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/* Political career */
After one term as a state representative, Pepper won the 1936 [[special election]] to succeed Senator Duncan U. Fletcher. Pepper was a strong advocate for the [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]] administration and backed the passage of the [[Fair Labor Standards Act]] of 1938, the last of the major [[New Deal]] legislation. He also opposed anti-lynching legislation to appease Southern racists, vowing for maintaining [[white supremacy]] following the [[Supreme Court]] ruling in ''Smith v. Allwright'' that banned [[white primary]] elections.<ref>Mormino, Gar R. (October 30, 2020). [https://www.tampabay.com/opinion/2020/10/30/the-strange-career-of-claude-pepper-column/ The strange career of Claude Pepper | Column]. ''Tampa Bay Times''. Retrieved February 25, 2021.</ref>
After [[World War II]] ended, Pepper was conciliatory toward [[Joseph Stalin]] and the former [[Soviet Union]]. [[Charles Kramer]], a [[KGB]] agent and member of the [[Perlo group]] of Soviet spies, served transmitted to the [[Soviet Union]] vital war production and weapon desing information while serving on his staff.<ref>[https://www.wilsoncenter.org/sites/default/files/media/documents/publication/White_Notebook_No.3_Translated.pdf White Notebook #3], Translation of original notes from KGB archival files by Alexander Vassiliev between 1993-1996. Translated by Steve Shabad, reviewed and edited by Alexander Vassiliev and John Earl Haynes (2007). wilsoncenter.org</ref> Pepper even opposed the 1948 nomination of [[Harry Truman]].Pepper aligned with [[progressive]] [[Henry Wallace]] to oppose the candidacy of [[Harry Truman]]. Pepper was unseated in the regular 1950 Senate election after the theft of U.S. atomic secrets by New Deal Democrats and communists began killing American servicemen in the [[Korean War]] with Soviet-built weapons. Pepper was defeated by the more [[conservative]] [[George Smathers]], then a two-term U.S. Representative from House District 4. Pepper returned to his law practice in 1951, this time in the capital city of [[Tallahassee]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://fsuspecialcollections.wordpress.com/2015/05/04/claude-peppers-time-in-tallahassee/|author=Mallary Rawls|title=Claude Pepper's Time in Tallahassee|publisher=Florida State University Special Collections |date=May 4, 2015|accessdate=February 25, 2021}}</ref>
Thirteen years later, Pepper was elected from the then newly-established District 3 (since renumbered multiple times) seat in the U.S. House. as a representative, he stressed his [[anti-communist]] position and was critical of [[Cuba]]n dictator [[Fidel Castro]], who was unpopular in south Florida at that time. He chaired the House Permanent Select Committee on Aging and attempted to strengthen [[Social Security]] and [[Medicare]]. From 1983 to 1989, he chaired the House Rules Committee. Upon his death at the age of eighty-eight, he was honored with a state funeral. Eleven years later, the [[United States Postal Service]] issued a stamp in his honor.<ref name=obit/>
