Carl Vinson

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Carl Vinson

Carl Vinson (born November 18, 1883 in Baldwin County , Georgia , † June 1, 1981 in Milledgeville , Georgia) was an American lawyer and politician ( Democratic Party ). He was a member of the US House of Representatives for more than 50 years and played a leading role in US security policy.

Life

The lawyer was elected to the Georgia House of Representatives at age 25 . After serving as a judge for a short time, he ran for the US House of Representatives and was sworn in as the youngest member of Congress on November 3, 1914.

During his tenure, Vinson devoted himself primarily to national defense. He was a member of the Naval Affairs Committee of Congress from 1920 and its chairman from 1931 to 1946. Above all, he campaigned for the renewal of the United States Navy during the Great Depression ; the main reason for this was originally to create jobs. When entering the war in 1941, the United States therefore benefited greatly from Vinson's efforts. In 1944/45 he became known for campaigning massively for the promotion of William F. Halsey to Fleet Admiral in Congress and preventing that of Admiral Raymond A. Spruance , although both were equally successful in the US Pacific Fleet. 5th fleet led.

Even after the Second World War, his main focus was on modernizing the US armed forces . In the United States House Committee on Armed Services formed in 1946 , he was a member until 1949 and then chairman until 1965, when he left Congress.

He was one of the signatories of the 1956 Southern Manifesto , which called for further racial segregation in public schools, contrary to a landmark judgment of the United States Supreme Court of 1954 ( Brown v. Board of Education ).

Vinson has been elected to Congress 26 times in a row, a record that was only set by Jamie Lloyd Whitten in 1994 . In 1964, President Lyndon B. Johnson awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom with Special Distincton, the highest honor given to civilians in the United States.

Vinson was married to Mary Green since 1921. Both had no children. His nephew Sam Nunn was a Senator for Georgia from 1972 to 1996 for 24 years .

Honors

Bear Vinson's name

literature

  • James F. Cook: Carl Vinson. Patriarch of the Armed Forces . Mercer University Press, Macon 2004, ISBN 0-86554-754-8 .

Web links

  • Carl Vinson in the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress (English)