William Munford Tuck (September 28, 1896 – June 9, 1983) was an American lawyer and lieutenant in the

Byrd Organization The Byrd machine, or Byrd organization, was a political machine of the Democratic Party led by former Governor and U.S. Senator Harry F. Byrd (1887–1966) that dominated Virginia politics for much of the 20th century. From the 1890s until the ...

, who served as the 55th

Governor of Virginia The governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia serves as the head of government of Virginia for a four-year term. The incumbent, Glenn Youngkin, was sworn in on January 15, 2022. Oath of office On inauguration day, the Governor-elect takes th ...

from 1946 to 1950 as a Democrat, and as a U.S. Congressman from 1953 until 1969.

Early and Family Life

He was the youngest of nine children of Halifax County, Virginia tobacco warehouseman Robert James Tuck (1863–1930) and Virginia Susan Fitts (1860–1909). He was named for his grandfather William Munford Tuck (1832–1899), who served in the Third Virginia Infantry during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and t ...

. Tuck's mother died when he was 13. He attended county schools, Virgilina High School, and Chatham Training School (now Hargrave Military Academy). He attended the

College of William and Mary The College of William & Mary (officially The College of William and Mary in Virginia, abbreviated as William & Mary, W&M) is a public research university in Williamsburg, Virginia. Founded in 1693 by letters patent issued by King William ...

for two years, earning a teacher's certificate and working for a year as a teacher/principal in Northumberland County. Tuck then enlisted in the

U.S. Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through co ...

and served in 1917 in the Caribbean. Tuck returned to attend law school at the

Washington and Lee University School of Law The Washington and Lee University School of Law (W&L Law) is the professional graduate law school of Washington and Lee University. It is a private American Bar Association-accredited law school located in Lexington in the Shenandoah Valley regi ...

, graduating in 1921. In 1929 he married widow (and former schoolteacher) Eva Lovelace Dillard (1891–1975), to whom he remained married until her death in 1975, raising her son Lester Layne (L.L.) Dillard Jr. as his own.

Career

Upon being admitted to Virginia bar, Tuck maintained a private legal practice in Halifax for decades, eventually with his stepson L.L. Dillard. His career as an elected official began in 1923, when Halifax County voters elected Tuck as their delegate (a part-time position) to the

Virginia General Assembly The Virginia General Assembly is the legislative body of the Commonwealth of Virginia, the oldest continuous law-making body in the Western Hemisphere, the first elected legislative assembly in the New World, and was established on July 30, 16 ...

. He was re-elected once but declined to run for re-election in 1929, citing the need to grow his legal business to support his new family. However, when his elected successor died, Tuck was drafted in 1930 and served the remainder of the term. He was then elected to the Virginia State Senate in 1931, where he became a friend of U.S. Senator Harry F. Byrd, a former governor. During the national

New Deal The New Deal was a series of programs, public work projects, financial reforms, and regulations enacted by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in the United States between 1933 and 1939. Major federal programs agencies included the Civilian Con ...

, state Senator Tuck worked to repeal Prohibition and sponsored new child labor laws, as well as an unemployment compensation system, old age assistance and jail reforms. He also helped develop the state park system. In 1941, Tuck sought statewide office, but Senator Byrd slated Colgate Darden to run for Governor of Virginia, so Tuck was slated for and won election as the 25th

Lieutenant Governor of Virginia The lieutenant governor of Virginia is a constitutional officer of the Commonwealth of Virginia. The lieutenant governor is elected every four years along with the governor and attorney general. The office is currently held by Winsome Earle ...

. He served from 1942 to 1946 under Governor Darden, and gained visibility throughout the Commonwealth. Tuck defeated his Republican opponent, S. Floyd Landreth by a 2 to 1 margin and won election as governor. As governor from 1946 to 1950, Tuck demonstrated his fiscal conservatism as a

Dixiecrat The States' Rights Democratic Party (whose members are often called the Dixiecrats) was a short-lived segregationist political party in the United States, active primarily in the South. It arose due to a Southern regional split in opposition ...

by reorganizing state government and enacting a

right-to-work law In the context of labor law in the United States, the term "right-to-work laws" refers to state laws that prohibit union security agreements between employers and labor unions which require employees who are not union members to contribute ...

. He also created a state

water pollution Water pollution (or aquatic pollution) is the contamination of water bodies, usually as a result of human activities, so that it negatively affects its uses. Water bodies include lakes, rivers, oceans, aquifers, reservoirs and groundwater. ...

control agency, helped reform state schools and mental hospitals, as well as constructed roads. Governor Tuck gained national exposure, however, for labor unrest in his home state. He worked with Senator Harry Byrd to oppose President Harry Truman, although a fellow Democrat, especially Truman's plan to establish a

Fair Employment Practices Commission The Fair Employment Practice Committee (FEPC) was created in 1941 in the United States to implement Executive Order 8802 by President Franklin D. Roosevelt "banning discriminatory employment practices by Federal agencies and all unions and com ...

