have been rivaled and eclipsed by the work of Senator Shelby,” Ivey said. Lt. Gov. Will Ainsworth said Shelby forever changed Alabama by bringing projects for universities, government installations, infrastructure, and encouraging the development of aerospace and other industries in the state. “He should be forever known as Alabama’s greatest builder,” Ainsworth said, adding that the impact of Shelby’s work will be felt for generations. “Perhaps the most important and lasting thing that Richard Shelby has built is his legacy, a legacy that provides jobs, hope and opportunity to our children, our grandchildren, and their children after that for decades to come.” Shelby told the state leaders that it was “good to be home,” and said he always believed elected leaders should work together for the good of the people they represent. “It’s not about me. It’s about our state, the people, and the future of our state,” he said. The longtime senator announced in 2021 that he would not seek another term. Shelby was replaced in the Senate by his one-time chief of staff, Katie Britt, who was elected in November. Shelby, a lawyer and former member of the Alabama Legislature, was first elected as a conservative Democrat in 1978 to the U.S. House of Representatives during the party’s waning days of control in the Deep South. In the House, he belonged to a caucus of Southern conservatives known as the boll weevils. Shelby was elected to the Senate in 1986 but switched to the GOP in 1994. He became known for his measured demeanor and ability to harness his clout and relationships to direct billions of dollars in projects back to his home state of Alabama. He also had the rare accomplishment of chairing four major Senate committees — Appropriations; Intelligence; Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs; and Rules and Administration. Republished with the permission of The Associated Press.
Steve Flowers: Richard Shelby’s last hurrah will benefit Alabamians for generations
Richard Shelby’s last week as our United States Senator was poetically amazing. The nation watched as he gave his farewell address to the Senate. His speech was followed by a tribute from his longtime friend Senator Patrick Leahey. Senator Shelby and Senator Leahey from Vermont are best friends and co-chaired the U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee together for their final six-year terms, which ended January 3, 2023. They walked out together after a lasting three-decade partnership. The national media made note of the fact that Leahey, a Democrat, and Shelby, a Republican, were the last vestiges of bipartisanship in Congress. They worked together congruently to get things done for the nation and, yes, primarily for the states they represented. Shelby, who served 36 years as our senator, retired at 88 last month. To say that he went out with a bang would be a dramatic understatement. As he was making his farewell adieu speech, he and Leahey were crafting their final federal budget. The budget was passed the next day, two days before Christmas. When the experts discerned the 4,000-plus page document, it revealed that Richard Shelby had again played Santa Claus to the people of Alabama. He not only brought most of the money from Washington to Alabama, practically speaking, he brought the entire North Pole and Rudolph and all of the reindeer to the Heart of Dixie as he was walking out the door of the U.S. Senate. The national media dubbed Shelby the “Greatest King” of earmarked procured money for their state in history. Indeed, the amount of federal dollars Senator Shelby brought home to our state as Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee is historical. He probably surpassed the previous “King of Pork” for their state, the late Robert Byrd of West Virginia. In his last hurrah, Senator Shelby appropriated a mind-boggling $660 million of extra earmarked dollars to our state. Folks, that is quite an amazing, unfathomable, incomprehensible Christmas gift for our state. As I was exchanging Christmas greetings with a state senator who is a close friend, I commented about Shelby’s departing $660 million Christmas gift to the state. He quietly commented, “Flowers, that is over 25 percent of our entire state General Fund Budget.” However, if you dig deeper into the federal budget that Shelby passed, his $660 million is also met with upgrades of funds Shelby allocated in previous years to amount to $4 billion. That is more than the entire State of Alabama’s annual budget. Every part of Alabama was showered with Shelby’s gifts, which will make generational changes to our state. In Huntsville alone, Shelby has played a pivotal role in shaping this Tennessee Valley area into the science, space, and technology capital of the south, if not the nation. In his final hurrah, the Huntsville Redstone area received funds for Army research weaponry, a space launch system, nuclear thermal propulsion for the Marshall Space Flight Center, and construction of a new FBI Headquarters, which Shelby moved from Washington to the Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, and several other new buildings at the Redstone Arsenal. Shelby earmarked a great deal of federal money for his home area of Tuscaloosa, including millions for new buildings and education centers for the University of Alabama, funds for a new bridge, and millions for the Tuscaloosa airport. He took care of the Montgomery/Wiregrass area, which is military-laden for years to come. This area received multi-millions in new money for Ft. Rucker for flight training