Assassination of President Oscar Underwood

The **Assassination of President Oscar Underwood** occurred in 1911, during the President's first term in office.

## Background

### The Only Winner

The 1908 Presidential election was part of the aftermath of the assassination of President John W. Daniel. With John Sharp Williams as President, evidence that the former Vice President orchestrated the assassination had come to light, and the Southern Democrats launched a campaign to tarnish the Loyalists in the next election. The Underwood presidency was, however, unexpected. One, he was a more progressive choice, and two, he was largely unsupported by the Loyalists. If the Loyalists would have to make a compromise and vote for a Southern Democrat, Underwood would not have been their choice.

Suffice to say, the reputation of President Williams was so tarnished that he lost the election in a landslide against Underwood. Some proclaimed that Oscar Underwood was "the only winner in the election", or in other words, there was no choice; President Williams did not stand a chance to save his reputation.

President Oscar Williams was sworn into office in 1909 and had already made plans to move extensively on the topic of Confederate racism.

### Cracking Down on the Klan

The 1884 Anti-Slavery Charter under President Thomas A. Hendricks administered swift reform in the Confederate slave trade system, but Underwood did not believe the charter went far enough in solving Confederate hatred. In 1910, he proposed an extension to the charter, known as the Underwood Clause, that would specifically target the Klan and other supremacist groups. The topic of the Klan had been left out of the original charter, as there was still political instability between Hendricks and his predecessor Nathan Bedford Forrest, a former Grand Wizard of the Klan prior to his election, in the legitimacy of the 1880 election.

The reforms hit and they hit rapidly, but the results were mixed. While most Confederate soldiers complied in cracking down on the Klan, a lot of them refused, with their loyalties being more to the Klan rather than to the President. Underwood opted for a national emergency, when it looked like his soldiers were purposefully disobeying orders. Many in his Cabinet and Congress were suggesting that Underwood was inciting a civil war.

With a crisis beginning to unfold, Underwood had no choice but to back down from the initiative. But the damage had already been dealt.

## The Assassination

### Vengeance from the Klan

President Underwood's name had now become a symbol of hatred in the far south, especially amongst Klan strongholds in Alabama, his own state. President Underwood promised he would visit his home state again, and deliver a speech on his remarks to the Klan situation. When he delivered the speech, he walked down to speak to the people directly.

One in particular shook his hand, before uttering "Vengeance from the Klan". He then shot the President twice in the chest. The man was quickly tackled by security, beaten up and arrested, but the damage had already been done. An hour later, Underwood passed.

## Aftermath

### Underwood Clause Reestablished

The assassination of the President was a major political disaster for the Confederates, given how diplomatically successful he was with establishing ties with the United Kingdom and the Union. With the power of the Klan revealed, the Congress voted in a close vote to reinstate the Underwood Clause to the charter, and the new President, John S. Mosby, vowed to attack the Klan if he were elected. In 1912, Mosby won the election, and in 1913, unleashed hell.

### The Klan in Hiding

Although the Klan remained heavily influential in the deep south and amongst Loyalist support, the Mosby campaign was enough to push the Klan to its limit, and go into formidable hiding. In 1915, President Mosby authorised the construction of the Houston Monument, with statues built of Presidents Jefferson Davis, John W. Daniel and Oscar Underwood, the only three Confederate Presidents to be assassinated.