Carl Vinson (November 18, 1883 – June 1, 1981) was an American politician who served in the U.S. House of Representatives for over 50 years and was influential in the 20th century expansion of the U.S. Navy. He was a member of the Democratic Party and represented

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

in the House from 1914 to 1965. He was known as "The Father of the Two-Ocean Navy". He is the longest-serving member of the United States House of Representatives from the state of

. From 1961 to 1965, he served as the Dean of the US House of Representatives as the longest serving member of the body. , the third , is named after him.

Early years

Vinson was born in Baldwin County, Georgia, where he attended local schools and

Georgia Military College Georgia Military College (GMC) is a Public college, public military junior college in Milledgeville, Georgia. It is divided into the junior college, a military junior college program, high school, middle school, and elementary school. It was ori ...

. He graduated with a law degree from

Mercer University Mercer University is a Private university, private Research university, research university in Macon, Georgia, United States. Founded in 1833 as Mercer Institute and gaining university status in 1837, it is the oldest private university in the s ...

in 1902 and was a member of the Kappa Alpha Order. After some years of practice, he was elected to the Georgia House of Representatives in 1908. After losing a third term following redistricting, he was appointed as judge of the Baldwin County court. Following the sudden death of U.S. Senator Augustus Bacon, Representative Thomas W. Hardwick of Georgia's 10th congressional district was nominated to fill Bacon's Senate seat. Vinson announced his candidacy for Hardwick's seat in Congress and defeated three opponents. He was the youngest member of Congress (30 years old) when he was elected on November 3, 1914.

Service in Congress

Vinson served as a Representative from November 3, 1914, to January 3, 1965. He was repeatedly re-elected by Democratic voters for this seat. Vinson's first term in Congress was characterized by his support for segregation sponsoring bills to establish separate street cars and apartments for Blacks in the

District of Columbia Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and Federal district of the United States, federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from ...

, banning interracial marriage in the District, and repealing the Fifteenth Amendment. During his tenure in the U.S. House, Vinson was a champion for national defense and especially the U.S. Navy and the U.S. Marine Corps. He joined the House Naval Affairs Committee shortly after

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

and became the ranking Democratic member in the early 1920s. He was the only Democrat appointed to the Morrow Board, which reviewed the status of aviation in America in the mid-1920s. In 1931, Vinson became chairman of the House Naval Affairs Committee. In 1934, Vinson helped push the Vinson–Trammell Act, along with Democratic Senator Park Trammell of

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

. The bill authorized the replacement of obsolete vessels by new construction and a gradual increase of ships within the limits of the

Washington Naval Treaty The Washington Naval Treaty, also known as the Five-Power Treaty, was signed during 1922 among the major Allies of World War I, Allies of World War I, which agreed to prevent an arms race by limiting Navy, naval construction. It was negotiated at ...

of 1922 and

London Naval Treaty The London Naval Treaty, officially the Treaty for the Limitation and Reduction of Naval Armament, was an agreement between the United Kingdom, Empire of Japan, Japan, French Third Republic, France, Kingdom of Italy, Italy, and the United Stat ...

of 1930. Initial funding for the Vinson–Trammell Navy Act was provided by the Emergency Appropriations Act of 1934. This was necessary as during the previous administration, not a single major warship was laid down and the US Navy was both aging and losing ground to the Japanese Navy. Japan repudiated the naval treaties in late 1934. Vinson later was primarily responsible for additional naval expansion legislation, the Naval Act of 1938 ("Second Vinson Act") and the Third Vinson Act of 1940 (which was essentially a mere prelude to the Two-Oceans Act that followed a month later), as well as the

Two-Ocean Navy Act The Two-Ocean Navy Act, also known as the Vinson–Walsh Act, was a United States law enacted on July 19, 1940, and named for Carl Vinson and David I. Walsh, who chaired the Naval Affairs Committee in the House and Senate respectively. In what ...

of 1940. The ambitious program called for by this series of laws helped the U.S. Navy as the country entered

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, as new ships were able to match the latest ships from Japan. At the end of World War II, Congress had authorized four Naval four-star officers to be promoted to

Fleet Admiral An admiral of the fleet or shortened to fleet admiral is a senior naval flag officer rank, usually equivalent to field marshal and marshal of the air force. An admiral of the fleet is typically senior to an admiral. It is also a generic ter ...

. A staunch partisan of Admiral William Halsey, Jr., Vinson blocked the nomination of Admiral Raymond A. Spruance several times, although the majority thought him more deserving, to ensure that Halsey got the fourth billet. Congress eventually responded by passing an unprecedented act that specified that Spruance would remain on a full admiral's pay once retired until his death. Carl Vinson 1943 Portrait

Following World War II, the House Naval Affairs Committee was merged with the Military Affairs Committee to become the

House Armed Services Committee The U.S. House Committee on Armed Services, commonly known as the House Armed Services Committee or HASC, is a standing committee of the United States House of Representatives. It is responsible for funding and oversight of the Department of ...

(this consolidation mirrored the establishment of the Department of Defense when the old Departments of War and of the Navy were consolidated). When the Republicans won control of Congress in the 1946 election, Vinson served as ranking minority member of the committee for two years before becoming chairman in early 1949, when the Democrats were again in majority; a position held for four years until the Republicans briefly returned to the majority for a single congressional term after the 1952 elections. After the Democrats retook congress in the 1954 midterms, Vinson again became chairman, a position he held until his retirement in 1965. In this role, Vinson adopted a committee rule that came to be known as the "Vinson rule", which limited the number of questions a junior member of the committee could ask to one question per year of service on the committee. As chairman, Vinson oversaw the modernization of the military as its focus shifted to the

Cold War The Cold War was a period of global Geopolitics, geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 unt ...

. He was also committee chair when Congress authorized the procurement of the first nuclear-powered

aircraft carrier An aircraft carrier is a warship that serves as a seagoing airbase, equipped with a full-length flight deck and hangar facilities for supporting, arming, deploying and recovering carrier-based aircraft, shipborne aircraft. Typically it is the ...

s, starting with in the late 1950s. A staunch segregationist, Vinson voted against the 1964 Civil Rights Act and in 1956, signed "The Southern Manifesto". Other Southern politicians signed this in resistance to the ruling by the United States Supreme Court in ''

Brown v. Board of Education ''Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka'', 347 U.S. 483 (1954), was a landmark decision of the United States Supreme Court that ruled that U.S. state laws establishing racial segregation in public schools are unconstitutional, even if the ...

'' (1954) that segregated public education was unconstitutional, and that states needed to integrate their public schools. Vinson did not seek re-election in 1964 and retired from Congress in January 1965.

Personal life

Vinson married Mary Green of Ohio in 1921. She died in 1949 after a long illness. Vinson did not have children, but his great-nephew, Sam Nunn, served as a

Senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or Legislative chamber, chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the Ancient Rome, ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior ...

from Georgia for more than 24 years. Nunn followed in his great uncle's footsteps, serving on the

Senate Armed Services Committee The Committee on Armed Services, sometimes abbreviated SASC for Senate Armed Services Committee, is a committee of the United States Senate empowered with legislative oversight of the nation's military, including the Department of Defen ...

for nearly his entire tenure in the Senate. Sam Nunn's daughter, Michelle Nunn, ran unsuccessfully for one of Georgia's U.S. Senate seats in 2014. Vinson considered his longtime assistant Charles Tillman Snead, Jr. his surrogate son, and Snead's wife, Molly Staeman Snead, was Vinson's wife's nurse for 34 years. Snead's son and grandchildren maintained this familial bond to Vinson until his death in 1981.

Death

Vinson returned to Baldwin County, Georgia, where he lived in retirement until his death on June 1, 1981. He is buried in Memory Hill Cemetery in

Milledgeville, Georgia Milledgeville () is a city in and the county seat of Baldwin County, Georgia, Baldwin County, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, United States. Founded in 1803 along the Oconee River, it served as the List of current and former capital cities in the ...

. At the time of his death, Vinson was the last living member of the House of Representatives who was serving at the time of the United States' declaration of war against the German Empire, which precipitated the United States' entry into World War I.

Legacy

In recognition of his efforts on behalf of the U.S. Navy, a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier was named the , an honor rarely given to a person while living. On March 15, 1980, at age 96, he attended the ship's launching.

Vinson Massif Vinson Massif () is a large mountain massif in Antarctica that is long and wide and lies within the Sentinel Range of the Ellsworth Mountains. It overlooks the Ronne Ice Shelf near the base of the Antarctic Peninsula. The massif is located ab ...

, Antarctica's highest mountain, is also named after him, together with the related Mount Vinson and

Vinson Plateau Vinson Plateau is the summit plateau of Vinson Massif, Sentinel Range in Ellsworth Mountains, Antarctica. It extends for 9 km between Goodge Col and Hammer Col linking it to the north-central part of Sentinel Range to the north-northwest an ...

. Carl Vinson served 26 consecutive terms in the U.S. House, rarely running against significant opposition. He served for 50 years and one month, a record that stood until 1992, when the mark was surpassed by Jamie Whitten of

Mississippi Mississippi ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Alabama to the east, the Gulf of Mexico to the south, Louisiana to the s ...

. For his commitment, Vinson was awarded the prestigious Sylvanus Thayer Award by the

United States Military Academy The United States Military Academy (USMA), commonly known as West Point, is a United States service academies, United States service academy in West Point, New York that educates cadets for service as Officer_(armed_forces)#United_States, comm ...

. In 1964, President

Lyndon B. Johnson Lyndon Baines Johnson (; August 27, 1908January 22, 1973), also known as LBJ, was the 36th president of the United States, serving from 1963 to 1969. He became president after the assassination of John F. Kennedy, under whom he had served a ...

awarded Vinson the Presidential Medal of Freedom with Special Distinction, the highest award the President can give to a civilian. During his own tenure in the House, Johnson had served for years as a junior member of the House Naval Affairs Committee under Vinson. The Department of Veterans' Affairs Medical Center in Dublin, Georgia, serving veterans in Central and Southern Georgia, is named for Vinson. The

University of Georgia The University of Georgia (UGA or Georgia) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university with its main campus in Athens, Georgia, United States. Chartered in 1785, it is the oldest public university in th ...

hosts the Carl Vinson Institute of Government.

Athens, Georgia Athens is a consolidated city-county in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. Downtown Athens lies about northeast of downtown Atlanta. The University of Georgia, the state's flagship public university and an Research I university, ...

, is the site of Carl Vinson Park. Carl Vinson Parkway is located in

Warner Robins, Georgia Warner Robins (WRB; typically ) is a city in Houston County, Georgia, Houston and Peach County, Georgia, Peach Counties in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the state's Georgia (U.S. state)#Major cities, 11th-largest incorpo ...

formerly had a barracks named for him. It was razed in the mid-2000s. Vinson Hall Retirement Community in

McLean, Virginia McLean ( ) is an Unincorporated area#United States, unincorporated community and census-designated place in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States. The population of the community was 50,773 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is ...

, is named after Carl Vinson. US Federal Standard 595 names a color in his honor: reference 25630, "Carl Vinson Blue." The color can be approximated by hexadecimal color #B1C1C1

References

Bibliography

* *Gaughan, Anthony. "Woodrow Wilson and the Rise of Militant Interventionism in the South." The Journal of Southern History 65, no. 4 (1999): 771–808. https://doi.org/10.2307/2587587. *Reed, Ralph. "'Fighting the Devil with Fire': Carl Vinson's Victory over Tom Watson in the 1918 Tenth District Democratic Primary." The Georgia Historical Quarterly 67, no. 4 (1983): 451–79. http://www.jstor.org/stable/40581142. *Walter, John C. "Congressman Carl Vinson and Franklin D. Roosevelt: Naval Preparedness and the Coming of World War II, 1932-40." The Georgia Historical Quarterly 64, no. 3 (1980): 294–305. http://www.jstor.org/stable/40580647. *Ziemke, Caroline F. "Senator Richard B. Russell and the 'Lost Cause' in Vietnam, 1954–1968." The Georgia Historical Quarterly 72, no. 1 (1988): 30–71. http://www.jstor.org/stable/40581768.

External links

University of Georgia brief biography

University of Georgia Profile of Carl Vinson

Congressional Biography

United States Navy website: USS Carl Vinson

Vinson Institute Press, "Carl Vinson: A Legacy of Public Service", 2002
, - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Vinson, Carl 1883 births 1981 deaths American anti-communists Democratic Party members of the Georgia House of Representatives Georgia (U.S. state) state court judges Presidential Medal of Freedom recipients Mercer University alumni Burials at Memory Hill Cemetery Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Georgia (U.S. state) 20th-century Georgia (U.S. state) state court judges Deans of the United States House of Representatives Signatories of the Southern Manifesto Georgia Military College alumni 20th-century members of the United States House of Representatives 20th-century members of the Georgia General Assembly