and Air Surface Missiles, along with millions for the Hellfire missiles made in Troy. There is over a billion dollars going to UAB for biomedical research and new buildings. Shelby has been instrumental in transforming UAB into one of the most pronounced medical research institutions in the nation. He took care of Mobile for generations to come. There are millions of earmarked funds going to the Port City. In addition, Shelby completed his mission of building Alabama a new deeper and wider Port with a $200 million dollar appropriation for the Alabama State Port Authority. In my 2015 book, Of Goats and Governors: Six Decades of Alabama Political Stories, I have a chapter entitled “Alabama’s Three Greatest Senators, John Sparkman, Lister Hill, and Richard Shelby. If I were writing that book today, Richard Shelby would be alone as Alabama’s greatest United States Senator by far. See you next week. Steve Flowers is Alabama’s leading political columnist. His weekly column appears in over 60 Alabama newspapers. He served 16 years in the state legislature. Steve may be reached at www.steveflowers.us.
Steve Flowers: Richard Shelby coming home
Our iconic Senior United States Senator, Richard Shelby, will walk out of the Senate chambers in Washington, D.C., next week and come home to retirement in Tuscaloosa. History will reveal Senator Shelby as Alabama’s greatest U.S. Senator, especially when it comes to bringing home the bacon to the Heart of Dixie. To say Shelby is the greatest is saying a mouthful because we have had some great ones. Shelby will rest with the likes of John Bankhead, John Sparkman, Lister Hill, and Howell Heflin. He has served longer in the Senate than any Alabamian in state history – 36 years. He served eight years in Congress before beginning his senate tenure in 1986. Many of you have perceived, and correctly so that I admire and appreciate the accomplishments of Senator Shelby. A good many of you will be glad to see me stop writing such glowing things about him. Over the years, many of you have accused me of actually being his press secretary. My favorite restaurant is the historic Bright Star in Bessemer. A good many Tuscaloosans, especially older ones, Shelby’s contemporaries, and friends and neighbors, drive up to eat at the Bright Star. Invariably, they will ask me to come over to their table to visit. They always say, “you sure do like Richard Shelby.” Many of them are familiar with the fact that we are also friends. We have, indeed, been political friends and confidantes for close to four decades. This does not take away from the fact that, in my humble opinion, he is Alabama’s greatest Senator. The facts speak for themselves. In Washington, Shelby is considered royalty with omnipotent power. He is treated like a king. Shelby has served in the Senate alongside eight different presidents. He has been more powerful than the last three. He has controlled the federal purse strings. Therefore, national political pundits know the political golden rule; ‘those that have the gold make the rules.’ Presidents, congressional leaders, and especially powerful lobbyists treat Shelby with deference akin to royalty. When he enters a room, people stare and stand up. This is especially true when he enters any famous Washington restaurant. The maître de has assigned him the best table. When he enters the fine dining establishment, every head turns to see which million-dollar-a-year lobbyist has been bestowed the honor of dining and visiting with the king, Richard Shelby. Other lobbyists will reserve a table next to him to simply be able to say they sat next to him. However, when Shelby comes home to Tuscaloosa next month to the home he and his wife Annette have shared in the Druid City for over 50 years, his peers and neighbors will just call him Dick Shelby. “A setting sun sets off very little heat,” a “prophet is not recognized in his own country,” “familiarity breeds contempt,” and “Alabama is just a big front porch,” all of these admonitions will ring true for ole Shelby. However, I do not think he will mind. Even though he has lived his life as a public person – eight years in the state senate, eight years in Congress, and thirty-six years in the U.S. Senate – he is a private person and really enjoys his time with Annette. He will very much enjoy his anonymity. This coming home to rest in obscurity has played out throughout the years with our Washington giants. Old timers in Jackson County say that the legendary, powerful Tennessee Valley Congressman, Bob Jones, in his retirement, would go into a restaurant to eat in Scottsboro by himself, and nobody would hardly know him. I was friends with Senator Howell Heflin, who we all called “Judge.” After 18 years in the Senate, Judge came home to the Quad Cities. He would ask me to come up to visit with him and talk politics, which I gladly did. We would go to breakfast or early lunch at a downtown restaurant, which doubled as a coffee club gathering place in Tuscumbia. We would walk in, and they would nod, and he would speak, but they would not make a fuss over the former, powerful U.S. Senator. In fact, I am not sure some of them even knew who he was. Tuscaloosa is a bigger place than Scottsboro or Tuscumbia, so Shelby will be private. In the meantime, Alabamians will soon begin to realize what immense power Shelby had in Washington. See you next week. Steve Flowers is Alabama’s leading political columnist. His weekly column appears in over 60 Alabama newspapers. He served 16 years in the state legislature. Steve may be reached at: www.steveflowers.us.