. Once, as governor, Tuck drafted workers of the Virginia Electric Power Company into the state's national guard to avoid a threatened strike in an unionization effort. Transportation and coal also experienced labor unrest. Tuck's resumption of legal practice in

South Boston South Boston is a densely populated neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, located south and east of the Fort Point Channel and abutting Dorchester Bay. South Boston, colloquially known as Southie, has undergone several demographic transformat ...

after his governorship proved short-lived, for he rose within the Byrd Organization. In 1953 Tuck won election as a Democrat to U.S. Congress vacated by Thomas Bahnson Stanley who had resigned to run for

. A militant segregationist, Congressman Tuck opposed most major items of civil rights legislation during the 1950s and 1960s. Like U.S. Senator Harry F. Byrd, Tuck promised "

massive resistance Massive resistance was a strategy declared by U.S. Senator Harry F. Byrd Sr. of Virginia and his brother-in-law James M. Thomson, who represented Alexandria in the Virginia General Assembly, to get the state's white politicians to pass laws and ...

" to the Supreme Court's 1954 and 1955 decisions banning segregation, '' Brown v. Board of Education'', and helped draft the Stanley Plan—a series of state laws designed to legally avoid ''Brown'', most of which were soon declared unconstitutional. He was a signatory to the 1956

Southern Manifesto The Declaration of Constitutional Principles (known informally as the Southern Manifesto) was a document written in February and March 1956, during the 84th United States Congress, in opposition to racial integration of public places. The manif ...

. Tuck was a member of the U.S. House of Representative's Committee on Un-American Activities (HUAC) and vehemently opposed the

Civil Rights Act of 1965 The Voting Rights Act of 1965 is a landmark piece of federal legislation in the United States that prohibits racial discrimination in voting. It was signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson during the height of the civil rights movement ...

. He was a delegate to

Democratic National Convention The Democratic National Convention (DNC) is a series of presidential nominating conventions held every four years since 1832 by the United States Democratic Party. They have been administered by the Democratic National Committee since the 18 ...

s of 1948 and 1952, and in 1967 announced he would not seek reelection to Congress, citing health problems. He remained a power broker in the state for years. He retired from his law practice in South Boston in 1979, after suffering a stroke.

Death and legacy

He is buried beside his wife in Oak Ridge Cemetery in South Boston. Virginia named highway 58 in Halifax County after Tuck, and elected a historical marker in his memory. His personal papers, including papers from his time as congressman and governor, are held by the Special Collections Research Center at the

College of William & Mary The College of William & Mary (officially The College of William and Mary in Virginia, abbreviated as William & Mary, W&M) is a public research university in Williamsburg, Virginia. Founded in 1693 by letters patent issued by King William I ...

. His executive papers from his time as governor are held by the

Library of Virginia The Library of Virginia in Richmond, Virginia, is the library agency of the Commonwealth of Virginia. It serves as the archival agency and the reference library for Virginia's seat of government. The Library moved into a new building in 1997 and ...

. His birthplace and home Buckshoal Farm was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

in 1987.

Electoral history

* 1945; Tuck was elected Governor of Virginia with 66.57% of the vote, defeating Republican Sidney Floyd Landreth and Independent Howard Hearnes Carwile. *1953; Tuck was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives with 57.81% of the vote in a special election, defeating Republican Lorne R. Campbell. *1954; Tuck was re-elected unopposed. *1956; Tuck was re-elected unopposed. *1958; Tuck was re-elected unopposed. *1960; Tuck was re-elected unopposed. *1962; Tuck was re-elected unopposed. *1964; Tuck was re-elected with 63.47% of the vote, defeating Republican Robert L. Gilliam. *1966; Tuck was re-elected with 56.18% of the vote, defeating Republican Gilliam.

References

External links

Finding aid for the Milliam Munford Tuck PapersSCRC Wiki page for William Munford Tuck
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tuck, William M. Tuck, William Mumford Tuck, William Mumford Tuck, William Mumford Tuck, William Mumford Tuck, William Mumdford Tuck, William Mumford Tuck, William Mumford Tuck, William Mumford Washington and Lee University School of Law alumni People from Halifax County, Virginia United States Marines Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Virginia Democratic Party governors of Virginia Virginia Dixiecrats United States Marine Corps personnel of World War I Conservatism in the United States Hargrave Military Academy alumni Members of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks