Fuller Warren (October 3, 1905September 23, 1973) was an American attorney and politician who served as the 30th governor of Florida.

Early life and education

Born in

Blountstown, Florida Blountstown is a city and the county seat of Calhoun County, Florida, Calhoun County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 2,266. Name Blountstown is named for John Blount, a Creek Indian chief who served ...

, he attended the

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida, United States. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida and a preem ...

in Gainesville. While at the university he was one of the early members of Florida Blue Key, as well as the Tau chapter of

Theta Chi Theta Chi () is an international men's college fraternity. It was founded on April 10, 1856, at Norwich University then-located in Norwich, Vermont. It has initiated more than 215,000 members and has over 8,900 collegiate members across North A ...

fraternity. While still attending the university, he was elected in 1927 at the age of 21 to the

Florida House of Representatives The Florida House of Representatives is the lower house of the Florida Legislature, the State legislature (United States), state legislature of the U.S. state of Florida, the Florida Senate being the upper house. Article III, Section 1 of the C ...

Legal career and early politics

Following graduation, he moved to

Jacksonville Jacksonville ( ) is the most populous city proper in the U.S. state of Florida, located on the Atlantic coast of North Florida, northeastern Florida. It is the county seat of Duval County, Florida, Duval County, with which the City of Jacksonv ...

, where he began practicing law. He served on the

city council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, borough counc ...

from 1931 until 1937; he was elected and returned to the Florida House in 1939. During World War II, he was a gunnery officer in the U.S. Navy.

Term as governor

Warren was nominated for governor by the Democratic Party in

1948 Events January * January 1 ** The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) is inaugurated. ** The current Constitutions of Constitution of Italy, Italy and of Constitution of New Jersey, New Jersey (both later subject to amendment) ...

; his platform included promises to fight

racism Racism is the belief that groups of humans possess different behavioral traits corresponding to inherited attributes and can be divided based on the superiority of one Race (human categorization), race or ethnicity over another. It may also me ...

in Florida. In addition to having to deal with racial segregation, most blacks were still disenfranchised and cut out of the official political system. Warren won the election and assumed the office of governor on January 4, 1949. After his election, he spoke out against the

Ku Klux Klan The Ku Klux Klan (), commonly shortened to KKK or Klan, is an American Protestant-led Christian terrorism, Christian extremist, white supremacist, Right-wing terrorism, far-right hate group. It was founded in 1865 during Reconstruction era, ...

, stating after a rally in January 1949 that In March 1949, reports were published that Warren had been a member of the Klan. He issued a statement saying that he had been a member before World War II, but during it he had "helped to fight a war to destroy the Nazis — first cousins to Klansmen." During his term, Warren set the foundations for the state's turnpike system, began the Florida

reforestation Reforestation is the practice of restoring previously existing forests and woodlands that have been destroyed or damaged. The prior forest destruction might have happened through deforestation, clearcutting or wildfires. Three important purpose ...

program, instituted quality control programs on Florida's citrus crops, and signed a law that forbade cattle from wandering freely (as they damaged crops). In 1951 Warren signed an anti-Klan law which, although not mentioning the Klan specifically, forbade the wearing of masks in public or on the private property of another person without the written permission of the owner. The hearings of the United States Senate Special Committee to Investigate Crime in Interstate Commerce, chaired by Senator

Estes Kefauver Carey Estes Kefauver ( ; July 26, 1903 – August 10, 1963) was an American politician from Tennessee. A member of the Democratic Party, he served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1939 to 1949 and in the U.S. Senate from 1949 until h ...

, brought to light the involvement of Florida public officials in gambling-related corruption involving

numbers game The numbers game, also known as the numbers racket, the Italian lottery, Mafia lottery, or the daily number, is a form of illegal gambling or illegal lottery played mostly in poor and working-class neighborhoods in the United States, wherein a ...

s and

bolita Bolita ( Spanish for ''Little Ball'') is a type of lottery which was popular in the latter 19th and early 20th centuries in Cuba and among Florida's working class Hispanic, Italian, and black population. In the basic bolita game, 100 small numb ...

. There were accusations that Warren's 1948 campaign had been funded by organized criminals. Warren refused to cooperate with the committee, claiming that to do so would contradict the principle of

States' rights In United States, American politics of the United States, political discourse, states' rights are political powers held for the state governments of the United States, state governments rather than the federal government of the United States, ...

. In a letter to Senator

Herbert O'Conor Herbert Romulus O'Conor (November 17, 1896March 4, 1960) was an American lawyer serving as the 51st Governor of Maryland from 1939 to 1947. He also served in the United States Senate, representing Maryland from 1947 to 1953. He was a Democrat. ...

, in which Warren informed the committee that he would not appear before them, he stated: "I think state sovereignty as conceived by the founders of our Government is something more than a fading memory to rest in the nation's archives." In 1951, legislator George S Okell, in the

introduced a resolution to

impeach Impeachment is a process by which a legislative body or other legally constituted tribunal initiates charges against a public official for misconduct. It may be understood as a unique process involving both political and legal elements. In Euro ...

Warren for "wilfully ignoring" his duty to eliminate illegal gambling in Florida and for falsifying papers related to his 1948 campaign. The House voted on May 28, 1951, to reject the

articles of impeachment An article of impeachment is a documented statement which specifies the charges to be tried in an impeachment trial as a basis for removing an officeholder. Articles of impeachment are an aspect of impeachment processes of many governments that ut ...

Later years

Former governor Fuller Warren with a glass of orange juice at WITV station

After Warren left office on January 6, 1953, he moved to

Miami Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

, where he practiced law. Early in 1954, Warren joined WITV (channel 17), Miami's second television station and the city's first

UHF Ultra high frequency (UHF) is the ITU designation for radio frequencies in the range between 300 megahertz (MHz) and 3 gigahertz (GHz), also known as the decimetre band as the wavelengths range from one meter to one tenth of a meter ...

station, as a political analyst and news commentator. A review of his weekly program in the ''

Miami News ''The Miami News'' was an evening newspaper in Miami, Florida. It was the media market competitor to the morning edition of the ''Miami Herald'' for most of the 20th century. The paper started publishing in May 1896 as a weekly called ''The Miami ...

'' began with, "those melisonant 'sic''vibrations dripping from WITV's transmitter each Sunday should send fear into the hearts of every news commentator across the nations." He ran for governor again in 1956, promising "to maintain

segregation Segregation may refer to: Separation of people * Geographical segregation, rates of two or more populations which are not homogenous throughout a defined space * School segregation * Housing segregation * Racial segregation, separation of human ...

in Florida" but lost the election to opponent LeRoy Collins. Warren died in Miami in 1973.

Legacy and honors

*The Fuller Warren Bridge in

is named for him.

References

External links

Official Governor's portrait and biography from the State of Florida
* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Warren, Fuller American people of Norman descent Democratic Party governors of Florida Jacksonville, Florida, city council members University of Florida alumni United States Navy personnel of World War II 1905 births 1973 deaths People from Blountstown, Florida American Ku Klux Klan members United States Navy officers 20th-century Florida politicians Former Ku Klux Klan members