James Browning Allen (December 28, 1912June 1, 1978) was an American Democratic politician serving as

U.S. senator The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and powe ...

representing

Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = "Alabama (state song), Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery, Alabama, Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville, Alabama, Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County, Al ...

. Allen previously served as the Lieutenant Governor of Alabama and also served in the Alabama Senate and the Alabama House of Representatives. Allen was succeeded in the US Senate by his wife,

Maryon Pittman Allen Maryon Allen (née Pittman; November 30, 1925 – July 23, 2018) was an American journalist who served as United States Senator from Alabama for five months in 1978, after her husband, Senator James B. Allen, died in office. She held no public of ...

Life and career

The Gadsden native attended the

University of Alabama The University of Alabama (informally known as Alabama, UA, or Bama) is a Public university, public research university in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Established in 1820 and opened to students in 1831, the University of Alabama is the oldest and la ...

and the

University of Alabama School of Law The University of Alabama School of Law, (formerly known as the Hugh F. Culverhouse Jr. School of Law at The University of Alabama) located in Tuscaloosa, Alabama is a nationally ranked top-tier law school and the only public law school in the sta ...

, both located in

Tuscaloosa Tuscaloosa ( ) is a city in and the seat of Tuscaloosa County in west-central Alabama, United States, on the Black Warrior River where the Gulf Coastal and Piedmont plains meet. Alabama's fifth-largest city, it had an estimated population of 1 ...

. At the University of Alabama he was a member of

Alpha Sigma Phi Alpha Sigma Phi (), commonly known as Alpha Sig, is an intercollegiate men's social fraternity with 181 active chapters and provisional chapters. Founded at Yale in 1845, it is the 10th oldest Greek letter fraternity in the United States. The f ...

. He practiced law in Gadsden from 1935 to 1968 and was a member of the

Alabama House of Representatives The Alabama State House of Representatives is the lower house of the Alabama Legislature, the state legislature of state of Alabama. The House is composed of 105 members representing an equal number of districts, with each constituency contai ...

from 1938 to 1942. He resigned from the state legislature to enter active duty in the

United States Naval Reserve The United States Navy Reserve (USNR), known as the United States Naval Reserve from 1915 to 2005, is the Reserve Component (RC) of the United States Navy. Members of the Navy Reserve, called Reservists, are categorized as being in either the Sele ...

from 1943 to 1946. He again ran for office after

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

and was a member of the

Alabama Senate The Alabama State Senate is the upper house of the Alabama Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Alabama. The body is composed of 35 members representing an equal number of districts across the state, with each district conta ...

from 1946 to 1950. He was the 17th and 20th Lieutenant Governor of Alabama from 1951 to 1955 and again from 1963 to 1967. In 1968, James Allen was elected to succeed the retiring Democratic U.S. Senator J. Lister Hill of Montgomery. Allen won 638,774 (76 percent) to 201,227 (24 percent) for his

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

opponent, Perry O. Hooper, Sr. Allen was known as one of the most

conservative Democrat In American politics, a conservative Democrat is a member of the Democratic Party with conservative political views, or with views that are conservative compared to the positions taken by other members of the Democratic Party. Traditionally, co ...

s in the chamber. He was considerably more conservative even than many Republicans of the time. He was an active opponent of the

Panama Canal Treaty Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Cost ...

of 1978. James Allen received one vote for the Republican vice-presidential nomination at the

1976 Republican National Convention The 1976 Republican National Convention was a United States political convention of the Republican Party that met from August 16 to August 19, 1976, to select the party's nominee for President. Held in Kemper Arena in Kansas City, Missouri, the ...

. In March 1974, Allen stated that

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 ...

George Wallace George Corley Wallace Jr. (August 25, 1919 – September 13, 1998) was an American politician who served as the 45th governor of Alabama for four terms. A member of the Democratic Party, he is best remembered for his staunch segregationist and ...

would run in the 1976 Democratic primary and that he believed the Wallace campaign would seek to prevent a repeat of the previous election cycle where the popular vote was not translated into his support from delegates. Like his Republican Senate colleague,

Jesse Helms Jesse Alexander Helms Jr. (October 18, 1921 – July 4, 2008) was an American politician. A leader in the conservative movement, he served as a senator from North Carolina from 1973 to 2003. As chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee ...

