Florida right now is on a bit of a conservative kick, and it seems to be growing. There was, however, a time in which not only Florida was part of the Solid South for the Democrats, but also in which its voters statewide elected Claude Pepper (1900-1989).
The Florida Senatorial Deaths and Succession
The year 1936 saw both of Florida’s longtime senators die: Park Trammell on May 8th, and Fletcher Duncan on June 17th. Although the immediate successor for the latter was William Luther Hill, he was a mere placeholder. The man who won the 1936 election to succeed him was attorney and former state legislator Pepper. This had not been his first try for the Senate; in 1934 he had won the first round in the Democratic primary against incumbent Park Trammell thanks to his talented oratory, and Trammell only narrowly fended off defeat in the runoff.
Pepper became known for his staunch support of the New Deal, including the Fair Labor Standards Act. However, he also voted to kill the “court packing plan” in 1937, a point of contention with Roosevelt. The following year, Pepper won a full term in a victory for President Roosevelt in his toughest election year yet with over 58% of the vote (Hill). He would support Roosevelt in most matters and was one of the most outspoken interventionists, sponsoring Lend-Lease in 1941. Roosevelt was a big fan of Pepper’s, even once telling him, “Claude, if you were a woman, I’d kiss you!” (Mormino) Like the president, Pepper saw the federal government as a tremendous force for aiding poor Americans with tax dollars. His spirit of politics was expressed thusly, “My colleagues, when you go home tonight and you close your eyes and you sleep and you ask, ‘What have I done today to lighten the burden upon those who suffer,’ at least you could say, ‘I helped a little bit today; I voted to help those who needed help.’ It may not answer all the problems, and it does not, but it will give comfort. It will cool the brow of many who suffer. It will give hope to many who almost are despaired” (The Claude Pepper Foundation). Although Pepper was reelected in 1944, his strongly liberal views on domestic issues was taking its toll. He had won the Democratic primary with slightly over 51% of the vote when the challenger was the little known and poorly financed J. Ollie Edmunds (Hill).
Early Civil Rights Supporter
Claude Pepper was the first Southern Democrat to support civil rights legislation. Although he had opposed an anti-lynching bill in 1937 (which he later regretted), he would support banning the poll tax. Although Florida had no poll tax, the state was expected to stand with the rest of the South over a federal poll tax ban lest it open the door to other federal interventions on civil rights. He even sponsored the 1942 bill, which fell to a Senate filibuster.
Pepper and Communism
While many politicians were always suspicious of the USSR and saw Stalin as a threat, Pepper saw a potential long-term ally in Stalin and a global partner in the USSR. He saw himself as filling in the role of international statesman and, he hoped, FDR’s eventual heir to the White House. Pepper even visited Moscow, interviewed Stalin, and delivered a speech praising the USSR, stating, “Probably nowhere in the world are minorities given more freedom, recognition, and respect than in the Soviet Union and nowhere in the world is there so little friction, between minority and majority groups, or among minorities” (Hill). He would also call for the destruction of all atomic weapons, received praise from The Daily Worker for a pro-Soviet speech, and according to one FBI report he had spoken before 23 communist front groups (Clark, 77-79). Worse yet, according to FBI files, Pepper used economist Charles Kramer, who had worked in the Roosevelt Administration as part of his “brain trust”, as a speechwriter and advisor during the 1940s (Orlando Sentinel). Kramer was, per FBI files, a Soviet agent. He had participated in the Ware Group Soviet spy ring.
Pepper’s stance on the Soviets was deeply unpopular in Florida, and he was aware of this, believing that he would be able to mend fences in time to win reelection in 1950. In 1947, he voted against the Greek-Turkish Aid Act, which was a core component of Truman’s foreign policy, objecting to the aid not going through the UN. In the Republican 80th Congress, Pepper was otherwise a staunch liberal Democrat, and this included voting to sustain President Truman’s veto of the Taft-Hartley Act, standing alone among Florida politicians to do so. While Floridians in the past were more amenable to his liberal views, especially during the Great Depression, they had become far less so with the years.
