Fred R. Harris

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For other people named Fred Harris, see Fred Harris.

Fred R. Harris
Harris in 1971
32nd Chair of the Democratic National Committee
In office
January 14, 1969 – March 5, 1970
Preceded byLarry O'Brien
Succeeded byLarry O'Brien
United States Senator
from Oklahoma
In office
November 4, 1964 – January 3, 1973
Preceded byJ. Howard Edmondson
Succeeded byDewey F. Bartlett
Personal details
Born
Fred Roy Harris

(1930-11-13) November 13, 1930 (age 93)
Walters, Oklahoma, U.S.
Political partyDemocratic
Spouses
​
​
(m. 1949; div. 1982)​
Margaret Elliston
​
(m. 1982)​
Children3
EducationUniversity of Oklahoma (BA, LLB)

Fred Roy Harris (born November 13, 1930) is an American former politician who served as a U.S. senator from Oklahoma from 1964 to 1973.[1]

Born in Walters, Oklahoma, Harris was elected to the Oklahoma Senate after graduating from the University of Oklahoma College of Law. He ousted the appointed U.S. Senate incumbent J. Howard Edmondson and won a 1964 special election to succeed Robert S. Kerr, narrowly defeating football coach Bud Wilkinson. Harris strongly supported the Great Society programs but criticized President Lyndon B. Johnson's handling of the Vietnam War. He was reelected in 1966 and declined to seek another term in 1972.

From 1969 to 1970, Harris served as chairman of the Democratic National Committee. In the 1968 presidential election, Democratic nominee Hubert Humphrey strongly considered him as his running mate. Harris unsuccessfully sought the Democratic presidential nomination in 1972 and 1976. After 1976, he became a professor at the University of New Mexico.

Early life

Harris was born on November 13, 1930, in

Oklahoma State Senate in 1956 and served in it until 1964. For most of the time, he was one of its youngest members. He made an unsuccessful bid for governor of Oklahoma in 1962
, which made him better known throughout the state.

United States Senate

Harris in the Senate, 1968

In 1964, Harris ran to serve out the unexpired term of U.S. Senator

Lyndon Johnson. Harris defeated Wilkinson, 51% to 49%, becoming one of the youngest members of the U.S. Senate.[b]

Harris was a firm supporter of President

Lyndon Johnson's Great Society programs, which were often unpopular in Oklahoma. He voted for the Voting Rights Act of 1965,[3] while not voting on the Civil Rights Act of 1968 or the confirmation of Thurgood Marshall to the U.S. Supreme Court.[4][5] (Harris did indicate his support for the Act by voting for the important motion to end the filibuster conducted by its opponents.) In July 1967, Johnson appointed Harris to the National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders. He quickly became one of its most active members and was deeply concerned about economically deprived inner-city African Americans. He also strongly supported agricultural programs, the Arkansas River Navigation Program, and the Indian health programs, which were all very popular in Oklahoma.[2]

Despite being strongly liberal from an increasingly conservative state, he was elected to a full term in 1966, defeating attorney Pat J. Patterson, 54% to 46%. Patterson had tried to unseat Harris by announcing his support for a constitutional amendment proposed by Senator

Everett M. Dirksen to allow school boards to provide for prayers in public schools. Dirksen's amendment had enthusiastic political support in Oklahoma, but Harris opposed it in a public letter: "I believe in the separation of church and state and I believe prayer and Bible reading should be voluntary".[2]

During his Senate term, Harris also served briefly as chairman of the Democratic National Committee, preceded and succeeded in that position by Larry O'Brien. Harris was one of the final two candidates considered by Vice President and presidential nominee Hubert Humphrey to be the Democratic Party's nominee for Vice President of the United States in 1968; Humphrey chose Senator Edmund Muskie of Maine because of Harris's young age of 37.[6] According to O'Brien, Humphrey vacillated between the two until finally choosing Muskie at the last minute. Harris broke with Johnson and Humphrey over the Vietnam War.[2]

In 1970, Harris was a major player in the successful legislation to restore to the inhabitants of the

Clinton Presba Anderson and Henry M. Jackson, who firmly opposed returning the land. As recounted by Harris's wife, LaDonna, who was actively involved in the struggle, when the bill finally passed and came up to be signed by the president, Nixon looked up and said, "I can't believe I'm signing a bill that was sponsored by Fred Harris."[8]

In 1971, Harris was the only senator to vote against confirmation of

associate justice of the United States Supreme Court.[9] He opposed Powell because he considered him elitist and to have a weak record on civil rights.[10]

Harris also called for the abolition of the Interstate Commerce Commission.[11]

Later life

LBJ Presidential Library
in 2018.

