Overton Brooks
| Thomas Overton Brooks | |||
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| Former U.S. Representative from Louisiana's 4th Congressional District From: January 3, 1937 – September 16, 1961 | |||
| Predecessor | John N. Sandlin | ||
| Successor | Joseph David "Joe D." Waggonner, Jr. | ||
| Information | |||
| Party | Democrat | ||
| Spouse(s) | Mary Fontaine "Mollie" Meriwether | ||
| Religion | Episcopalian[1] | ||
Thomas Overton Brooks (December 21, 1897 – September 16, 1961), known as Overton Brooks, was a Democrat segregationist from Louisiana who was the state's U.S. representative for the 4th congressional district from 1937 until his death in office in 1961. He was also a nephew of U.S. senator John H. Overton.
U.S. House of Representatives
Brooks was first elected to the House in the 1936 congressional elections which coincided with the landslide re-election of Franklin D. Roosevelt.[2] Although he faced some more conservative primary challenges on several occasions, Brooks generally faced few obstacles in his dozen re-election bids.[3]
As the second-ranking member of the House Armed Services Committee in 1951 amidst the Korean War, Brooks announced the development of an atomic artillery shield to be used in Korea.[4] He also stated that objections to detonating atomic bombs due to concerns of harming civilians were not sufficient for halting the use of atomic artillery shields.
Like his uncle,[5] Brooks played a role in establishing flood control programs.[6]
Along with the rest of the Louisiana congressional delegation, Brooks signed the 1956 Southern Manifesto in opposition to school desegregation as ordered by the United States Supreme Court in the Brown v. Board of Education ruling.[7]
Brooks voted both against the initial House passage of the 1957[8] which contained strong enforcement provisions, and the final House passage of the weakened Senate version which had Title III stripped and a jury trial amendment added.[9] He likewise voted against the Civil Rights Act of 1960.[10]
Although a segregationist, Brooks angered many people in his district after voting to expand the House Rules Committee from twelve to fifteen members,[11] most notably causing diehard racists like the Ku Klux Klan to burn crosses on his lawn in violent protest.[12] The attributed reason for anger towards Brook's vote was because the expansion paved the way for approving civil rights legislation.
The committee expansion, which was pushed by House Spaker Sam Rayburn,[13] also allowed for passage of some New Frontier programs under the presidency of John F. Kennedy, as previously liberal legislation was blocked by the committee due to the power of the Conservative Coalition.[14] The Southern bloc as a whole was split between their loyalty to Rayburn and their loyalty to Smith.
During his last few years in office, Brooks was the chair of the House Committee on Science and Astronautics. There, he criticized the Nike-Zeus anti-missile missile,[15] expressed satisfaction over a Discoverer satellite that went into orbit around Earth,[16] and opposed a space budget proposed by the Kennedy Administration.[17]
References
- ↑ Forty and Eight, politicians, Louisiana. The Political Graveyard. Retrieved August 23, 2021.
- ↑ LA - District 04 - Nov 03, 1936. Our Campaigns. Retrieved August 23, 2021.
- ↑ Candidate - Overton Brooks. Our Campaigns. Retrieved August 23, 2021.
- ↑ May 24, 2001. 1951:Atomic Shells : IN OUR PAGES:100, 75 AND 50 YEARS AGO. The New York Times. Retrieved August 23, 2021.
- ↑ Jackson, Leah (November 29, 2011). Family donates John Overton Collection to library. Northwestern State University. Retrieved August 23, 2021.
- ↑ Suhayda, Merle. Overton Brooks Papers. Louisiana State University. Retrieved August 23, 2021.
- ↑ GOI-CRECB-1956-pt4-3.pdf. Congressional Record. Retrieved August 23, 2021.
- ↑ HR 6127. CIVIL RIGHTS ACT OF 1957.. GovTrack.us. Retrieved August 23, 2021.
- ↑ H RES 410. TAKE HR 6127 (CIVIL RIGHTS ACT OF 1957) FROM SPEAKER'S DESK AND CONCUR IN SENATE JURY TRIAL AMENDMENT WITH HOUSE-SENATE LEADERSHIP COMPROMISE AMENDMENT.. GovTrack.us. Retrieved August 26, 2021.
- ↑ HR 8601. CIVIL RIGHTS ACT OF 1960. APPROVAL BY THE HOUSE OF THE SENATE'S AMENDMENTS.. GovTrack.us. Retrieved August 23, 2021.
- ↑ H. RES. 127. ENLARGE RULES COMMITTEE TO 15, INCREASING DEMOCRATS BY TWO AND REPUBLICANS BY ONE.. GovTrack.us. Retrieved August 23, 2021.
- ↑ Glover, Cedric (November 1, 2020). Cedric Glover: The Shreveport triumvirate inside LBJ's White House. Shreveport Times. Retrieved August 23, 2021.
- ↑ FascinatingPolitics (May 26, 2021). Texas Legends #3: Sam Rayburn. Mad Politics: The Bizarre, Fascinating, and Unknown of American Political History. Retrieved August 23, 2021.
- ↑ FascinatingPolitics (December 6, 2020). Howard W. Smith: The Great Obstructionist. Mad Politics: The Bizarre, Fascinating, and Unknown of American Political History. Retrieved August 23, 2021.
- ↑ March 2, 1959. BROOKS CRITICIZES MISSILE DECISION. The New York Times. Retrieved August 23, 2021.
- ↑ March 24, 1959. BROOKS IS SATISFIED DISCOVERER ORBITED. The New York Times. Retrieved August 23, 2021.
- ↑ April 12, 1961. BROOKS UNSATISFIED WITH SPACE BUDGET. The New York Times. Retrieved August 23, 2021.
External links
- Profile at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
- Obituary via The New York Times – article under paywall
- Profile at Find a Grave
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