Evening star., 1936-06-04
BYRNS' POLITICAL
CAREER COLORFUL
Served for Quarter of Gen.
tury as Member of
the House.

The greatest day in the lie OF
Joseph Wellington Byrns, who died
today at the age of 66, was January
g.. 1895. when he was elected Speaker
to succeed the late Henry Rainey of
Illinois. His vigorous work as majority
floor leader during the Seventy-third
Congress made him the logical choice
for the post which Uncle Joe" Can
non used to think was next to the
presidency.
Back of Mr.. Byrns when he be-
came speaker was full quarter
century as a member of the House
from the Hermitage district Of Ten
nessee, a tenure which saw him go
through a dozen successful political
campaigns and which brought him
Craftsmanship of the House Appropri-
ations Committee, leadership of the
Democratic majority and head of the
Democratic Congressional Campaign
Committee.
Uncle joe to his constituents, he
was a Shrewd politician, maSterful
parliamentary Strategist and fair
minded chairman and presiding officer,
whose personal qualities won praise
from political opponents.
He was lawyer by profession, an
avid reader of history, biography and
detective stories and a fisherman
whenever a let-up in his work allowed
him to indulge in that pastime. He
liked to travel by airplane.
Close to feet, 2 inches tall, he was
rangy and Soft-voiced. Rugged fea-
lures were accentuated by beetling,
shaggy eyebrows that let themselves
to caricature. The eyebrows we're the
result of practical joke played on
Byrns in his youth, when he went
to sleep in a BARRIERS chair, after ask
ing for "a clean shave" The razor
wielder carried out the request to the
letter. The eyebrows grew out buShy
and, as Byrns' son said in later years,
marked him for life"
Entered Congress in 1899.
Byrns' service on the pivotal Ap-
propriations Committee began early
in his congressional career, which
started in March, 1909. BY the time
that the election of Woodrow Wilson
brought his party control of the Ma
tional Government, Byrns was near
the top of the Democratic membership
Of the committee.
When the Republicans regained
power, ByrnS was ranking minority
member of the committee and through
the Harding, Coolidge and Hoover ad-
ministrations worked as hard to turn
off the tap as he did to turn it on for
Wilson. Democratic ascendancy re-
turned in 1881 and Byrns became
chairman, resigning the position when
he was chosen party floor leader in
1888. He stepped from the latter post
to the speakership following the death
Of Henry T. Rainey.
ByrnS was made chairman of the
national Democratic congressional
campaign in 1929 and it was a matter
of pride to him that it was under his
leadership that his party regained
control of the House.
He was born on a farm near Cedar
Hill, in Robertson County, on Ten
neSsee's northern border, July 20, 1869
He was the eldest of six children and
through much of his boyhood attended
a rural school. But later his parents
took their brood to Nashville so the
children could have better schooling.
Education Earned in Fields.
After being graduated from high
school, Byrns entered Vanderbilt Uni
versity, earning his tuition by work
ing in the tobacco fields of Robertson
County during vacations. He took an
academic course for two years, then
switched to the law school and was
graduated with the degree of IL. B.
in 1890. After one more Summer of
farm work he hung up his shingle
in Nashville.
Politics opened a natural pathway
to the acquaintanCeship needed by
young lawyer and ByrnS, four years
after he began practice, was elected
to the State Legislature. He served
three successive terms in the House
from 1895 to 1900, being speaker in
his third term, then went to the
State Senate for one term. A cam
paign for district attorney general of
Davidson County in 1902 ended in
defeat, the only time he was beaten
at the polls.
Byrns was a presidential elector in
1904 and in 1908 became a candidate
for Congress. He had to defeat a
redoubtable campaigner, John Wesley
Gaines, to win the nomination, but
turned the trick, carried the Novem-
Der election and took his seat in the
national House, March 4, 1909.
Mrs Byrns was the former Julia
Woodward of Nashville. They were
married August %, 1898, and their
one son, Joseph W., jr., became his
fathers law partner.
Left Senatorial Race.
Except for case of Illness Byrns
might not have reached the speaker
ship. In 1880 he announced his can
didacy for the Democratic nomination
for United States Senator and laid
plans for a Statewide campaign But
after he had made one speech illness
forced him to withdraw from the race.
Instead, he sought, and won, renomi-
nation to the House.
The Hermitage district" which
thus renewed its faith in Byrns, got
this name from the fact that it con-
tainS the homestead of Andrew Jack
son. Officially it is the sixth Ten
nessee district, embracing five coun-
ties with Nashville as the center, in
the north central section of the State.
1t was primarily Byrns territory and
there were more people in it who
called him Joe" than there were
who addressed him as Mister Byrns. :"
Probably one reason was that Byrns
had reputation for making good on
his campaign promises. The story is
told that in his first campaign he
promised crowd at Dover, in Stewart
County, that he would get an appro-
priation for lock and dam on the
river at that point. Friends warned
him he had promised the impossible;
~ foi1al 20 ,~,,A A..