Oscar Underwood
Encyclopedia
Oscar Wilder Underwood was an American politician.
Underwood was born in Louisville, Kentucky
, on May 6, 1862. He was the grandson of Joseph R. Underwood
, a Kentucky Senator circa 1850. He attended the University of Virginia
at Charlottesville. After studying law, he was admitted to the bar in 1884 and practiced law in Birmingham, Alabama.
He was elected from Alabama
as a Democrat to the U.S. House of Representatives
in 1894. He resigned in the middle of his term, leaving office on June 9, 1896, after his election was successfully challenged by Truman H. Aldrich.
He then served 9 terms in the same position from 1897 to 1915. He served as the first House minority whip from about 1900 to 1901. He was then House majority leader from 1911 to 1915. He was a candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1912
and won primaries in several Southern states, though he did not become a major contender. At the nominating convention that year in Baltimore, Wilson's managers offered Underwood the vice-presidential nomination, which he declined. Following the election, he supported the progressive reforms of Wilson's first term, using his position as Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee to manage legislation and maintain party discipline. In return, Wilson granted him considerable control over patronage and appointed Albert S. Burleson
Postmaster-General
at Underwood's recommendation. The Revenue Act of 1913
is also known as the Underwood Tariff Act or Underwood-Simmons Act in recognition of Underwood's role in writing and managing the bill as Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee. He stood with a small minority of House members in opposition to the President when he voted, as the Democrats had promised in their last campaign, to maintain an exemption from Panama Canal
tolls for American ships traveling between American ports, despite British protests that the policy violated the Hay–Pauncefote Treaty.
Underwood served as president of the University of Virginia Alumni Association in 1913 and 1914.
He was twice elected to the Senate
in 1914 and 1920 and served there from March 4, 1915 to March 3, 1927. He was Senate minority leader from 1920 to 1923.
He opposed federal prohibition
as "an attempt to rob the states of their jurisdiction over police matters" and advocated local control of liquor regulation because "the improved conditions which we may naturally expect to find in the lives of the men and women who practice Temperance are not found to predominate in the state where Prohibition laws have been on the statute books for years as compared to those states where liquor is sold under a license system or where Temperance laws are controlled by the sentiment of the local communities."
Underwood led the anti-Ku Klux Klan
forces at the 1924 Democratic National Convention
. He was a longtime opponent of the Klan. In 1914, when the Klan organized a parade in Birmingham during that year's National Democratic Convention, Underwood called it an effort "to intimidate me, the Alabama delegation and the democratic party....It will not succeed....I maintain that the organization is a national menace....It is either the Ku Klux Klan or the United States of America. Both cannot survive. Between the two, I choose my country." By 1924 Underwood was one of very few anti-Klan officeholders left in the South. He blamed the Klan's opposition to his candidacy for his loss in the Georgia presidential primary to former Secretary of the Treasury McAdoo
. He then determined to embarrass McAdoo by putting the party on record against the Klan. Even before the Convention considered its platform, the speech nominating Underwood called for the condemnation of the Klan and produced a lengthy floor demonstration. The attempt to modify the platform to condemn the Klan by name produced rousing demonstrations and speeches, many, including that of William Jennings Bryan, interrupted by the anti-Klan crowds that filled the galleries. The Convention's final vote, though contested, defeated the minority proposal naming the Klan by a vote of 542 3/20 to 541 3/20. The fight prove a polarizing battle that made each of the Convention's two major candidates unacceptable to large segments of the party, without enhancing Underwood's chances in the least.
The Convention was marked by a deadlock between the supporters of the Irish Catholic New York Governor Al Smith
and McAdoo, while the Convention's rules required a two-thirds vote to secure the nomination. Several delegations declined to support either of the leading candidates and persisted in voting for their state's "favorite son
" instead. Like the other favorite son candidates, Underwood resisted efforts to remove the convention's two-thirds rule. As the Convention labored through 103 ballots, Alabama, as the first state alphabetically, cast its votes first. The delegation's leader Governor William W. Brandon
reported the state's unanimous vote tally each time without variation: "Alabama casts 24 votes for Oscar W. Underwood." Underwood became a symbol of the Convention's deadlock. His vote totals were meager, fewer than 50, until the deadlock broke and on the 101st ballot he won 229.5, but his anti-prohibition, anti-Klan stances made him a most unlikely compromise candidate and the Convention turned to John W. Davis
of West Virginia, whose work as a Wall Street lawyer proved less of a political hurdle for the delegates.
Underwood did not run for reelection in 1926 because he faced daunting opposition from the Klan and a formidable candidate in Hugo Black
.
He supported New York Governor Al Smith
for President in 1928.
In retirement he wrote an analysis of the transformation of American government in the 20th century, Drifting Sands of Party Politics, which appeared in 1928. He decried federal legislation aimed at regulating morality, government by commissions, and excessive American engagement in foreign affairs.
He died on January 25, 1929, and was buried in Birmingham's Elmwood Cemetery
.