Steve Flowers: Special Alabamians
Under the title “Alabama is a Big Front Porch,” made famous by the legendary Alabama storyteller Kathryn Tucker Wyndham, I will continue to share some personal political stories with you this week. As many of you know, I have been friends with our iconic senior U.S. Senator, Richard Shelby, for close to four decades. History will reveal Senator Shelby as Alabama’s greatest U.S. Senator, and folks, that is saying a mouth full because we have had some great ones. We have had a cadre of great Senators, including Lister Hill, John Sparkman, John Bankhead, and Howell Heflin, along with Shelby. As Chairman of the U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee, Senator Shelby has brought untold hundreds of millions of dollars home to Alabama. It would take a book or volumes of books to tell the story of Shelby’s prowess at bringing home the bacon to his beloved state. He is completing 36 years in the Senate this year. Two of my favorite Alabamians and loyal friends are former Congressman and now University of South Alabama President, Jo Bonner and one of the finest ladies in the state, Dora James of Opelika. I visit with each of these two friends almost weekly. They graciously read the column and give me feedback. Jo Bonner epitomizes the adage of being a true southern gentleman. He is admired and beloved all over the state, more than he can imagine. Dora James epitomizes a true southern lady. She is admired and revered in Lee County. She is a true philanthropist and modest, kind and genuinely sweet person. About seven years ago, she hosted book signings for me at Auburn University and in Opelika that attracted several hundred folks at each, not because of me but because of her. Speaking of memorable book signing events, the people of Jasper and Walker County hosted a large event at which Congressman Robert Aderholt was gracious enough to travel down from Washington to introduce me. Over the years, I have enjoyed a special closeness and connection to the folks in Jasper/Walker County who read my column in The Daily Mountain Eagle. They have a rich political heritage with the Bankheads, Carl Elliott, Tom Bevill, and others. To show how old I am getting and how long I have been writing this column, it seems that every state senator I know says, “Please do not write something bad about me because my mama reads your column religiously every week and has for decades.” Speaking of books, I had the opportunity to meet and visit with the legendary author of To Kill A Mockingbird, Nelle Harper Lee. Folks in Monroeville, who knew her well from their generation, called her “Nelle.” Even though she had an apartment in New York that she purchased when her book came out in the 1960’s, Nelle Harper Lee lived her entire life in Monroeville. She lived with her sister, Alice, who was a good bit older than Nelle. I am told that Alice was the first female lawyer in Alabama. She was one of the most prominent lawyers in Monroeville and lived to be over 100. Alice and Nelle were neither married. Nelle Harper Lee’s novel, To Kill A Mockingbird, is one of the five most read and purchased books in history. I am told by Monroeville old timers that it is a total allegory. It is simply a story of Harper Lee growing up in Monroeville. All the characters are real, even Boo Radley. One day a few years ago, Harper Lee sent word to me that she enjoyed and read my column weekly, in the Monroe Journal and would like to meet me. I journeyed to Monroeville, and we exchanged greetings, and she gave me a signed copy of her book. I thanked her and told her that it was bought and read by quite a few more people than mine. She was a person of very few words and renowned for her privacy and reclusiveness. The only thing she said to me, substantively, was, “You are taller than you look like in your picture.” I thanked her for her time and the visit and book. When I got back into my car, I called my older daughter, who is a lawyer in Birmingham, and said, “I know when I die you are going to just pile up my books and throw them away, but there is one you might want to save.” We will continue with more stories next week. Steve Flowers is Alabama’s leading political columnist. His weekly column appears in over 60 Alabama newspapers. He served 16 years in the state legislature. Steve may be reached at www.steveflowers.us.