“Red Pepper” vs. “Gorgeous George” Smathers: The 1950 Election
Pepper, never held in high esteem by President Truman, really crossed him by making it known that he tried to lobby General Dwight Eisenhower to replace him for the Democratic nomination, and he backed photogenic Congressman George Smathers to take him on. Pepper faced an uphill battle given the nation’s anti-communist mood and the stagnating war effort in Korea. Although “Gorgeous George” was far from the most conservative of Florida politicians, he aggressively ran against his record on communism in one of the most negative campaigns in the state’s history and joined others in calling Pepper “Red Pepper” for his prolonged support of the Soviets. Despite this, Pepper did vote to sustain a loan to Spain’s Francisco Franco in 1950. While it is fair to question his judgment regarding Stalin, the Soviets, and some of his associations, a communist he was not. Pepper lost renomination by nearly 10 points.
A Comeback and Remaking of Image
Although Pepper’s defeat for renomination in 1950 might have been the end, he made a remarkable comeback. Although he lost his bid to defeat Spessard Holland in the primary in 1958 by 14 points, after twelve years of absence in Congress he was elected to the House in 1962, representing Miami. Although still a New Dealer on domestic issues, he voted for a number of anti-communist measures on foreign policy. No doubt a factor in this was the staunchly anti-communist Cuban American population in his district. In 1964, he was the only member of the Florida delegation to Congress to vote for the Civil Rights Act. Pepper was the state’s most unflinching supporter of the Great Society as well and stood as a staunch advocate for maintaining Social Security, Medicare, and other programs for the elderly. He could be said to be one of the people who effectively made Social Security a third rail of American politics.
A Power in the Reagan Years
Claude Pepper’s second act was perhaps his greatest as he found himself in quite a position of power in the House in the 1980s; from 1983 to 1989, he was chairman of the House Rules Committee. Instead of a maverick as he was in his youth, he was now a major player in the Democratic Party’s establishment. The Los Angeles Times wrote of him, “As chairman, Pepper can bottle up legislation he considers obnoxious, and he can attach his pet causes to virtually any bill” (Rosenblatt). Even in his eighties, he proved a powerful campaigner. Pepper was considered by Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Chairman Tony Coelho (D-Calif.) to have been “…our most potent weapon, more responsible than any other individual in our party” for the Democrats gaining 26 House seats in the 1982 midterms and he went on to state that “In 1984, he protected Democrats when the issue was very tough, and in 1986 all the Senate winners used him” (Rosenblatt). Pepper’s peak of power in the House coincided with the presidency of one of the greatest challenges New Deal politics had ever faced in Ronald Reagan, but Pepper remained a New Dealer to the last, writing in his autobiography, “I was a New Dealer before there was a New Deal. I remained one when the ideology behind it came under bitter attack. I remain one today” (Rosenblatt).
On May 26, 1989, President Bush awarded Pepper the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Four days later, he passed away at the age of 88, 39 years after suffering a defeat that would have ended many a politician’s career and 20 years after the man who bested him had retired from politics. Pepper was a liberal contender for some time, but in the end the reality of Florida politics only allowed him to continue as a representative, albeit a successful one. In numerous ways Pepper stood alone among Florida colleagues, including when not politically expedient to do so, and that in itself merits some respect. He is also one of those examples of persistence paying off.
References
A Report Card for 80th Congress. (1947). Americans for Democratic Action.
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ADA World: Voting Record – 88th Congress, 2nd Session. (1964, October). Americans for Democratic Action.
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ADA World Congressional Supplement. (1950, September). Americans for Democratic Action.
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Clark, J.C. (1998). Road to defeat: Claude Pepper and defeat in the 1950 Florida Primary. University of Florida.
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https://archive.org/details/roadtodefeatclau00clar/page/n85/mode/2up
FBI Material: Pepper Met with Communists. (1991, August 18). Orlando Sentinel.
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https://www.orlandosentinel.com/1991/08/18/fbi-material-pepper-met-with-communists/
Hill, R. Claude Pepper of Florida. The Knoxville Focus.
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https://www.knoxfocus.com/archives/claude-pepper-florida/
Mormino, G.R. (2020, October 30). The strange career of Claude Pepper. The Tampa Bay Times.
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https://www.tampabay.com/opinion/2020/10/30/the-strange-career-of-claude-pepper-column/
Senator Claude Pepper. The Claude Pepper Foundation.
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https://claudepepperfoundation.org/about/senator-claude-pepper/
Rosenblatt, R.A. (1988, January 2). Career Goes Back to F.D.R.: Pepper, Ally of the Elderly, is a Power in the House. Los Angeles Times.
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https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1988-01-02-mn-34289-story.html
To recommit to the Committee on the Judicial Branch of Government S. 1392, a bill to reorganize the judicial branch. Govtrack.
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Mad Politics: The Bizarre, Fascinating, and Unknown of American Political History 