Doyle Elam Carlton, Sr. (July 6, 1885 – October 25, 1972) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 25th
Governor
A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...
of the
state
State may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Literature
* ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State
* ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States
* ''Our S ...
of
Florida
Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...
from 1929 to 1933.
Early life
Doyle Elam Carlton, the son of Albert and Martha Winfield McEwen Carlton, was born in
Wauchula, Florida
Wauchula is a city in south-central Florida in Hardee County, Florida, United States. As of the 2010 census it had a population of 5,001, up from 4,368 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Hardee County.
Wauchula has been called the "cucu ...
on July 6, 1885. He was born eighth out of ten children. He received his primary education in Wauchula and, as there was then no local high school, attended Stetson Academy where he served as an editor for the school newspaper and officer of the Phi Kappa Delta Society (later to become
Delta Sigma Phi
Delta Sigma Phi (), commonly known as Delta Sig or D Sig, is a fraternity established in 1899 at The City College of New York (CCNY). It was the first fraternity to be founded on the basis of religious and ethnic acceptance. It is also one of th ...
). He subsequently graduated from the Liberal Arts College of Stetson University with an A.B. in 1909. Doyle then attended
The University of Chicago
The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chicago is consistently ranked among the be ...
where he received an A.B. in 1910. He earned his L.L.B. in 1912 from
Columbia University
Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...
. In 1912, he was admitted to the practice of law in Florida and practiced law in Tampa beginning in that year. On July 30, 1912, in Tampa, Doyle married Nell Ray, daughter of Edward Dennis and Mary Ellen Smith Ray.
Early political career
His political career began in 1916 when he was elected to the Florida state senate for a two-year term as the State Senator from the 11th District, composed of Hillsborough and Pinellas counties.
After serving in the State Senate, Carlton would serve as Tampa's city attorney from 1925 to 1927.
William J. Howey would claim during his gubernatorial campaign run in 1928 that Carlton would get large fees from selling municipal bonds when he was attorney and dodged serving in
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
.
1928 Gubernatorial election
In the Democratic primary on June 5, 1928 he received 77,569 first choice and 28,471 second choice votes to win in a field of five candidates, who included former Governor Sidney J. Catts. In November 1928, Doyle defeated his Republican opponent,
William John Howey
William John Howey (January 19, 1876 – June 7, 1938) was an American real-estate developer, citrus grower and Republican politician from Florida. He founded and served as mayor for the town of Howey-in-the-Hills, Florida. He developed and ...
, by a margin of 148,455 votes to 95,018 votes. He assumed the office of governor on January 8, 1929. During Carlton's campaign he ran on the platform of "good government, good schools, and good roads".
Governorship
During his term, he faced several financial problems caused by the
Great Depression which begun under his term. He had to reduce payrolls and cut many state jobs in an attempt to reduce the state's budget.
Carlton would also support more banking regulations.
He would even personally reduce his own salary as governor from $9,000 to $7,500.
[Dunn, Hampton (1987) "The Day the Gamblers Tried to Bribe the Governor of Florida," Sunland Tribune: Vol. 13 , Article 13.]
During his tenure as governor the state would face several other issues such as: the collapse of the state's land boom, a violent
hurricane
A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system characterized by a low-pressure center, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depend ...
hit the state and a Mediterranean
Tephritidae
The Tephritidae are one of two fly families referred to as fruit flies, the other family being the Drosophilidae. The family Tephritidae does not include the biological model organisms of the genus ''Drosophila'' (in the family Drosophilidae), ...
infestation. He left office on January 3, 1933, returning to
Tampa, Florida
Tampa () is a city on the Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The city's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and ...
.
Although Carlton was against inheritance and income taxes along with legalizing
parimutuel betting
Parimutuel betting or pool betting is a betting system in which all bets of a particular type are placed together in a pool; taxes and the "house-take" or "vigorish" are deducted, and payoff odds are calculated by sharing the pool among all winnin ...
,
a three cent
gas tax
A fuel tax (also known as a petrol, gasoline or gas tax, or as a fuel duty) is an excise tax imposed on the sale of fuel. In most countries the fuel tax is imposed on fuels which are intended for transportation. Fuels used to power agricultural v ...
would be created during his term in order to help with the construction of highways. A tax commission and purchasing agency would be established in order to combat overspending in the state government.
In 1931, a bill legalizing pari-mutuel betting would be passed despite Carlton's veto.
Despite this, the legislature would nullify it by a margin of one state senator's vote as many members of the state legislature were desperate for more income for the state.
Post-gubernatorial political career and life
In 1936, Governor Carlton ran for the Democratic nomination for
U.S. Senator. Although he was endorsed by the Democratic executive committee and most state newspapers,
Charles O. Andrews lined up a powerful bloc of forces opposed to Carlton, and by a margin of 67,387 votes to 62,530 votes defeated Governor Carlton in the primary of August 11, 1936.
President Eisenhower would appoint Carlton as a member of the
Commission on Civil Rights in December 1957 staying there until 1961.
After leaving the Commission on Civil Rights, he would serve as a member of the National Agricultural Advisory Commission starting in 1961 and leaving the advisory commission in 1963.
Personal life
On July 30, 1912, Carlton married Nell Ray in Tampa. He died in Tampa in 1972 and was buried at Myrtle Hill Memorial Park in Tampa. They had three children, Martha Katharine Carlton Ward, Mary Ellen Carlton Ott, and Doyle Elam Carlton, Jr., all of whom are deceased. The latter served as a state senator and ran for Governor of Florida in 1960, but was defeated in the Democratic primary run-off election by
C. Farris Bryant
Cecil Farris Bryant (July 26, 1914 – March 1, 2002) was an American politician serving as the 34th Governor of Florida. He also served on the United States National Security Council as director of the Office of Emergency Planning during t ...
.
References
External links
Official Governor's portrait and biography from the State of Florida*http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~crackerbarrel/Carl6.html Rootwebs
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Carlton, Doyle E.
Democratic Party governors of Florida
1885 births
1972 deaths
Politicians from Tampa, Florida
People from Wauchula, Florida
Columbia Law School alumni
Stetson University alumni
20th-century American politicians