Steve Flowers: Katie Britt won the Senate race the old-fashioned way
Katie Britt won the Republican Senate Primary the old-fashioned way. She got out and worked for it and earned it, and, folks, she won big. She beat Mo Brooks 63% to 37% in the GOP runoff. Katie carried an amazing 66 out of 67 counties. Katie Boyd Britt was born to win this Senate Seat at the youthful age of 40. Those of us around Alabama politics recognized early on that she had unique, God-given leadership abilities and integrity. We watched her grow up in Enterprise. She won everything in the Wiregrass, from Debate to Dance. When I saw her become Governor of Girls’ State as a junior in high school, I looked at Jack Hawkins, the Chancellor of Troy University, and said that young lady had governor or senator written all over her. Katie went on to the University of Alabama and was elected Student Government President; then she graduated from Law School at Alabama. She practiced law briefly and then became Senator Richard Shelby’s Chief of Staff for five years. She then headed the Business Council of Alabama for three years before beginning her journey to follow her mentor, Richard Shelby, in the U.S. Senate seat he has held for 36 years. Some of us who have known Shelby and been his friends and confidantes for over three decades were told soon after his sixth reelection victory in 2016 that these last six years would be his last hurrah. He told us he was going to encourage and support Katie Boyd Britt to succeed him. He wisely knew because of her age and acumen, she had the potential to be one of Alabama’s greatest senators. The seniority system in the United States Senate is so enshrined and entrenched that in order to be great, you have to serve awhile. In fact, in order to reach pinnacles of power in the senate, you have to be there at least 20 to 25 years. We have had three great senators in Alabama history. Senator Shelby is the most powerful and accomplished. The other two are Lister Hill and John Sparkman, who served Alabama in the U.S. Senate for 30 and 32 years, respectively. They were both powers. By the way, both Hill and Sparkman were SGA Presidents at the University of Alabama like Katie Boyd Britt. Katie is younger than Shelby, Hill, and Sparkman were when they arrived in the U.S. Senate. She will have the distinction of being the first female elected to the Senate from Alabama as well as the first female Republican Senator from the Heart of Dixie. There are several adages in politics that definitely apply to Katie’s overwhelming landslide victory. First of all, you do not ever want to get into a race where you are going to be outworked and outspent. She checked both boxes. She outspent her opponents significantly. Shelby made sure of that. Money is the mother’s milk of politics. More importantly, she worked this state like nobody’s business. She campaigned thoroughly in all 67 counties several times. It would be safe to say she outworked Mo Brooks and Mike Durant combined three to one. Katie built a statewide grassroots organization, and it paid off with her carrying 66 of our 67 counties. She started early and stayed late. Winning the GOP Primary for a U.S. Senate seat in Alabama is tantamount to election. However, Katie Boyd Britt will take nothing for granted. She will run hard and outwork her Democratic opponent, Will Boyd, and will prevail as expected in November. The last-minute Trump endorsement had no effect on behalf of Katie Boyd Britt. She was leading in all polls by 20 points with momentum and money on her side. She was going to win, overwhelmingly, on her own. It helped Trump a lot more than it did Katie. All he did was see a candidate who was going to win and jumped on the train. Thus, Trump used the old sayings, “I bet on a sure thing,” and “find a parade and act like you are leading it.” Katie knew Trump’s endorsement was not necessary. However, she graciously and quietly accepted and continued unabated to an impressive victory, which she earned on her own merits. Katie Boyd Britt will hit the ground running when she takes office as our first female elected Senator in January. She could be in the Senate for 40 to 50 years and will become one of Alabama’s greatest U.S. Senators. See you next week. Steve Flowers is Alabama’s leading political columnist. His weekly column appears in over 60 Alabama newspapers. He served 16 years in the state legislature. Steve may be reached at: www.steveflowers.us.
