James K. Vardaman

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James K. Vardaman

James Kimble Vardaman (born July 26, 1861 in Edna , Jackson County , Texas , † June 25, 1930 in Birmingham , Alabama ) was an American politician and governor of the state of Mississippi from 1904 to 1908 . Between 1913 and 1919 he represented his state in the US Senate .

Early years and political advancement

James Vardaman came to Mississippi with his parents in 1868. The family settled in Yalobusha County . There James attended public schools. After studying law at Carrollton , he was admitted to the bar in 1881. Then he began to work in Winona in his new profession. There he also began to work as a journalist by publishing the Winona Advance newspaper . After moving to Greenwood , he continued his legal and journalistic work in that town. From 1890 to 1896 he was the newspaper "Greenwood Enterprise" out.

Vardaman became a member of the Democratic Party . From 1890 to 1896 he was a member of the Mississippi House of Representatives ; in 1894 he was speaker of this body. In 1895 and 1899 he applied unsuccessfully for his party's nomination for the office of governor of his state. During the Spanish-American War he was first captain and then major in a volunteer unit. In the years 1892 and 1896 he was the democratic elector in the presidential elections. On November 3, 1903, Vardaman was elected the new governor of his state. This was the first Mississippi gubernatorial election to be conducted using the pre-election system.

Mississippi Governor and US Senator

Vardaman took up his new office on January 19, 1904. During his four-year tenure, a textbook commission was established and the state's laws revised. The system of making convicts available for forced labor was abolished and the Mississippi State Penitentiary was established instead . Governor Vardaman, on the other hand, was a conservative racist. He wanted to close schools for African Americans and repeal all related federal laws passed after 1865.

After he unsuccessfully applied for a seat in the US Senate in 1907 and 1910, he finally made the leap into Congress in 1912 . There he represented the interests of his state as a class 2 senator between March 4, 1913 and March 3, 1919. Vardaman has chaired the Mineral Conservation Committee and a member of several other committees including the Crafts Committee and the Post Office Expenditure Control Committee. In 1918 he missed his re-election.

After the end of his time in Congress, he withdrew from politics. In 1922 he moved to Birmingham, Alabama, where he died in 1930. He had a child with his wife Anna Burleson Robinson.

literature

  • Robert Sobel and John Raimo (Eds.): Biographical Directory of the Governors of the United States, 1789–1978. Volume 2, Meckler Books, Westport, 1978. 4 volumes.

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Vardaman, James K.
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Vardaman, James Kimble (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American politician
DATE OF BIRTH July 26, 1861
PLACE OF BIRTH near Edna , Texas
DATE OF DEATH June 25, 1930
Place of death Birmingham , Alabama