Bourbon, Pork Chops, and Red Peppers: Political Immorality in Florida, 1945-1968 Seth A
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Florida State University Libraries Electronic Theses, Treatises and Dissertations The Graduate School 2007 Bourbon, Pork Chops, and Red Peppers: Political Immorality in Florida, 1945-1968 Seth A. Weitz Follow this and additional works at the FSU Digital Library. For more information, please contact [email protected] THE FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES BOURBON, PORK CHOPS, AND RED PEPPERS: POLITICAL IMMORALITY IN FLORIDA, 1945-1968 B SETH A. WEITZ A Dissertation sub.itted to the Depart.ent of Histor in partial fulfill.ent of the re4uire.ents for the degree of Doctor of Philosoph Degree Awarded: Spring Se.ester, 2007 Cop right 2007 Seth A. Weitz All Rights Reserved The .e.bers of the Co..ittee approve this Dissertation of Seth A. Weitz defended on March 16, 2007 _______________________ Ja.es P. Jones Professor directing Dissertation _______________________ Patrick O@Sullivan Outside Co..ittee Me.ber _______________________ MaAine Jones Co..ittee Me.ber _______________________ Edward D. W not Co..ittee Me.ber The Office of Graduate Studies has verified and approved the above na.ed co..ittee .e.bers ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS In the process of researching and writing this dissertation I have benefited greatl fro. fa.il , friends, colleagues and .entors who have encouraged .e in nu.erous wa s. Firstl I would like to thank . parents, Michael and Barbara Weitz, who supported . decision to forgo Law School and pursue . graduate degrees in histor . Fro. an earl age the included .e in their nu.erous international travels and helped to foster . love for histor . Mo., I a. especiall indebted to ou for our advice and suggestions on the literar scope of this dissertation. I have also been fortunate enough to receive departmental teaching and research assistantships at Florida State Universit that have helped fund graduate school. Thanks to the staff of the F.S.U. Histor Depart.ent, especiall Debbie Perr , Chris Pigniatello, India Van Burnt, Vick Bernal and Tiffan Graves. Without their support and aid I never would have been able to co.plete this proBect. Nu.erous fellow graduate students at F.S.U. supported and aided .e in both . research and . studies. Chris Da helped .e discover the topic which I ulti.atel pursued in the su..er of 2005, and Jonathan Sheppard, Vincent Mikkelsen and Jon Mikolashek@s invaluable support and help in preparation for . co.prehensive eAa.s helped .e weather that stor. siA .onths later. Even Jonathon Weber deserves special .ention since his antics on the intra.ural fields of Florida State kept .e level headed during the . last se.esters in Tallahassee. A further thanks also to Brian Hall for being a great friend and colleague over the past four ears. I would like to eAtend a sincere thanks to the archivists and staffs of the various archives I used in conducting . research, especiall Bo d Murphree and Dave Nelson of the Florida State Archives. Several professors and instructors helped .e realize . love for historical stud and research before I ever arrived at Florida State. Joseph Patrouch has been a dear friend to .e and he, along with Darden P ron and Brian Peterson, helped to convince .e that pursuing a doctorate in histor was the right course for .e to pursue. I would also like to thank Kevin Fontenot at Tulane Universit who gave .e so.e of the first positive feedback on . work as an historian. iii At F.S.U. I have had the opportunit to work with a . riad of wonderful and acco.plished professors who have both challenged and guided .e towards . ulti.ate goal. Fritz Davis, who. I worked closel with on several of his own proBects earl in . graduate career, helped .e learn valuable tools of research. If it was not for Olaf Steiglitz and his se.inar on McCarth is., I would never have found the topic that has kept .e occupied for the better part of the last two ears. I a. especiall indebted to the .e.bers of . co..ittee, Ed W not, MaAine Jones, Gerard Clark and Pat O@Sullivan for providing with valuable feedback and constructive criticis. and who have also helped .e grow as an historian. Above all I want to thank Ji. Jones for being the best .aBor professor I could have ever i.agined. He has also been a wonderful friend and .entor for the past five ears. I would also like to thank Ji. for allowing .e to borrow his glove for the 2006 intra.ural softball season. I a. honored to have been afforded the opportunit to work with Ji. Jones and to call hi. a friend. Finall , I thank the person who has had to live with .e during . entire career as a graduate student and who put up with .e during the entire process of researching and writing . dissertation. M wife Jill has shown .e nothing but support and has also helped .e keep a perspective on life. I guess I should also thank . other best friend, . dog Mont , who kept .e co.pan during the writing of this work. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACTCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCvi INTRODUCTIOCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC1 RECONSTRUCTING THE OLD SOUTHCCCCCCC.11 A HOUSE DIVIDEDCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC...30 REVOLUTIONCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC51 A STATE TO BUILD, A SOUTH TO SAVE, A NATION TO CONVINVCECCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC...81 NEITHER AN ACUSING NOR A TRIAL BODYCCCC109 INEUISITIONCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC.138 TO AVOID CONTAMINATIONCCCCCCCCCC...168 CAMPUS OF EVILCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC.182 IF YOU ARE HUNGRY, WHY HOLD OUT FOR A STEAKF...................................................................................208 BIBLIOGRAPHYCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC247 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHCCCCCCCCCCCC...259 v ABSTRACT The end of Reconstruction ushered in a new era in Southern histor . White supre.ac returned to the region and the Republican Part was run back across the Mason-DiAon Line leaving the South with a virtual one part s ste.. Fro. 1877-1967 Florida was a .e.ber of the Gsolid southH where the winner of the De.ocratic pri.ar was victorious in the general election. While Florida was tied to the De.ocratic Part , it also differed fro. its sister states in the South. The Sunshine State eAperienced a population boo. like no other state in the nation eAcept possibl California, transfor.ing the peninsula fro. a backwater, poor, insignificant state into one of the largest state@s in the United States b 1965. Man of the new Floridians brought with the. political beliefs alien to the Deep South, and these principles threatened to under.ine the deepl entrenched s ste. that had been in place since the end of Reconstruction. At .id-centur , Florida politics was do.inated b the Pork Chop Gang, a group of conservative, states@ rights, segregationist De.ocrats fro. rural Northern and Central Florida. The Pork Choppers held a stranglehold over the state Legislature due to the archaic apportioning of legislative districts which had been .andated b the Constitution of 1885. The Pork Choppers espoused GOld SouthH values and looked to .aintain their power and control of the state in an wa possible despite Florida@s ever changing de.ographic and political landscape. Under the 1885 docu.ent, power in the state resided in the Legislature and the cabinet which was directl elected b the people. Because of the .alapportioned political districts, 12.3I of the population could elect a .aBorit in the state senate and 14.7I could do the sa.e in the lower house. Florida@s govern.ent in the first half of the twentieth centur was highl suspicious of outsiders and .ost of the Pork Choppers viewed the state@s political apparatus as a .eans of protecting their friends and advancing the interests of the Northern section of the state at the eApense of the rapidl eApanding population of South Florida. The Pork Chop Gang not onl defended the Old South against the New South, but it also viewed itself as the last bastion of protection for the agrarian lifest le of rural Florida which was being challenged b growing industr and big business fro. Orlando, and Ta.pa south. The Pork Choppers knew that in order to preserve their power over the vi state the would have to retain their control of the Legislature and to ensure this the needed to protect the 1885 Constitution which was co.ing under .ore scrutin b South Floridians. The first assault on the GOld SouthH values of the Pork Chop Gang was the Supre.e Court@s land.ark decision in Brown v. Board of Education which in 1954 directl challenged segregated educational s ste.s throughout the nation. Florida, like its Southern neighbors largel resisted this perceived affront to white supre.ac and the Pork Choppers soon saw the court@s decision as a .eans to rall support to their cause and hopefull .aintain their power within the state. On the national level the Pork Choppers took their cue fro. Wisconsin Senator Joe McCarth who, confronted b the perceived notion of the GRed MenaceH infiltrating A.erican societ , e.erged to lead s ste.atic attacks against an one and ever one dee.ed a threat. McCarth is. in Florida, co..encing at the end of the Bunior senator@s national reign of terror, proved a .ethodical and orderl assault on all opponents of the region, whether the be Co..unists, African-A.ericans, ho.oseAuals or liberals. The perceived threats against .oralit , white supre.ac and the concocted co..unist hazard were used as an eAcuse and disguise to purge Florida of its ene.ies and .ore i.portantl .aintain the power of the Pork Chop Gang in the face of its growing political ene.ies. It was in the attacks on the Universities of Florida, South Florida and Florida State Universit where the Florida Legislative Investigation Co..ittee (FLIC) e.plo ed igno.inious tactics in assaulting ho.oseAuals and others labeled i..oral within the student bod as well as the facult .