Steve Flowers: Richard Shelby – Alabama’s greatest U.S. Senator
Our iconic senior United States Senator, Richard Shelby, turns 88 this week. Shelby is in the waning months of his monumental career in the Senate. He will end his tenure at the end of this year after 36 years in the U.S. Senate. Shelby is one of the most influential senators in Washington. His prowess at bringing federal dollars to our state from Washington is unparalleled in the annals of Alabama history. Indeed, Shelby may go down in American history as one of the greatest procurers of federal dollars funded to their state from the U.S. Treasury. He may only be surpassed by the late Senator Robert Byrd of West Virginia. There is not a city or county in Alabama that has not benefitted from Senator Shelby’s seniority and power. Every major university has received additional federal dollars for development and new buildings. He has literally transformed the University of Alabama. An entire section of the massive campus has a cadre of buildings, mostly science, technology, and engineering that are or should be named for him because he brought the money from Washington to pay for them. UAB is one of the premier research and medical institutions in America because of Richard Shelby. Huntsville is one of the fastest-growing and most prosperous high technology cities in America due to the influence of one Richard Shelby. The largest FBI facility in America has been moved from Washington D.C. to Huntsville, Alabama under the direction of Senator Shelby. In his last hurrah, Shelby essentially has brought immense federal funding to completely rebuild and deepen Alabama’s port in Mobile. His last years have been spent chairing the United States Senate Appropriations Committee. However, during his illustrious career, he has also been Chairman of the Banking Committee, the Intelligence Committee, and the Rules Committee. There has never been nor will there probably ever be an Alabama U.S. Senator to reach the pinnacle of power of Richard Shelby. It should be noted that Shelby served with distinction and effectiveness in the U.S. House of Representatives for eight years prior to being first elected to the Senate in 1986. In my 2015 book Of Goats and Governors, Six Decades of Colorful Alabama Political Stories, I have a chapter entitled “Alabama’s Three Greatest Senators.” The Chapter includes Lister Hill, John Sparkman, and Richard Shelby. If I were writing that book today, Shelby would be alone as the greatest. Folks, that is saying a lot. Senator Lister Hill and Senator John Sparkman were giants in Washington and tremendous ambassadors for Alabama. Both Sparkman and Hill served for 32 and 30 years, respectively, in the Senate with austere distinction. They served in tandem for more than 20 years and were respected giants on Capitol Hill. Our Hill-Sparkman team was unsurpassed in power and prestige from 1946 to 1970. They were admired not only in Alabama but throughout the nation. Lister Hill was considered one of the greatest U.S. Senators. He was a statesman and the ultimate southern gentleman. He was chairman of the Senate Labor and Public Welfare Committee, as well as a ranking member of the Appropriations Committee. He was known as the father of most of America’s rural hospitals through his authorship and stewardship of the Hill-Burton Act. He also was the father of our crown jewel, UAB Medical Center. John Sparkman was a U.S. Senator from Alabama for 32 years. He like Hill served a decade in the U.S. House of Representatives prior to his Senate career. Sparkman was chairman of the Banking Committee, which also oversaw housing. He was the author of all housing legislation, including creating HUD. Sparkman is also the father of the space and rocket development in Huntsville. In fact, Huntsville would probably be more appropriately named “Sparkmanville”. Senator Sparkman was the Democratic nominee for Vice President in 1952. Shelby has continued Sparkman’s and Hill’s legacy sustaining our crown jewels of Huntsville Space and Rocket Center and the UAB Medical Complex in Birmingham. Senator Shelby has left an indelible mark on our state that will be felt by Alabamians for generations. See you next week. Steve Flowers is Alabama’s leading political columnist. His weekly column appears in over 60 Alabama newspapers. He served 16 years in the state legislature. Steve may be reached at www.steveflowers.us.