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...

, Allen was a master of

parliamentary procedure Parliamentary procedure is the accepted rules, ethics, and customs governing meetings of an assembly or organization. Its object is to allow orderly deliberation upon questions of interest to the organization and thus to arrive at the sense or t ...

. He was considered to have revived the

filibuster A filibuster is a political procedure in which one or more members of a legislative body prolong debate on proposed legislation so as to delay or entirely prevent decision. It is sometimes referred to as "talking a bill to death" or "talking out ...

rule during his nearly ten years as a senator. Following the 1974 midterm elections, Allen pledged to use filibusters against liberal officeholders in favor of large spending in the upcoming

94th United States Congress The 94th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, DC from January 3, 1975, ...

, reasoning that some of the newly elected Democrats could favor larger spending than the members they had replaced: "I don't feel the voters have given any mandate toward increased expenditures. The people's wishes as indicated by the vote are for us to curtail unnecessary programs and cut Federal spending." It was thought at this time that James Allen "could emerge as a leader of the Senate's conservative bloc with the retirement of Senator Sam J. Ervin, Democrat of

, and the aging of other conservatives". In December 1974, James Allen led a group of senators in an anti-busing filibuster against the removal of an amendment previously passed in the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...

designed to curb Government enforcement of desegregation orders. The filibuster ended with a two–thirds majority voting 56 to 27 to end debate on language revising the amendment, marking only the 19th time a filibuster was ended in such a manner in Senate history. James Allen stated that the closure move would result in a legislative delay,

Hugh Scott Hugh Doggett Scott Jr. (November 11, 1900 – July 21, 1994) was an American politician. A member of the Republican Party, he represented Pennsylvania in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1947 to 1959 and in the U.S. Senate, from 195 ...

replying, "The supplemental is being delayed by the opposition of the Senator from Alabama to the Scott-Mansfield amendment." James Allen served in the Senate until his death of a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which may tr ...

on June 1, 1978, at the resort community of

Gulf Shores Gulf Shores is a resort city in Baldwin County, Alabama, United States. As of the 2010 Census, the population was 9,741. Geography Gulf Shores is located on the Gulf of Mexico at 30°16'4.069" North, 87°42'5.285" West (30.267797, −87.70 ...

, Alabama. He is interred at Forrest Cemetery in Gadsden. Governor

George C. Wallace George Corley Wallace Jr. (August 25, 1919 – September 13, 1998) was an American politician who served as the 45th governor of Alabama for four terms. A member of the Democratic Party, he is best remembered for his staunch segregationist and ...

, under whom James Allen served previously as lieutenant governor, appointed Allen's widow,

, to succeed him in the Senate. However, Mrs. Allen lost the special Democratic primary to fill the remaining two years of her husband's term to Donald W. Stewart of Anniston. Stewart then defeated

James D. Martin James Douglas Martin (September 1, 1918 – October 30, 2017) was an American politician. Martin was born in Tarrant, Alabama. He served as a member for the 7th district of Alabama of the United States House of Representatives The U ...

of Gadsden, who became the Republican nominee after a primary had already been held between George W. Nichols and Elvin McCary, also of Anniston, and a longtime friend of Senator James Allen's. For the change in nominees to occur, Nichols, who defeated McCary in the special Republican primary, had to agree to step down from the race."A Dozen Years in the Political Wilderness", pp. 36-37

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External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Allen, James (U.S. senator) 1912 births 1978 deaths Alabama lawyers American members of the Churches of Christ Democratic Party United States senators from Alabama Lieutenant Governors of Alabama Democratic Party Alabama state senators Democratic Party members of the Alabama House of Representatives University of Alabama alumni University of Alabama School of Law alumni United States Navy sailors United States Navy personnel of World War II Politicians from Gadsden, Alabama People from Gulf Shores, Alabama 20th-century American lawyers 20th-century American politicians

Life and career

See also

References

External links