Sometimes we might find ourselves following politics too closely and wonder how things got so bad.
They didn’t just get bad — they always have been.
I ran across some sources lately for some odd and inflammatory mudslinging from past American politicians. And yes, of course, the Long family of Louisiana is involved:
•In the U.S. Senate campaign in Florida in 1950, George Smathers referred to his opponent, Claude Pepper, as a “known extrovert.” He also said that Pepper had a sister who was a known “thespian” and a brother who was a “practicing homo sapien.” He later added that Pepper “matriculated on campus” while in college and that he “engage in celibacy” before he was married.
Smathers used body language and tone to make audiences assume the worst about these words which were apparently unfamiliar to many at the time. Note: The New York Times ran an article that quoted Smathers as saying he never made the remarks. The story offered it was a well-circulated joke that the Smathers campaigners helped spread.
•In 1932, Earl Long and his brother Huey were political enemies. Earl once called Huey “a big-bellied, lily-livered liar and the crooked man who ever lived.” He also called Huey a son of a bitch once.
Earl used to like to heckle political opponents from the crowd and one day yelled at Huey that he hadn’t ever done anything for his brother. Huey responded that he’d built a mental hospital in Jackson and had reserved a room for Earl.
The brothers eventually made peace. Earl was a three-time governor and Huey was a senator and presidential candidate before he was assassinated. Their shenanigans in politics are well-documented and will probably appear in a future History Pie segment.
•In 1798, U.S. Rep. Roger Griswold of Connecticut insulted the war record of Rep. Matthew Lyon of Vermont. Lyon spit tobacco juice in Griswold’s eye. There was debate about expelling Lyon and the next day, Griswold beat Lyon with his walking stick, while Lyon responded by swinging fireplace tongs. Lyon edited up being fined $1,000 and being sentenced to four months in jail.
•The most famous beating in Congressional history took place in 1856 when slavery was being debated. Sen. Charles Sumner of Massachusetts was making a speech and threw in some insulting remarks about the family of Rep. Preston Brooks of South Carolina. Brooks went into the Senate chamber and put a severe beating on Sumner. He later said he regretted the incident because he broke his stick in the assault.
•In 1883, New York assemblyman Theodore Roosevelt knocked a man down with one punch and when the fellow got up, TR nailed him again. The man had insulted the future president’s clothes.
Later in 1912 when Roosevelt challenged William Howard Taft for the Republican nomination for president, the convention got so rowdy, organizers had to put barbed wire around the speakers’ podium due to the constant fights and riots that broke out. The convention was in Chicago that year and the city didn’t host another one until 1968 … when it was once again marred by violence.
•Probably the worst political violence was the duel where Vice President Aaron Burr and former Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton. Burr is also mentioned for his treasonous behavior in other blog posts on History Pie, but not many realize he was also sued for divorce when he was 80 on the charge of adultery.
•The 1876 election was challenged when Samuel Tilden won the popular and the majority of the electoral vote, but 20 electoral votes were in dispute. Eventually, it was decided in the House of Representatives. The deciding vote was cast by a member of Tilden’s party in exchange for Federal troops leaving the south and ending Reconstruction. You can check out more intrigue on the case at the UVa Miller Center by clicking here.
•In 1950, opponents of Maryland Sen. Millard Tydings faked a photo of him with the leader of the American Communist Party. Tydings had never met the man, but the photo caused such a ruckus that Tydings ended up retiring.
•In the 1948 Senate race in Texas, several hundred dead residents voted for Lyndon Johnson — over 200 in one precinct along, where he won by 87 votes.
Sources:
Ayers, Thomas. That’s Not in My American History Book.
Raines, Howell. “Legendary Campaign: Pepper vs. Smathers in ’50” The New York Times.
“Roger Griswold Starts a Brawl in Congress,” Connecticuthistory.org