Florida State University Libraries Electronic Theses, Treatises and Dissertations The Graduate School 2011 Weathering the Storm: Florida Politics during the Administration of Spessard L. Holland in World War II Jon S. Evans 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 WEATHERING THE STORM: FLORIDA POLITICS DURING THE ADMINISTRATION OF SPESSARD L. HOLLAND IN WORLD WAR II By JON S. EVANS A Dissertation submitted to the Department of History in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Degree Awarded: Spring Semester, 2011 The members of the committee approve the dissertation of Jon S. Evans defended on April 1, 2011. _______________________________________ James P. Jones Professor Directing Dissertation _______________________________________ John Fenstermaker University Representative _______________________________________ Rodney Anderson Committee Member _______________________________________ V. J. Conner Committee Member _______________________________________ Maxine D. Jones Committee Member The Graduate School has verified and approved the above-named committee members. ii To my mother and father, Alice L. and Roy B. Evans iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I am profoundly grateful to my committee members – Rodney Anderson, Valerie Conner, and Maxine Jones – for direction and patience. I owe a deep debt to my major professor, James P. Jones, for challenging and guiding me, while also giving the maximum amount of freedom during this process. Additionally, I appreciate the contributions of university representative, John Fenstermaker. I truly appreciate your critiques of my work. Thanks also to a former committee member, Albrecht Koschnik. Collectively, they have profoundly shaped me through their roles as teachers, mentors, and exemplars. I am extremely appreciative of the professional and patient assistance of the staff at the Florida State Archives in Tallahassee, Florida. Likewise, thanks to the staff at the P. K. Younge Library of Florida History at the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida. Thanks to the many friendly documents librarians and staff at the Robert Manning Strozier Library at Florida State University who assisted me with research or helped to break the monotony by asking about my work. My thanks to the staff at the Department of History for the thousands of things they do behind the scenes to make the department operate. Special appreciation is due Debbie Perry and Chris Pignatello for their patient assistance throughout my graduate career. Thanks to the members of the Dissertators‘ Support Group for comradeship and a friendly push at the end. I must take this opportunity to express my profound and continuous gratitude to Kenneth P. Kato, MD, Francis C. Skilling, MD, and Mark B. Sherwood, MD, for years of the finest care. Thanks to Vu Trinh, a patient and selfless teacher and friend. Finally, I owe an incalculable debt to my family. Thank you to my mother and father, Alice L. and Roy B. Evans, for their love and sacrifices on my behalf. Thanks to my brother Phil for encouraging me over the years. To my beloved wife Loree who has stood by me through every challenge. To my wonderful daughter Katherine, who delights and inspires me. Thank you all, your generosity and love overshadow everything else. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ........................................................................................................... iv ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................................... vi INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................................................... 1 1. POLITICS IN THE SHADOW OF WAR: THE 1940 GUBERNATORIAL CAMPAIGN .... 12 2. FLORIDA ON THE EVE OF WAR ...................................................................................... 100 3. FLORIDA ADAPTS TO WAR .............................................................................................. 129 4. ―WE MEET AT THE TIME OF THE GRAVEST CRISIS IN OUR NATION‖: ................. 170 5. GOVERNOR HOLLAND AND THE 1943 LEGISLATURE .............................................. 170 6. STATE POLITICS IN AN ELECTION YEAR ..................................................................... 221 7. ―IGNORANCE AND BRUTALITY DIE HARD‖: RACIAL VIOLENCE AND THEHOLLAND ADMINISTRATION ...................................................................................... 264 CONCLUSION ........................................................................................................................... 303 BIBLIOGRAPHY ....................................................................................................................... 306 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH ...................................................................................................... 314 v ABSTRACT World War II represents a transition period in Florida‘s recent history. The southernmost state went from a sparsely settled frontier-like environment before the war to one of the nation‘s most populous and fastest growing areas soon after the war. Much of the historical literature focusing on this period described the impact of military and naval installations, as well as the shipbuilding industry, on the state‘s economy and population. Other works note the affect of the war on the citrus and tourism industry. Very little, however, has been written about how the war influenced politics in the Sunshine State during this pivotal period. Forces of geography, economics, and demography profoundly shaped Florida politics during the twentieth century. A relatively large, linear state, Florida featured an extraordinary range of differences between its northern regions bordering Alabama and Georgia to its southernmost keys less than one hundred miles from Cuba. In general, the panhandle featured staple crop agriculture, expansive rural areas, and traditional southern culture. The central and southern regions of the state, for the most part, produced a more varied array of farm products – winter vegetables and citrus, had a higher percentage of urban population, and contained the state‘s highest proportion of northern migrants and seasonal visitors. The state‘s four largest cities – Pensacola, Jacksonville, Tampa, and Miami – were separated by miles, economic interests, and culture. The diversity of qualities between the regions prompted pundits to refer to northern residents as ―Pork choppers‖ and inhabitants of the southern region as ―Lamb choppers.‖ These divergent qualities resulted in extreme factionalism in politics as each group sought representation and voice in state government. Rather than one or two powerful factions leading state politics like many of its regional neighbors, Florida had numerous blocs centered on local or economic interests competing for influence. Because of the atomization of politics, lawmaking in the state was dominated by local interests. This, in combination with a somewhat rudimentary biennial legislative system, yielded a somewhat directionless state government. As a result, policy decisions were too frequently made to resolve problems rather than to prevent them. The absence of a strong chief executive compounded this lack of direction in Florida government. Institutional characteristics made the office of governor inherently weak in Florida. vi The state‘s chief executive had to share authority with other cabinet officers on numerous boards and commissions. Additionally, a constitutional prohibition on gubernatorial self succession forced the governor to compete for influence with cabinet members who could repeat in office indefinitely. This resulted in a relatively weak chief executive with little influence except that generated by patronage and persuasion. Because of these limitations, gubernatorial power and programs had usually been eclipsed by other forces by the governor‘s second biennial legislative session. A number of factors, including political factionalism and a relatively weak chief executive, severely hampered the development of sound fiscal policy in the state. The state‘s philosophy of minimal taxation manifested itself in several ways – a constitutional prohibition on income taxation, an exemption on inheritance taxation, the repeal of the state ad valorem tax, and the underassessment of real property. Furthermore, the largest proportion of the state‘s tax revenues came from regressive consumption taxes on gasoline and alcohol. As a result, Florida‘s fiscal system was too often unable to fund needed services and occasionally ran a deficit. World War II brought further difficulties to bear on state government‘s ability to meet the demands of its citizens. Voluntary, and then mandatory, gasoline rationing severely restricted state revenues and threatened tourism, the state‘s most lucrative commercial enterprise. A brief campaign against Allied shipping off the Florida coasts by the German U-boat forces also undermined the tourism industry. Federal authorities eventually imposed a national ban on nonessential travel to conserve rubber and gasoline, thereby closing down the state‘s horse racing industry, the primary source of funds for old age pensions and a contributor to revenues shared by the state with the county governments. The war challenged state government leaders to respond and adapt. Florida reached