Josiah Bailey

Josiah Bailey
Josiah Bailey
United States Senator; from North Carolina
	In office; March 4, 1931 – December 15, 1946
Preceded by	F.M. Simmons
Succeeded by	William B. Umstead
Personal details
Born	Josiah William Bailey; September 14, 1873; Warrenton, North Carolina, U.S.
Died	December 15, 1946 (aged 73); Raleigh, North Carolina, U.S.
Political party	Democratic
Alma mater	Wake Forest College

Josiah William Bailey (September 14, 1873 – December 15, 1946) was an American politician who served as a U.S. senator from the state of North Carolina from 1931 to 1946. Bailey moved back and forth. He was a leading reformer in the 1910s, promoting education and Wilsonian programs. As Senator he supported the early New Deal but by 1938 was a leader of the anti-New Deal faction of Southern Democrats. When war loomed in 1939, he moved to support Roosevelt's interventionist foreign policy. Likewise he supported Roosevelt's wartime domestic program, while opposing labor unions.^[1]

Early life and education

Born in Warrenton, North Carolina, he grew up in Raleigh and graduated from Wake Forest College (now Wake Forest University).

Career

Before turning to a career in law, Bailey was editor of the Biblical Recorder, a newspaper for North Carolina Baptists. He was a presidential elector in 1908.^[2]

Elected to the United States Senate in 1930, defeating longtime incumbent Furnifold McLendel Simmons, Bailey earned a reputation as a conservative while in office. In 1937, he coauthored the bipartisan Conservative Manifesto, a document criticizing President Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal and proposing more conservative alternatives. Among other things, the Manifesto called for lower taxes and less spending.^[3]

That same year, Bailey gave a rousing floor speech against President Roosevelt's court-packing bill, which convinced at least three freshman Republicans, thought by Senate Majority Leader Joseph T. Robinson to be definite supporters, to oppose the measure.^[4]

A segregationist and white supremacist, Bailey filibustered anti-lynching legislation in 1938.^[5]

During his time in office, he served as chairman of the Committee on Claims and Committee on Commerce.

Death

Bailey died in office in 1946.

References

^ John Robert Moore, Senator Josiah William Bailey of North Carolina: A Political Biography (Duke UP, 1968).
^ The National Cyclopædia of American Biography. Vol. D. New York, N.Y.: James T. White & Company. 1934. p. 440 – via HathiTrust.
^ Kickler, Troy L. The Conservative Manifesto Archived 2016-03-03 at the Wayback Machine. The North Carolina History Project.
^ Caro, Robert. Master of the Senate. p. 62.
^ Beauchamp, Zack (October 9, 2013). How Racism Caused The Shutdown. ThinkProgress. Retrieved September 4, 2021.

Sources

Finley, Keith M. Delaying the Dream: Southern Senators and the Fight Against Civil Rights, 1938–1965 (Baton Rouge, LSU Press, 2008).

External links

United States Congress. "Josiah Bailey (id: B000046)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
The "Conservative Manifesto" from the North Carolina History Project Archived 2016-03-03 at the Wayback Machine
Biblical Recorder Column on Bailey at the Wayback Machine (archived September 28, 2007)
"Taking on FDR: Senator Josiah Bailey and the 1937 Conservative Manifesto" by Troy Kickler, December 13, 2006
Raleigh News & Observer Column on Bailey's Friendship with Huey Long ^{[dead link]}
Josiah William Bailey at Find-A-Grave
Josiah Bailey papers. 1773–1867. 2" linear. At the University of Washington Libraries, Special Collections.

Party political offices

Preceded by

Furnifold McLendel Simmons

Democratic nominee for U.S. Senator from North Carolina
(Class 2)
1930, 1936, 1942

Succeeded by

J. Melville Broughton

U.S. Senate