Furnifold McLendel Simmons (January 20, 1854April 30, 1940) was an American politician who served as a Democratic member of the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the Lower house, lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States Senate, Senate being ...

from March 4, 1887, to March 4, 1889, and

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 ...

from the state of

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 ...

between March 4, 1901, and March 4, 1931. He served as chairman of the powerful Committee on Finance from March 4, 1913, to March 4, 1919. He was an unsuccessful contender for the 1920 Democratic Party nomination for

president President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

. Simmons was a staunch segregationist and white supremacist, and a leading perpetrator of the

Wilmington insurrection of 1898 The Wilmington insurrection of 1898, also known as the Wilmington massacre of 1898 or the Wilmington coup of 1898, was a coup d'état and massacre carried out by white supremacists in Wilmington, North Carolina, United States, on Thursday, Novem ...

Life and career

Simmons was born in

Pollocksville, North Carolina Pollocksville is a town in Jones County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 311 at the 2010 census. It is part of the New Bern, North Carolina Micropolitan Statistical Area. History The town derives its name from Thomas Pollock, a ...

, the son of Mary McLendel (Jerman) and Furnifold Greene Simmons. After Republicans won control of the North Carolina legislature in 1894, Simmons led efforts to disenfranchise black voters and return Democrats to power across the state. He allied with

white supremacist White supremacy or white supremacism is the belief that white people are superior to those of other Race (human classification), races and thus should dominate them. The belief favors the maintenance and defense of any Power (social and polit ...

newspapers to stoke fears of black men as predators of white women and too incompetent to be trusted as office holders or voters. Simmons also set up hundreds of "White Government Unions," which aimed to "announce on all occasions that they would succeed if they had to shoot every negro in the city." As a result, Democrats swept the 1898 election, and the Wilmington Insurrection of 1898 broke out the following day. In 1901 Simmons won the Democratic nomination for the US Senate. From his Senate seat, he then ran a powerful political machine, using A. D. Watts "to keep the machine oiled back home," in the words of one journalist. Simmons remained in office for the next thirty years. Senator Simmons refused to endorse

Al Smith Alfred Emanuel Smith (December 30, 1873 – October 4, 1944) was an American politician who served four terms as Governor of New York and was the Democratic Party's candidate for president in 1928. The son of an Irish-American mother and a C ...

, the Democratic nominee for president in 1928 and the first Catholic nominated by a major party, winning him praise from members of the

Ku Klux Klan The Ku Klux Klan (), commonly shortened to the KKK or the Klan, is an American white supremacist, right-wing terrorist, and hate group whose primary targets are African Americans, Jews, Latinos, Asian Americans, Native Americans, and ...

. Still, rejecting the Democratic nominee in 1928, together with the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

, led to Simmons being defeated in the 1930 Democratic primary by Josiah W. Bailey, who was backed by Governor

O. Max Gardner Oliver Max Gardner (March 22, 1882February 6, 1947) was an American politician who served as the List of Governors of North Carolina, 57th Governor of North Carolina, governor of the U.S. state of North Carolina from 1929 to 1933. A member of the ...

References

External links

North Carolina History Project
at

The Political Graveyard The Political Graveyard is a website and database that catalogues information on more than 277,000 American political figures and political families, along with other information. The name comes from the website's inclusion of burial locations of ...

* 1854 births 1940 deaths Democratic Party United States senators from North Carolina North Carolina Democratic Party chairs Candidates in the 1920 United States presidential election 20th-century American politicians Wake Forest University alumni Politicians from New Bern, North Carolina Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from North Carolina Activists from North Carolina Wilmington insurrection of 1898 conspirators People from Jones County, North Carolina History of racism in North Carolina Political violence in the United States {{NorthCarolina-politician-stub