Steve Flowers: Benefactor or idealogue
Over the years, I have discussed my observations and concepts of the two different roles or routes taken by a U.S. Senator or Congressman during their tenure in Washington. One clearly chooses one of two postures in their representation of you in Washington. Our delegates to D.C. are either benefactors or idealogues. The role of benefactor is much better for any state, especially Alabama. This public figure is not only a benefactor but also a facilitator and a statesman. In other words, this person is interested and diligent in bringing home federal dollars to the Heart of Dixie. The perfect example of a benefactor, facilitator, and statesman senator is our current U.S. Senator, Richard Shelby. No senator in Alabama history has brought home more federal dollars to our state than Richard Shelby. He has helped Alabama more during his 36-years in the senate than any other senator. The second role is idealogue. This politician sees his role as a zealot on issues. The idealogue is more interested in advocating for popular social and non-economic issues with no regard for the state’s financial interests. Beginning in the 1930s and extending for 30 years through the 1960s, we had two of the greatest U.S. Senators in history. Lister Hill and John Sparkman were giants in Washington and were erudite diplomats for our state. They can aptly be described as benefactors, facilitators, and statesmen for Alabama. During the 1970s and 1980s, we had two well-respected and effective senators in Judge Howell Heflin and Richard Shelby. Upon the arrival of Jeff Sessions in 1996, as the state’s first true blue Republican, we witnessed the portrayal of our first true ideologue. Sessions was the most right-wing, reactionary Republican in the U.S. Senate. However, he was not a demagogue; he was a true believer and one of the most honest and gentlemanly men I have ever observed in the public arena. He was also well qualified and prepared to be a U.S. Senator, having been a U.S. Attorney and Attorney General of Alabama. Alabama cannot afford to have the ultimate demagogic idealogue, Mo Brooks, follow Richard Shelby. It would literally be like exchanging the most effective U.S. Senator in Alabama history with the least effective Senator in Alabama history. We would go from having the number one, most powerful senator to the last place, number 100th effectiveness for their state in Washington. It would be worse than not having a senator because the image that Mo Brooks portrays for Alabama is so harmful that we would be better off not to have a second senator, and for a state that depends on federal dollars, that would not be a good position for Alabama. A large portion of Alabama’s federal largesse dollars goes to the Huntsville area. Mo Brooks has been the congressman from this area for ten years. He has done nothing towards federal and economic growth in the Huntsville-Tennessee Valley area. Brooks has been an obstacle. He prefers being a bomb-thrower to being an effective representative. The entire growth and prosperity of the Huntsville area can be attributed to Senator Richard Shelby with local assistance from Mayor Tommy Battle. Brooks’s laissez-faire attitude towards government and his allegiance and loyalty to the right-wing clandestine Club for Growth is toxic for Alabama and our dependence on defense dollars. Brooks is an irrelevant, right-wing gadfly whom people just laugh at like a crazy uncle they keep locked in a closet. He has become a national poster boy for crazy theatrics. The image he gives to Alabama hurts us immensely in Washington. He is a pariah for Alabama’s future. Brooks would be a deterrent for Alabama procuring additional or even keeping our current federal defense dollars in Alabama. If Mo Brooks is elected as our senator to replace Richard Shelby, you can expect Redstone Arsenal’s growth to stop, and you can kiss the space command headquarters coming to Alabama goodbye. Furthermore, those of you who live in the Montgomery River Region area and those of you who live in the Wiregrass and have depended on Maxwell-Gunter and Ft. Rucker as your economic engines for generations better grab hold of your wallet. With Mo Brooks as the Senator from Alabama, you may very well see these mega-military economic meccas moved to California. See you next week. Steve Flowers is Alabama’s leading political columnist. His weekly column appears in over 60 Alabama newspapers. He served 16 years in the state legislature. Steve may be reached at: www.steveflowers.us.
