John Sparkman
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| John Sparkman | |
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| In office November 6, 1946 – January 3, 1979 |
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| Preceded by | George R. Swift |
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| Succeeded by | Howell Heflin |
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| Born | December 20, 1899 Hartselle, Alabama |
| Died | November 16, 1985 (aged 85) Huntsville, Alabama |
| Nationality | American |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse(s) | Ivo Sparkman |
| Alma mater | University of Alabama |
| Religion | Methodist |
| Military service | |
| Service/branch | United States Army |
| Unit | Student Army Training Corps |
John Jackson Sparkman (December 20, 1899 – November 16, 1985) was an American politician from the state of Alabama. A conservative Southern Democrat, Sparkman served in the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate from 1937 until 1979. He was the Democratic Party's nominee for Vice President as Adlai Stevenson's running mate in the 1952 U.S. presidential election. Sparkman High School in Harvest, Alabama is named in his honor.
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[edit] Early life and education
Sparkman was born on a farm near Hartselle, Alabama. He attended the rural schools and helped on the family farm. During World War I, he was a member of the Students Army Training Corps. He graduated from the University of Alabama in 1921 and from University of Alabama School of Law in 1923. Sparkman was a founding member of the Gamma Alpha Chapter of Pi Kappa Alpha.
[edit] Legal career
John Sparkman was admitted to the bar in 1925 and commenced practice in Huntsville. He was an instructor at Huntsville College from 1925 to 1928. A Freemason, he was life member of Helion Lodge #1 in Huntsville. He was also member of the Huntsville Scottish Rite bodies and a recipient of the Knight Commander Court of Honor (KCCH).
[edit] Political career
Sparkman was elected as a Democrat to the U.S. House of Representatives in the 1936 election. He was reelected in 1938, 1940, 1942, and 1944, serving in the 75th, 76th, 77th, 78th, and 79th Congresses. In 1946 he served as House Majority Whip. He was reelected in the 1946 House election to the 80th Congress and on the same date was elected to the United States Senate in a special election to fill the vacancy caused by the death of John H. Bankhead II for the term ending January 3, 1949. Sparkman resigned from the House of Representatives immediately following the election and began his Senate term on November 6, 1946. He served until his retirement on January 3, 1979, after not running for reelection in 1978.
In the Senate he was chairman of the Select Committee on Small Business (81st, 82nd, and 84th through 90th Congresses), co-chairman of the Joint Committee on Inaugural Arrangements (86th Congress), chairman of the Committee on Banking and Currency (90th and 91st Congresses), co-chairman of the Joint Committee on Defense Production (91st and 93rd Congresses), Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs (92nd and 93rd Congresses), and a member of the Committee on Foreign Relations (94th and 95th Congress).
The 1943 Sparkman Act, allowing women physicians to be commissioned as officers in the armed services, was named for him, after lobbying by Dr. Emily Dunning Barringer.
Sparkman was a representative of the United States to the Fifth General Assembly of the United Nations in 1950.
In 1956, John Sparkman was one of the 19 Southern senators to sign the Southern Manifesto, opposing the 1954 U.S. Supreme Court decision Brown v. Board of Education and racial integration.
Despite the fact that Stevenson again became the Democratic presidential nominee in 1956 he was not again his running mate.
He died in Huntsville, Alabama in 1985 of natural causes aged 85 and is interred in Maple Hill Cemetery of Huntsville.
[edit] Electoral history
1972 Alabama United States Senatorial Election
| John Sparkman (D) (inc.) 62.3% |
| Winton M. Blount (R) 33.1% |
1966 Alabama United States Senatorial Election
| John Sparkman (D) (inc.) 60.1% |
| John Grenier (R) 39% |
1960 Alabama United States Senatorial Election
| John Sparkman (D) (inc.) 70.2% |
| Julian Elgin (R) 29.8% |
1954 Alabama United States Senatorial Election
| John Sparkman (D) (inc.) 82.5% |
| J. Foy Guin, Jr. (R) 17.5% |
1952 United States Presidential Election (Vice President's seat)
| Richard Nixon (R) 55.2% |
| John Sparkman (D) 44.3% |
| Charlotta Bass (Progressive) 0.2% |
| Enoch Holtwick (Prohibition) 0.1% |
1948 Alabama United States Senatorial Election
| John Sparkman (D) (inc.) 84% |
| John G. Parsons (R) 16% |
1946 Alabama United States Senatorial Election
John Sparkman (D) Unopposed
[edit] External links
A history of Senator Sparkman's career in the House of Representatives was written in 1990 by Dr. Henry Walker.
- John Sparkman at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
- John Sparkman and the History Of Redstone Arsenal
- John Sparkman at Find a Grave
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