Harris did not seek another Senate term in 1972, instead

La Donna Harris, a Comanche who was deeply involved in Native American activism. Moreover, he was from a state that had begun its political existence as Indian Territory.[citation needed
]

After a surprising fourth-place finish in the

1976 Iowa caucuses, Harris coined the term "winnowed in" by saying, "The winnowing-out process has begun and we have just been 'winnowed in'." He won more than 10% of the vote, pushing Mo Udall, who at one point led the polls, into fifth place. Harris was "winnowed out" just over a month later. He finished fourth in the New Hampshire primary and, a week later, third in Vermont and fifth in Massachusetts. Harris remained in the contest for another month, with his best showing a fourth-place finish in Illinois, with 8%.[14][15][16][17]

Harris left elective politics for academia after 1976. He became a professor of

ISBN 0-19-508025-4). In 2003, Harris was elected to the Common Cause National Governing Board. He is also the author of three novels. He resides in Corrales, New Mexico.[2]

Notes

  1. ^ The Law Review issue of August 1956, contained his first published article.[2]
  2. ^ According to the Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture, Harris, then only 33 years old, was the youngest senator-elect in Oklahoma history.[2]

References

  1. ^ Fred R. Harris, Does People Do It?: A Memoir
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Lowitt, Robert. "Harris, Fred Roy." Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture. Accessed October 27, 2016.
  3. ^ "TO PASS S. 1564, THE VOTING RIGHTS ACT OF 1965".
  4. ^ "CONFIRMATION OF NOMINATION OF THURGOOD MARSHALL, THE FIRST NEGRO APPOINTED TO THE SUPREME COURT". GovTrack.us.
  5. ^ "TO PASS H.R. 2516, A BILL TO PROHIBIT DISCRIMINATION IN SALE OR RENTAL OF HOUSING, AND TO PROHIBIT RACIALLY MOTIVATED INTERFERENCE WITH A PERSON EXERCISING HIS CIVIL RIGHTS, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES".
  6. ^ Theodore H. White, The Making of the President 1968, New York: Atheneum Publishers, 1969, p.355-356
  7. ^ Julyan, B: New Mexico's Wilderness Areas: The Complete Guide, page 73. Big Earth Publishing, 1999
  8. ISBN 0-8032-2396-X
    , p. 90.
  9. ^ "Our Campaigns - Supreme Court - Associate Justice Race". ourcampaigns.com. Retrieved April 30, 2016.
  10. ^ Graham, Fred (December 7, 1971). "Senate confirms Powell by 89 to 1 for Black's seat". New York Times. p. 1. Retrieved February 15, 2022.
  11. ^ Walker, Jesse (November 1, 2009). "Five Faces of Jerry Brown". The American Conservative (November 2009). Retrieved July 22, 2019.
  12. ^ "Economic Democracy - Economic Populism" by Trenz Pruca, on The Daily Kos, August 21, 2011
  13. ^ "Economic Democracy - What Needs Doing" in Trenz Pruca's Journal, Comments and Analysis on Current Events. August 8, 2011
  14. ^ Jules Witcover, No Way to Pick a President: How Money and Hired Guns Have Debased American Elections, 2001, p. 166
  15. ^ George C. Edwards, John Howard Kessel, Bert A. Rockman, Researching the presidency: vital questions, new approaches. 1993, p. 60
  16. ^ "WINNOWED IN!... BUT FOR JUST HOW LONG? ... Looking forward to the second month of Primary/Caucus season 2004". thegreenpapers.com. Retrieved April 30, 2016.
  17. ^ "SERIOUS WINNOWING ... both on and after 'Super Duper' Tuesday". thegreenpapers.com. Retrieved April 30, 2016.

External links

Party political offices
Preceded by
Class 2)
1964, 1966
 Succeeded by
Preceded by Chair of the Democratic National Committee
1969–1970 		Succeeded by
U.S. Senate
Preceded by U.S. Senator (Class 2) from Oklahoma
1964–1973
Served alongside: Mike Monroney, Henry Bellmon 		Succeeded by
Honorary titles
Preceded by Most senior living U.S. senator
(Sitting or former)
March 14, 2019 – present 		Current holder
U.S. order of precedence (ceremonial)
Preceded byas Former US Senator Order of precedence of the United States Succeeded byas Former US Senator
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