Underwood was born in Louisville, Kentucky
Louisville, Kentucky
Louisville is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kentucky, and the county seat of Jefferson County. Since 2003, the city's borders have been coterminous with those of the county because of a city-county merger. The city's population at the 2010 census was 741,096...
, on May 6, 1862. He was the grandson of Joseph R. Underwood
Joseph R. Underwood
Joseph Rogers Underwood was a lawyer, judge, United States Representative and Senator from Kentucky....
, a Kentucky Senator circa 1850. He attended the University of Virginia
University of Virginia
The University of Virginia is a public research university located in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States, founded by Thomas Jefferson...
at Charlottesville. After studying law, he was admitted to the bar in 1884 and practiced law in Birmingham, Alabama.
He was elected from Alabama
Alabama
Alabama is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and Mississippi to the west. Alabama ranks 30th in total land area and ranks second in the size of its inland...
as a Democrat to the U.S. House of Representatives
United States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...
in 1894. He resigned in the middle of his term, leaving office on June 9, 1896, after his election was successfully challenged by Truman H. Aldrich.
He then served 9 terms in the same position from 1897 to 1915. He served as the first House minority whip from about 1900 to 1901. He was then House majority leader from 1911 to 1915. He was a candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1912
United States presidential election, 1912
The United States presidential election of 1912 was a rare four-way contest. Incumbent President William Howard Taft was renominated by the Republican Party with the support of its conservative wing. After former President Theodore Roosevelt failed to receive the Republican nomination, he called...
and won primaries in several Southern states, though he did not become a major contender. At the nominating convention that year in Baltimore, Wilson's managers offered Underwood the vice-presidential nomination, which he declined. Following the election, he supported the progressive reforms of Wilson's first term, using his position as Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee to manage legislation and maintain party discipline. In return, Wilson granted him considerable control over patronage and appointed Albert S. Burleson
Albert S. Burleson
Albert Sidney Burleson was a United States Postmaster General and Congressman. Born in San Marcos, Texas, he came from a wealthy Southern family. His father, Edward Burleson, Jr., was a Confederate officer. His grandfather, Edward Burleson, was a soldier and statesman in the Republic of Texas and...
Postmaster-General
United States Postmaster General
The United States Postmaster General is the Chief Executive Officer of the United States Postal Service. The office, in one form or another, is older than both the United States Constitution and the United States Declaration of Independence...
at Underwood's recommendation. The Revenue Act of 1913
Revenue Act of 1913
The United States Revenue Act of 1913 also known as the Tariff Act, Underwood Tariff, Underwood Tariff Act, or Underwood-Simmons Act , re-imposed the federal income tax following the ratification of the Sixteenth Amendment and lowered basic tariff rates from 40% to 25%, well below the Payne-Aldrich...
is also known as the Underwood Tariff Act or Underwood-Simmons Act in recognition of Underwood's role in writing and managing the bill as Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee. He stood with a small minority of House members in opposition to the President when he voted, as the Democrats had promised in their last campaign, to maintain an exemption from Panama Canal
Panama Canal
The Panama Canal is a ship canal in Panama that joins the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean and is a key conduit for international maritime trade. Built from 1904 to 1914, the canal has seen annual traffic rise from about 1,000 ships early on to 14,702 vessels measuring a total of 309.6...
tolls for American ships traveling between American ports, despite British protests that the policy violated the Hay–Pauncefote Treaty.
Underwood served as president of the University of Virginia Alumni Association in 1913 and 1914.
He was twice elected to the Senate
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
in 1914 and 1920 and served there from March 4, 1915 to March 3, 1927. He was Senate minority leader from 1920 to 1923.
He opposed federal prohibition
Prohibition in the United States
Prohibition in the United States was a national ban on the sale, manufacture, and transportation of alcohol, in place from 1920 to 1933. The ban was mandated by the Eighteenth Amendment to the Constitution, and the Volstead Act set down the rules for enforcing the ban, as well as defining which...
as "an attempt to rob the states of their jurisdiction over police matters" and advocated local control of liquor regulation because "the improved conditions which we may naturally expect to find in the lives of the men and women who practice Temperance are not found to predominate in the state where Prohibition laws have been on the statute books for years as compared to those states where liquor is sold under a license system or where Temperance laws are controlled by the sentiment of the local communities."
Underwood led the anti-Ku Klux Klan
Ku Klux Klan
Ku Klux Klan, often abbreviated KKK and informally known as the Klan, is the name of three distinct past and present far-right organizations in the United States, which have advocated extremist reactionary currents such as white supremacy, white nationalism, and anti-immigration, historically...
forces at the 1924 Democratic National Convention
1924 Democratic National Convention
The 1924 Democratic National Convention, also called the Klanbake, held at the Madison Square Garden in New York City from June 24 to July 9, took a record 103 ballots to nominate a presidential candidate. It was the longest continuously running convention in United States political history...
. He was a longtime opponent of the Klan. In 1914, when the Klan organized a parade in Birmingham during that year's National Democratic Convention, Underwood called it an effort "to intimidate me, the Alabama delegation and the democratic party....It will not succeed....I maintain that the organization is a national menace....It is either the Ku Klux Klan or the United States of America. Both cannot survive. Between the two, I choose my country." By 1924 Underwood was one of very few anti-Klan officeholders left in the South. He blamed the Klan's opposition to his candidacy for his loss in the Georgia presidential primary to former Secretary of the Treasury McAdoo
William Gibbs McAdoo
William Gibbs McAdoo, Jr. was an American lawyer and political leader who served as a U.S. Senator, United States Secretary of the Treasury and director of the United States Railroad Administration...
. He then determined to embarrass McAdoo by putting the party on record against the Klan. Even before the Convention considered its platform, the speech nominating Underwood called for the condemnation of the Klan and produced a lengthy floor demonstration. The attempt to modify the platform to condemn the Klan by name produced rousing demonstrations and speeches, many, including that of William Jennings Bryan, interrupted by the anti-Klan crowds that filled the galleries. The Convention's final vote, though contested, defeated the minority proposal naming the Klan by a vote of 542 3/20 to 541 3/20. The fight prove a polarizing battle that made each of the Convention's two major candidates unacceptable to large segments of the party, without enhancing Underwood's chances in the least.
The Convention was marked by a deadlock between the supporters of the Irish Catholic New York Governor Al Smith
Al Smith
Alfred Emanuel Smith. , known in private and public life as Al Smith, was an American statesman who was elected the 42nd Governor of New York three times, and was the Democratic U.S. presidential candidate in 1928...
and McAdoo, while the Convention's rules required a two-thirds vote to secure the nomination. Several delegations declined to support either of the leading candidates and persisted in voting for their state's "favorite son
Favorite son
A favorite son is a political term.*At the quadrennial American national political party conventions, a state delegation sometimes nominates and votes for a candidate from the state, or less often from the state's region, who is not a viable candidate...
" instead. Like the other favorite son candidates, Underwood resisted efforts to remove the convention's two-thirds rule. As the Convention labored through 103 ballots, Alabama, as the first state alphabetically, cast its votes first. The delegation's leader Governor William W. Brandon
William W. Brandon
William Woodward Brandon was an American Democratic politician who was the 37th Governor of Alabama from 1923 to 1927.- Biography :...
reported the state's unanimous vote tally each time without variation: "Alabama casts 24 votes for Oscar W. Underwood." Underwood became a symbol of the Convention's deadlock. His vote totals were meager, fewer than 50, until the deadlock broke and on the 101st ballot he won 229.5, but his anti-prohibition, anti-Klan stances made him a most unlikely compromise candidate and the Convention turned to John W. Davis
John W. Davis
John William Davis was an American politician, diplomat and lawyer. He served as a United States Representative from West Virginia , then as Solicitor General of the United States and US Ambassador to the UK under President Woodrow Wilson...
of West Virginia, whose work as a Wall Street lawyer proved less of a political hurdle for the delegates.
Underwood did not run for reelection in 1926 because he faced daunting opposition from the Klan and a formidable candidate in Hugo Black
Hugo Black
Hugo Lafayette Black was an American politician and jurist. A member of the Democratic Party, Black represented Alabama in the United States Senate from 1927 to 1937, and served as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1937 to 1971. Black was nominated to the Supreme...
.
He supported New York Governor Al Smith
Al Smith
Alfred Emanuel Smith. , known in private and public life as Al Smith, was an American statesman who was elected the 42nd Governor of New York three times, and was the Democratic U.S. presidential candidate in 1928...
for President in 1928.
In retirement he wrote an analysis of the transformation of American government in the 20th century, Drifting Sands of Party Politics, which appeared in 1928. He decried federal legislation aimed at regulating morality, government by commissions, and excessive American engagement in foreign affairs.
He died on January 25, 1929, and was buried in Birmingham's Elmwood Cemetery
Elmwood Cemetery (Birmingham, Alabama)
Elmwood Cemetery is a cemetery established in 1900 in Birmingham, Alabama northwest of Homewood by a group of fraternal organizations. It was renamed in 1906 and gradually eclipsed Oak Hill Cemetery as the most prominent burial place in the city...
.
Sources
- James S. Fleming, "Oscar W. Underwood: The First Modern House Leader, 1911—1915," in Raymond W Smock and Susan W Hammond, eds. Masters of the House: Congressional Leadership Over Two Centuries (1998), 91–118
- James S. Fleming, "Re-establishing Leadership in the House of Representatives: The Case of Oscar W. Underwood," in Joel H. Silbey, The United States Congress in a Nation Transformed, 1896-1963, vol. 1 (Carlson, 1991), 235-52
- Evans C. Johnson. Oscar W. Underwood: A Political Biography (Louisiana State University Press, 1980).
- Robert K. Murray, The 103rd Ballot: Democrats and the Disaster in Madison Square Garden (NY: Harper & Row, 1976)