Pat Harrison

Byron Patton Harrison

Byron Patton Harrison (born August 29, 1881 in Crystal Springs , Copiah County , Mississippi , † June 22, 1941 in Washington, DC ), often just called Pat Harrison , was an American politician ( Democratic Party ) who owned the state of Mississippi represented in both houses of Congress .

Life

After attending public school, Harrison first studied at the University of Mississippi and later at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge . After graduating, he was admitted to the bar in 1902 and worked as a lawyer in Leakesville . He then served as a district attorney on the Mississippi Gulf Coast for four years before winning a seat in the US House of Representatives in 1911 .

politics

He was re-elected three times and was a supporter of President Woodrow Wilson's Mexico and Germany policies in Congress . In 1918 he was elected to the US Senate , prevailing over incumbent James K. Vardaman , a declared enemy of Wilson.

In the next 22 years of serving in the Senate, Harrison made a name for himself as a very effective politician and excellent public speaker, always listening to the interests of his constituency; his knowledge and support were often in demand. In the run-up to the 1928 presidential election, he campaigned in the southern states for the New York- born Democratic candidate Al Smith . Four years later he made sure at the Democratic National Convention that Mississippi's delegation sided with Franklin D. Roosevelt in the decisive third ballot ; after his election as president, Pat Harrison was a welcome guest at the White House . As chairman of the influential Finance Committee , he was one of the small circle of key figures in the creation of the US pension system known as Social Security .

When the post of Senate Majority Leader was to be filled in 1937 , Pat Harrison applied for it, competing on an equal footing with the later US Vice President Alben W. Barkley . In view of the tight decision to be expected, Harrison's campaign manager approached Mississippi's second senator, Theodore Gilmore Bilbo , and asked for his vote. Bilbo, a racist demagogue who had his constituency among the Mississippi farmers, despised Harrison, who primarily represented the wealthy plantation owners and merchants. Even so, if Harrison asked personally, he agreed to vote. He then stated: "Tell the son of a bitch I wouldn't speak to him even if it meant the presidency of the United States." ( Tell that son of a bitch I wouldn't even speak to him if it came to the presidency. ) Harrison lost the election with a one-vote difference, but it kept his reputation as the senator who wasn't with his colleague from the same state wanted to speak.

Pat Harrison served on the Senate Finance Committee from 1933 to 1941. On January 6, 1941, he became pro tempore president of the Senate , but died in office just five months later. He was considered a supporter of the Conservative Coalition , the unofficial collaboration between the conservative wings of the Republicans and the Democrats, which determined Senate politics until the 1960s.

Web links

• Pat Harrison in the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress (English)
• The Pat Harrison Collection at the University of Mississippi