George Huddleston (November 11, 1869 – February 29, 1960) was a

U.S. Representative The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Article One of th ...

from

Alabama Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gu ...

, father of George Huddleston, Jr.

Life and career

Huddleston was born on a farm near

Lebanon, Tennessee Lebanon ( ) is the county seat of Wilson County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 38,431 at the 2020 census. Lebanon is located in Middle Tennessee, approximately east of downtown Nashville. Lebanon is part of the Nashville Metro ...

, the son of Nancy Emeline (Sherrill) and Joseph Franklin Huddleston. Huddleston attended the common schools. He studied law at

Cumberland School of Law The Cumberland School of Law is an American Bar Association, ABA-accredited law school at Samford University in Homewood, Alabama, United States. It was founded in 1847 at Cumberland University in Lebanon, Tennessee and is the 11th oldest law sch ...

Cumberland University Cumberland University is a private university in Lebanon, Tennessee, United States. It was founded in 1842. The oldest campus buildings were constructed between 1892 and 1896. History 1842–1861 The university was founded by the Cumberl ...

. He was

admitted to the bar An admission to practice law is acquired when a lawyer receives a license to practice law. In jurisdictions with two types of lawyer, as with barristers and solicitors, barristers must gain admission to the bar whereas for solicitors there are dist ...

in 1891 and practiced in

Birmingham, Alabama Birmingham ( ) is a city in the north central region of Alabama, United States. It is the county seat of Jefferson County, Alabama, Jefferson County. The population was 200,733 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List ...

, until 1911, when he retired from practice. During the

Spanish–American War The Spanish–American War (April 21 – August 13, 1898) was fought between Restoration (Spain), Spain and the United States in 1898. It began with the sinking of the USS Maine (1889), USS ''Maine'' in Havana Harbor in Cuba, and resulted in the ...

, Huddleston served as a private in the First Regiment, Alabama Volunteer Infantry. Huddleston was elected as a

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (Cyprus) (DCY) **Democratic Part ...

to the Sixty-Fourth and to the ten succeeding Congresses (March 4, 1915 - January 3, 1937), representing Alabama's 9th congressional district. He generally championed progressive laws and measures. In March 1932, Huddleston addressed a committee of the

United States Senate The United States Senate is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the United States House of Representatives, U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and ...

on the subject of the condition of

sharecropper Sharecropping is a legal arrangement in which a landowner allows a tenant (sharecropper) to use the land in return for a share of the crops produced on that land. Sharecropping is not to be conflated with tenant farming, providing the tenant a ...

s, stating "Any thought that there has been no starvation, that no man has starved and no man will starve, is the rankest nonsense. Men are actually starving in their thousands today..." However, in spite of his opposition to 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, ...

and race-based violence, he did not support the

Dyer Anti-Lynching Bill The Dyer Anti-Lynching Bill (1918) was first introduced in the 65th United States Congress by Representative Leonidas C. Dyer, a Republican Party (United States), Republican from St. Louis, Missouri, in the United States House of Representatives ...

, fearing for how his majority-white constituency would view him if he voted for it. Huddleston was an unsuccessful candidate for renomination in 1936, as he lost support among his constituents for opposing bills regarding public services and energy legislation. As early as

Wendell Willkie Wendell Lewis Willkie (born Lewis Wendell Willkie; February 18, 1892 – October 8, 1944) was an American lawyer, corporate executive and the 1940 History of the Republican Party (United States), Republican nominee for president. Willkie appeale ...

in 1940, Huddleston began supporting Republican nominees for President, although he did support

Strom Thurmond James Strom Thurmond Sr. (December 5, 1902 – June 26, 2003) was an American politician who represented South Carolina in the United States Senate from 1954 to 2003. Before his 49 years as a senator, he served as the 103rd governor of South ...

in 1948 when he ran under the “Democratic” label in Alabama. Huddleston died in Birmingham on February 29, 1960, and was interred in Elmwood Cemetery. He is the father of Nancy Packer (author), Jane Aaron, Mary Chiles, George Huddleston, and John Huddleston. He is a grandfather of the writers

George Packer George Packer (born August 13, 1960) is an American journalist, novelist, and playwright. He is best known for his writings about U.S. foreign policy for ''The New Yorker'' and ''The Atlantic'' and for his book '' The Assassins' Gate: America in ...

and

Ann Packer Ann Elizabeth Packer MBE (born 8 March 1942) is an English former sprinter, hurdler and long jumper. She won a gold medal in the 800 metres and a silver in the 400 metres at the 1964 Summer Olympics. Biography In 1959 Packer won the E ...

, the children of his daughter Nancy.

Quotes

* ''"In a time like this...it takes a lion-hearted courage for a man to stand up on his feet and dare to speak for peace."'' (Spoken during attempts to throw people in jail for speaking for

non-intervention Non-interventionism or non-intervention is commonly understood as "a foreign policy of political or military non-involvement in foreign relations or in other countries' internal affairs". This is based on the grounds that a state should not inter ...

during

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 ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Huddleston, George 1869 births 1960 deaths Politicians from Birmingham, Alabama People from Lebanon, Tennessee Military personnel from Alabama Cumberland School of Law alumni Alabama lawyers United States Army soldiers Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Alabama Burials at Elmwood Cemetery (Birmingham, Alabama) 20th-century members of the United States House of Representatives

Life and career

Quotes

References

Further reading

External links