Claude Pepper
| Claude Denson Pepper | |
 | |
| In office November 4, 1936 – January 3, 1951 | |
| Preceded by | William Luther Hill |
|---|---|
| Succeeded by | George Smathers |
| In office January 3, 1963 – May 30, 1989 | |
| Preceded by | Robert Lee Fulton "Bob" Sikes |
| Succeeded by | Illeana Ros-Lehtinen |
Chairman of the
House Rules Committee | |
| In office 1929–1931 | |
| Preceded by | Richard Walker Bolling |
| Succeeded by | Joe Moakley |
Member of the
Florida House of Representatives]] | |
| Born | September 8, 1900 Near Dudleyville Chambers County, Alabama |
| Died | May 30, 1989 (aged 88) Washington, D.C. |
| Political party | Democrat |
| Spouse(s) | Mildred Webster Pepper (married 1931-1979, her death) |
| Children | No children
Parents: |
| Alma mater | Camp Hill High School |
| Occupation | Attorney, Professor |
Military Service
| |
| Service/branch | United States Army (the former Student Army Training Corps) |
| Battles/wars | World War I |
Claude Denson Pepper (September 8, 1900 – May 30, 1989) was a prominent leader of liberals in the U.S. state of Florida from the 1930s to the 1980s. A Democrat, he served in the United States Senate from 1936 to 1951 and the [[United States House of Representatives from a district in Miami and Miami Beach. He was also known too for support forissues important to the elderly.[1]
Pepper was born on a farm near Dudleyville in Chambers County, Alabama, and graduate in 1917 from Camp Hill High School. For a time, he operated a hat cleaning and repair business, taught school in Dothan in southeastern Alabama, and worked in a steel mill before he began his studies at the University of Alabama. He served in the United States Army in World War I, and in 1921 received a bachelor's degree from the University of Alabama at Tuscaloosa. He taught law at the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville, where one of his students was later senatorial colleague J. William Fulbright, subsequently the UA president. In 1924, he graduated from Harvard Law School in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and later opened his legal practice in Perry in Taylor County in northern Florida.[2]
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. After World War II ended, Pepper was conciliatory toward Joseph Stalin and the former Soviet Union. He even opposed the 1948 nomination of Harry Truman. Pepper was unseated in the regular 1950 Senate election 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.[3]
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 Cuban 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.[1]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Reginald Thomas (May 31, 1989). Claude Pepper, Fiery Fighter for Elderly Rights, Dies at 88. The New York Times.
- ↑ Ric A. Kabat, "From Camp Hill to Harvard Yard : The early years of Claude D. Pepper," The Florida Historical Quarterly, October 1, 1993, pp. 153=179.
- ↑ Mallary Rawls (May 4, 2015). Claude Pepper's Time in Tallahassee. Florida State University Special Collections. Retrieved on February 25, 2021.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pepper, Claude]]