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.
Historian Doris Kearns Goodwin to visit Birmingham on September 19
The Public Affairs Research Council of Alabama (PARCA) is hosting historian Doris Kearns Goodwin for “An evening of cocktails, discussion, and a special book signing” in Birmingham on Tuesday, September 19. Doris Kearns Goodwin is a world-renowned presidential historian, public speaker, and Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times #1 best-selling author. PARCA is a 501c3 nonprofit whose mission is to work to inform and improve the decision making of state and local leaders in Alabama through objective research and analysis. PARCA studies state and local finances and taxes, school performance, workforce development, and government operations. Since 2020, she has worked as the executive producer for the History Channel’s miniseries events “Washington,” “Abraham Lincoln,” and “Theodore Roosevelt,” with more projects in the pipeline. The event will include a reception for all guests, a private cocktail reception with Goodwin, a fireside chat, a book signing, and a dessert reception. Priska Neely, the regional managing editor for the Gulf States Newsroom, will be the moderator. Goodwin is a frequent news media and late-night TV guest to discuss leadership and provide historical context for current issues, including the impact of the COVID-19 global pandemic, presidential politics, and the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. Ms. Goodwin’s seventh book, “Leadership In Turbulent Times,” was an instant bestseller and published to critical acclaim in Fall 2018. Focusing on Presidents Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin Roosevelt, and Lyndon Baines Johnson, the book provides an accessible and essential road map for aspiring and established leaders in every field and for all of us in our everyday lives. Goodwin graduated magna cum laude from Colby College. She earned a Doctor of Philosophy degree in Government from Harvard University, where she taught Government, including a course on the American Presidency. Goodwin has been a critic of former President Donald Trump. Goodwin previously authored six critically acclaimed and New York Times bestselling books, including the Carnegie Medal winner “The Bully Pulpit: Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard Taft, and the Golden Age of Journalism,” which is in part the basis for a film being developed about Ida Tarbell, the famous muckraking journalist of the era. Ms. Goodwin’s award-winning “Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln” was the inspiration for Steven Spielberg’s film “Lincoln,” which earned 12 Academy Award® nominations, including an Academy Award for actor Daniel Day-Lewis for his portrayal of the 16th president. Ms. Goodwin earned the Pulitzer Prize in History for “No Ordinary Time: Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt: The Home Front in World War II.” Her “The Fitzgeralds and the Kennedys” was adapted into an award-winning television miniseries. Goodwin worked with President Johnson in the White House and later assisted him in the writing of his memoirs. She then wrote “Lyndon Johnson and the American Dream,” which became a national bestseller and achieved critical acclaim. It was re-released in Spring 2019, highlighting LBJ’s accomplishments in domestic affairs. Goodwin has served as a consultant and has been interviewed extensively for PBS and HISTORY’s documentaries on Presidents Johnson, Roosevelt, and Lincoln, the Kennedy family, and on Ken Burns’ “The History of Baseball” and “The Roosevelts: An Intimate History.” She was a consultant on HBO Films’ “All the Way,” starring Bryan Cranston as President Johnson. She played herself as a teacher to Lisa Simpson on” The Simpsons” and a historian on “American Horror Story.” The event will be held at the Birmingham Red Mountain Theatre Arts Campus. Proceeds for this event will go toward PARCA’s mission to inform and improve the decision-making of state and local leaders in Alabama through objective research and analysis. General admission tickets start at $100. PARCA is a 501c3 nonprofit whose mission is to work to inform and improve the decision making of state and local leaders in Alabama through objective research and analysis. PARCA studies state and local finances and taxes, school performance, workforce development, and government operations. To connect with the author of this story or to comment, email brandonmreporter@gmail.com.
Celebrating Presidents Day
Today is Presidents Day. It is a federal and state holiday, so banks, post offices, government offices, courthouses, schools, and businesses will be closed. This is the annual observance of President George Washington’s birthday. Washington was the first President of the United States, head of the Constitutional Convention, the commander of the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War, a delegate to the Continental Congress, a hero of the French and Indian War, and one of the most revered Americans in history. Washington’s actual birthday is Wednesday, February 22, but we celebrate it on a Monday to have a three-day weekend. Abraham Lincoln’s birthday is February 12. This holiday has evolved into rather than just celebrating Washington’s memory. All 46 U.S. Presidents are remembered and honored today. George Washington is one of the four Mount Rushmore presidents, along with Lincoln, Thomas Jefferson, and Theodore Roosevelt. Washington was born on February 22, 1732, in the Virginia Colony. Washington was the son of Augustine and Mary Ball Washington. Washington was the oldest of their six children. His father also had three children with his first wife, including Lawrence Washington. His half-brother Lawrence was an inspiration and mentor to the young George Washington after their father died in 1743. Washington inherited land and slaves from his father and inherited Mount Vernon from Lawrence’s widow in 1761. Washington could have enjoyed a life of luxury on his inherited estates. Washington was a very enthusiastic farmer. Washington was an active breeder of mules, and generations of American farmers were influenced by Washington’s advocacy for the animals, which are a sterile hybrid cross between a donkey and a horse. Washington was also a very cutting-edge sheep breeder and agronomist. As much as he loved Mount Vernon and managing his lands, Washington spent much of his life elsewhere. He was an accomplished surveyor and mapmaker. He was one of the top military officers in the Virginia Militia. Washington spent years fighting the Revolutionary War, leading an army that had not existed before and training them to fight as an army. Gen. Washington had to fight smallpox, exposure, and malnutrition, which collectively killed more of his soldiers than the British did. Washington’s victory at Yorktown shocked the world. An entire British Army was trapped – and would have been wiped out if the British had not surrendered. Following the War, Washington resisted calls from some of his troops to seize the government by force and instead went home to his farm. When it became clear that the Articles of Confederation were not working, Washington joined calls for a new Constitution and led the Constitutional Convention that drafted the U.S. Constitution. Washington was elected the first president of the United States and served two terms. He could have easily been elected to a third term but chose to go home to his farm instead. Despite poor health, he came out of retirement during Adams’ presidency to head the U.S. Army for an anticipated war with France. Fortunately, Adams averted that War with diplomacy. Washington died at Mount Vernon in 1799. This Presidents Day celebration is overshadowed by the breaking news that former President Jimmy Carter, age 98, has been sent to hospice. Carter, who was President from 1977 to 1981, and Bill Clinton are the last two living twentieth century Presidents. To connect with the author of this story or to comment, email brandonmreporter@gmail.com.