Steve Flowers: Governor John Patterson’s first lesson
Governor John Patterson, who passed away earlier this year at 99, shared a funny story that occurred during the opening days of his administration. He entered the Governor’s office in January 1959 as the clean government, strict law enforcement governor. He followed Big Jim Folsom’s second administration, which had been less than perfect when it came to favoritism, nepotism, and corruption. Patterson was determined to run a clean ship. On his first day as governor, he called his cabinet in for a pep talk and told them to run their departments aboveboard and free of any semblance of favoritism. He dismissed them and told them to get to work running the state. He turned to his new public safety director, Floyd Mann, and asked him to stay behind. Floyd Mann was a well-respected man in Alabama politics. He had been chief of police in Opelika prior to Patterson appointing him head of the highway patrol. Mann and Patterson were lifelong friends. They had grown up and gone to school together in Tallapoosa County. Patterson looked at his friend and said, “Floyd, under no circumstances are we going to fix any tickets during my administration. Do you understand?” Mann went on his way to his first day as public safety director and supervisor of the highway patrol. That was about 11:00 a.m. About 2:30 in the afternoon, the new governor got a message that he had had a call from senior U.S. Senator Lister Hill. Within 30 minutes, he had a message that Senator John Sparkman had called as well as Congressmen George Andrews and Frank Boykin. He assumed that all our distinguished congressional delegates were calling to wish him well on his first day as governor. When he called these four very powerful Washington solons back, he learned that an equally powerful congressman from Missouri had been detained and indeed arrested in south Alabama. The congressman had been vacationing in Florida with his family and driving back to Missouri when he was caught speeding in Conecuh County. At that time, an out-of-state driver could not sign his own bond in Alabama, so the good congressman had been detained for more than three hours with his family waiting to locate a justice of the peace. The congressman was upset, to say the least. Hill and Sparkman were somewhat tactful with the new governor. They simply suggested that the speeder was a powerful and important member of Congress and that it would be helpful to them if Patterson could help their colleague get back on his way home to Missouri. Frank Boykin was more direct. He informed Patterson that this congressman chaired the committee that oversaw all the appropriations for waterways. He further explained that he and Senators Hill and Sparkman had been working diligently for years to get funding for the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway and the project was pending in this congressman’s committee at this time. Governor Patterson called Colonel Mann and said, “Floyd can you come over here a minute?” When Mann arrived in the governor’s office, Patterson told his buddy, “You know, Floyd, when I told you this morning not to fix any tickets? Well, we’ve had a change in policy.” The no-ticket-fixing policy of the Patterson Administration lasted four hours. Mann dispatched a trooper to not only release the congressman but to give him a trooper escort out of the state. Governor Patterson learned a lesson from that experience – never say never. He also should be given some credit for obtaining funding for the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway. A similar story was told to me by former congressman, Governor Kay Ivey’s Chief of Staff and recently crowned Chancellor of the University of South Alabama, Jo Bonner. He was a new congressman from Mobile-Baldwin. The district has had some illustrious congressmen, including Frank Boykin, Jack Edwards, Sonny Callahan, and Jo Bonner. Edwards, Callahan, and Bonner were all good friends, and they were headed to the famous annual Frank Boykin gathering in Washington County. It fell to the new congressman, Bonner, to drive. As they were heading back to Mobile, Bonner noticed a blue light in the rearview mirror. Callahan had already told Bonner he was driving too fast. A deputy sheriff pulled them over and looked in the window, and before he asked for Bonner’s driver’s license, he saw Sonny in the backseat and asked, “Sir, aren’t you Congressman Callahan?” Then looked next to Callahan and asked, “Aren’t you Congressman Edwards?” Callahan and Edwards assured the deputy that he was correct. Then they proceeded to tell the deputy that the driver and third member of this trio was a congressman and a new one and that the deputy should give him a ticket. See you next week. Steve Flowers is Alabama’s leading political columnist. His weekly column appears in over 60 Alabama newspapers. He served 16 years in the state legislature. Steve may be reached at www.steveflowers.us.
