By Ray Hill For so many of us, members of Congress from other states are of little interest, yet so many of those faceless individuals have compelling stories and remain in the House of Representatives for decades, accruing seniority and power. Robert Crosser served in Congress for thirty-eight years and it would likely have been […]
By Ray Hill There were several Congressional districts across the country largely populated by immigrants. There were districts in New York City with a heavy Italian population, while similar districts in Illinois and Michigan were inhabited by Polish citizens. Across the Midwest there were states where German-Americans were an important constituency. Most of the Congressional […]
By Ray Hill In February of 1945, a war weary and sick Franklin D. Roosevelt was on his way to Crimea in the Soviet Union. Technically in the Ukraine, the Crimea is on a peninsula on the northern coast of the Black Sea and was once the playground of the Russian Czars and other royalty […]
By Ray Hill The son of Polish immigrants, Sol Bloom was at various times a theatre impresario, real estate magnate, composer and long-time congressman. Bloom was deeply interested in foreign affairs in the House of Representatives and finally achieved his ambition of becoming Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee where he was profoundly concerned […]
By Ray Hill President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, coming off his greatest reelection campaign, had announced he was submitting legislation to Congress to expand the United State Supreme Court. Roosevelt’s proposal was widely and bitterly attacked in much of the press and despite huge Democratic majorities in both Houses of Congress, many Democrats were openly opposed […]
By Ray Hill February 5, 1937 was a Friday and President Franklin D. Roosevelt publicly announced his intention to ask Congress to enlarge the United States Supreme Court. Roosevelt was fresh from a smashing reelection campaign in 1936, which saw the president carry every state in the union, save for Maine and Vermont. The Democratic […]
By Ray Hill With just weeks away from Election Day, the three candidates competing for the Democratic nomination for the U. S. Senate, incumbent John Knight Shields, General Lawrence D. Tyson, and Nathan L. Bachman, picked up the pace of their respective campaigns. Shields had delayed officially opening his campaign until July 16, speaking in […]
By Ray Hill The race for the Democratic nomination for the United States Senate in Tennessee in 1924 came down to three men: the incumbent senator, John Knight Shields, General Lawrence D. Tyson and former state Supreme Court justice Nathan L. Bachman. All three were from East Tennessee; Shields lived on his estate “Clinchdale” in […]
By Ray Hill By the last week of June, it was obvious to virtually everyone Senator John Knight Shields was in deep political trouble. Shields had been the last man elected by the Tennessee General Assembly to serve in the United States Senate after having served for a decade on the state Supreme Court. Shields […]
By Ray Hill General Lawrence D. Tyson of Knoxville had officially kicked off his campaign for the Democratic nomination for the United States Senate in Trenton, Tennessee. The General spoke before a crowd estimated at 5,000 persons. Tyson flayed the incumbent, Senator John Knight Shields, as well as criticizing the record of the third candidate […]
The opinions expressed by Focus columnists and those providing comments are theirs alone, and may not reflect the opinions of The Knoxville Focus or any employee thereof.