William W. Brandon
William Woodward Brandon | |
---|---|
Governor of Alabama | |
In office January 15, 1923 – January 17, 1927 | |
Lieutenant | Charles S. McDowell |
Preceded by | Thomas Kilby |
Succeeded by | Bibb Graves |
Personal details | |
Born | Talladega, Alabama | June 5, 1868
Died | December 7, 1934 Tuscaloosa, Alabama | (aged 66)
Resting place | Tuscaloosa Memorial Park |
Political party | Democratic |
Spouse | Elizabeth "Lizzie" Andrews Nabors |
Occupation | Lawyer |
Military service | |
Branch/service | United States Army |
Battles/wars | Spanish–American War |
William Woodward Brandon (June 5, 1868 – December 7, 1934) was an American
Biography
Born June 5, 1868, in
As a member of the Warrior National Guard from 1886, Brandon eventually led the unit as a major of the U.S. Army in the Spanish–American War. Appointed Adjutant General of the Alabama National Guard in 1899 by Governor William J. Samford, he was later reappointed by Governor William D. Jelks.
Brandon was a member of the Alabama House of Representatives from 1896 to 1901. In 1906 he was elected State Auditor of Alabama. From 1911 until 1923, he was a probate judge in Tuscaloosa County.
Judge Brandon was a candidate for governor twice, losing in 1918 to
Brandon was a much less activist governor than the energetic Kilby (he did little for education). Still, he continued Kilby's ambitious road construction and improvement program of Mobile's dock facilities, funding the latter with a $10 million bond issue. He also strengthened child labor laws and created the Alabama Forestry Commission. Brandon left the state for 21 days in 1924; under the 1901 state constitution, the lieutenant governor becomes acting governor if a governor is out of the state for more than 20 days. Thus, Charles McDowell became Governor of Alabama on July 10 and 11, 1924.
Known as "Plain Bill," Brandon led the Alabama delegation to the 1924 Democratic National Convention, the first such convention to be broadcast via radio. The convention was marked by a deadlock between the supporters of the Irish Catholic New York Governor Al Smith and former Secretary of the Treasury William Gibbs McAdoo (the son-in-law of former President Woodrow Wilson) whose candidacy was backed by the anti-Catholic Ku Klux Klan. Neither candidate was able to get the required two-thirds of the delegates as critical delegations, including Alabama's, clung to their "favorite son" candidates. In Alabama's case, the favorite son was Senator Oscar Underwood.
The Convention became the longest continually running convention in history, as 103 ballots were taken before a compromise candidate, John W. Davis, was nominated. As the first state alphabetically, Alabama led every ballot, and Brandon, reporting the state's unanimous vote tally ballot after ballot, became the symbol of the convention's deadlock. For a time, his booming southern drawl heard on the radio, repeatedly declaring, "Alabama casts twenty-four votes for Oscar W. Underwood," became one of the most recognizable voices in the country.
After leaving the governorship in 1927, Brandon was appointed to his former office of Probate Judge of Tuscaloosa County by his onetime political opponent Governor Graves. Brandon married Elizabeth Andrews Nabors, a widow with two daughters, on June 27, 1900. He died in Tuscaloosa aged 66 on December 7, 1934, and is interred at Tuscaloosa Memorial Park.[4]
References
- ^ Dubose, Joel Campbell (1904). "Notable Men of Alabama: Personal and Genealogical".
- ^ Platform of Gen. W.W. Brandon, Candidate for Governor by William Woodward Brandon · 1922
- ^ Notable Men of Alabama: Personal and Genealogical, Volume 1 edited by Joel Campbell DuBose pg. 266
- ^ "William W. Brandon (1923-27)". Encyclopedia of Alabama. Archived from the original on December 15, 2013. Retrieved December 14, 2013.
External links
- Biography from the Alabama Department of Archives and History Archived March 4, 2016, at the Wayback Machine