United States Senate
Pat Harrison took which position from Mar 1919 to 1941?
Pat Harrison Byron Patton Pat Harrison ( August 29 , 1881June 22 , 1941 ) was a Mississippi politician who served as a Democrat in the United States House of Representatives from 1911 to 1919 and in the United States Senate from 1919 until his death . Early life and education . Pat Harrison was born at Crystal Springs , Mississippi . His father was a Confederate veteran of the Civil War and died in 1885 . As a child , Harrison sold newspapers to supplement his familys income . After graduating as class valedictorian from Crystal Springs High School in 1899 , he attended a summer term at the University of Mississippi before transferring to Louisiana State University at Baton Rouge on a baseball scholarship . He dropped out after two years due to a lack of funds but was brought on to pitch for the Pickens , Mississippi , semi-professional baseball team in the Old Tomato League summer circuit . After his stint in semi-professional baseball , Harrison moved to Leakesville , Mississippi . He taught and later became principal of the local high school . While supporting himself as an educator , Harrison studied law . He passed the Mississippi State Bar and opened a law practice in 1902 . Legal and political career . In 1906 , Harrison was elected district attorney to the Second Judicial District , and in 1908 , moved to Gulfport , Mississippi . He served as district attorney until being elected to the U.S . House of Representatives in 1910 . The 1910 election introduced Harrison as a skilled orator and witty debater , a reputation he maintained throughout his political career . Newspaper editor Clayton Rand described his longtime friends oratory style as an eloquence that flowed like a babbling brook through a field of flowers . Political career . After four years as district attorney on the Mississippi Gulf Coast , Harrison won a seat in the U.S . House of Representatives in 1911 and was re-elected three times . One of the youngest members of the House , Harrison made his mark as an effective debater against Republican tariff and tax policies and soon became a favored aide to Democratic President Woodrow Wilson . In particular , Harrison supported Wilsons New Freedom policies and those concerning Mexico and Germany at the onset of Americas involvement in World War I . In 1918 , he ran against incumbent U.S . Senator James K . Vardaman , an enemy of President Wilson . In return for Harrisons past support , President Wilson personally endorsed him for Senator . Already popular among his constituents , Harrison emphasized his differences with Vardaman and won over a majority of Mississippi voters , who were effectively limited to white Democrats , following the state legislatures disenfranchisement of most black voters by a new constitution and discriminatory practices dating from 1890 . After winning Vardamans Senate seat in 1918 , Harrison was re-elected for another three terms , as Mississippi was a one-party state dominated by Democrats . He ran unopposed in 1930 for his third term in the U.S . Senate . A supporter and former law partner of Theodore G . Bilbo , Stewart C . Sweep Clean Broom surprisingly aided Harrisons 1936 reelection campaign by giving a well-received speech encouraging Bilbo folks to save Bilbo from his own blunder . Despite having received past help from Harrison , Bilbo actively supported Martin Sennett Conner for Harrisons Senate seat , presumably as a self-serving political maneuver . As chairman of the powerful Senate Finance Committee , Harrison was one of the three or four key people behind the creation of the Social Security system in 1935 . He also promoted low tariffs and reciprocal trade agreements . When the Senate majority leaders job opened up in 1937 , Harrison was expected to win the position , but nose counts put him in a near tie with Kentuckys Alben Barkley . Harrisons campaign manager asked Bilbo , the junior member from Mississippi , to consider voting for his fellow Mississippian . Bilbo , a race-baiting Democratic demagogue whose base was among tenant farmers , hated the upper-class Harrison , who represented the rich planters . The rivalry between the two had deepened over years of disagreement over aspects of the New Deal and how federal money should be distributed throughout Mississippi . Bilbo said he would vote for Harrison only if he were personally asked . Harrison replied , Tell the son of a bitch I wouldnt speak to him even if it meant the presidency of the United States . Despite Harrisons support for Roosevelt and his policies , shortly before the vote , the president wrote a letter of support for Barkley . When the ballots were in , Pat Harrison lost by one vote , 37-to-38 . Harrison served on the Senate Finance Committee and was chairman of that body from 1933 to 1941 ( Seventy-third through Seventy-seventh Congresses ) , and served as President pro tempore of the Senate during the Seventy-seventh Congress , in 1941 until his death that year . He was also a supporter of the Conservative coalition . Political reputation . Harrison was a highly effective politician and a brilliant orator . He listened to his district and provided information , services , and patronage . Due to his ability to maneuver through the political landscape and because he was well-liked by many of his fellow politicians , Harrison became rather influential in both legislation and political endorsement . In 1928 , he supported New York Governor Al Smith for President and campaigned for him across the South , where there was opposition and superstition among Democrats because Smith was Catholic . Harrison became known as the Gadfly of the Senate due to his oratory rebuking Republican policies . At the 1932 Democratic convention , he swung the Mississippi delegation to Franklin D . Roosevelt on the crucial third ballot and became welcome at the White House . Bibliography . - Coker , William S . Pat Harrison - Strategy for Victory . Journal of Mississippi History 1966 28 ( 4 ) : 267-285 . - Coker , William Sidney . Pat Harrison : the Formative Years . Journal of Mississippi History 1963 25 ( 4 ) : 251-278 . - Davis , Polly . Court Reform and Alben W . Barkleys Election as Majority Leader . Southern Quarterly 1976 15 ( 1 ) : 15-31 . - Edmonson , Ben G . Pat Harrison and Mississippi in the Presidential Elections of 1924 and 1928 . Journal of Mississippi History 1971 33 ( 4 ) : 333-350 . - Grant , Philip A. , Jr . Editorial Reaction to the Harrison-Barkley Senate Leadership Contest , 1937 . Journal of Mississippi History 1974 36 ( 2 ) : 127-141 . - Grant , Philip A. , Jr . The Mississippi Congressional Delegation and the Formation of the Conservative Coalition , 1937-1940 . Journal of Mississippi History 1988 50 ( 1 ) : 21-28 . - Finley , Keith M . Delaying the Dream : Southern Senators and the Fight Against Civil Rights , 1938-1965 ( Baton Rouge , LSU Press , 2008 ) . - Lord , Lewis . U . S . News & World Report , June 17 , 1996 , p . 12 . - Swain , Martha H . Pat Harrison : The New Deal Years ( Jackson , Miss. , 1978 ) , the standard biography - Swain , Martha . Pat Harrison and the Social Security Act of 1935 . Southern Quarterly 1976 15 ( 1 ) : 1-14 . - Swain , Martha H . The Lion and the Fox : the Relationship of President Franklin D . Roosevelt and Senator Pat Harrison . Journal of Mississippi History 1976 38 ( 4 ) : 333-359 . - Thomas , Phyllis H . The Role of Mississippi in the Presidential Election of 1916 , Southern Quarterly , 1966 4 ( 2 ) : 207-226 .