Wilbert Lee "Pappy" O'Daniel (March 11, 1890May 11, 1969) was an American

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

politician from

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

, who came to prominence by hosting a popular radio program. Known for his

populist Populism refers to a range of political stances that emphasize the idea of "the people" and often juxtapose this group against " the elite". It is frequently associated with anti-establishment and anti-political sentiment. The term developed ...

appeal and support of Texas's business community, O'Daniel served as the 34th

governor of Texas The governor of Texas heads the state government of Texas. The governor is the leader of the executive and legislative branch of the state government and is the commander in chief of the Texas Military. The current governor is Greg Abbott, who ...

(1939–1941) and later its junior

United States senator The United States Senate is the Upper house, upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States House of Representatives, House of Representatives being the Lower house, lower chamber. Together they compose the national Bica ...

(1941–1949). O'Daniel chose not to run for reelection to the Senate in

1948 Events January * January 1 ** The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) is inaugurated. ** The Constitution of New Jersey (later subject to amendment) goes into effect. ** The railways of Britain are nationalized, to form British ...

and was succeeded by future U.S. president

Lyndon B. Johnson Lyndon Baines Johnson (; August 27, 1908January 22, 1973), often referred to by his initials LBJ, was an American politician who served as the 36th president of the United States from 1963 to 1969. He had previously served as the 37th vice ...

. O'Daniel was also a songwriter who composed "Beautiful Texas".

Early life

O'Daniel was born in

Malta, Ohio Malta is a village in Morgan County, Ohio, United States. The population was 671 at the 2010 census. History Malta was laid out in 1816. The village was named after the European island of Malta. Geography Malta is located at (39.650509, -81. ...

. His father was killed in an accident while O'Daniel was a boy, and his mother remarried. The family moved to a cattle ranch near Arlington, Kansas. O'Daniel attended local schools and graduated from the two-year program at Salt City Business College in

Hutchinson, Kansas Hutchinson is the largest city and county seat in Reno County, Kansas, United States, and located on the Arkansas River. It has been home to salt mines since 1887, thus its nickname of "Salt City", but locals call it "Hutch". As of the 2020 cen ...

. In 1909 he relocated to

Anthony, Kansas Anthony is a city in and the county seat of Harper County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 2,108. History The Anthony townsite was laid out in 1878. The city was named after the 7th governor of Kan ...

to become a stenographer and bookkeeper for a flour milling company. After time with companies in

Kansas City, Missouri Kansas City (abbreviated KC or KCMO) is the largest city in Missouri by population and area. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 508,090 in 2020, making it the 36th most-populous city in the United States. It is the central ...

and

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster. ; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...

, in 1925 he began to work for the Burrus Mill flour company in

Fort Worth Fort Worth is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Texas and the 13th-largest city in the United States. It is the county seat of Tarrant County, covering nearly into four other counties: Denton, Johnson, Parker, and Wise. According ...

Radio fame

In the late 1920s, O'Daniel assumed responsibility for the Burrus company's radio advertising. To that end, he wrote songs, sang, and hired a group of musicians to form an old timey band to back his vocals. Originally called the

Light Crust Doughboys The Light Crust Doughboys is an American Western swing band from Texas, United States, organized in 1931 by the Burrus Mill and Elevator Company in Saginaw, Texas. The band achieved its peak popularity in the few years leading up to World War II. I ...

, notable musicians such as

Bob Wills James Robert Wills (March 6, 1905 – May 13, 1975) was an American Western swing musician, songwriter, and bandleader. Considered by music authorities as the founder of Western swing, he was known widely as the King of Western Swing (although S ...

got their start with O'Daniel. After the Doughboys split up, O'Daniel formed the

Western swing Western swing music is a subgenre of American country music that originated in the late 1920s in the Western United States, West and Southern United States, South among the region's Western music (North America), Western string bands. It is dan ...

band,

Pat O'Daniel and his Hillbilly Boys Pat O'Daniel and his Hillbilly Boys was a Texan Western swing band with its own radio program during the mid-1930s. Pat O'Daniel, the son of "Pappy" O'Daniel, was the band's leader. The Hillbilly Boys, associated with Pappy O'Daniel's flour co ...

. The new group was named after O'Daniel's own Hillbilly Flour Company. O'Daniel also hosted a regular noontime radio show heard statewide, which gave him his nickname after a catchphrase used frequently on air – "pass the biscuits, Pappy" – and propelled him into the public spotlight. By the mid-1930s, "Pappy" O'Daniel was a household name in Texas. As a national magazine reporter wrote at the time: "At twelve-thirty sharp each day, a fifteen-minute silence reigned in the state of Texas, broken only by mountain music, and the dulcet voice of W. Lee O'Daniel." The show extolled the values of Hillbilly brand flour, the Ten Commandments and the Bible.

Political career

Governor

In 1938, he ran for governor of Texas as a

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

. O'Daniel's campaign hailed his flour and the need for pensions and tax cuts. He promised to block a

sales tax A sales tax is a tax paid to a governing body for the sales of certain goods and services. Usually laws allow the seller to collect funds for the tax from the consumer at the point of purchase. When a tax on goods or services is paid to a govern ...

and raise pensions. O'Daniel won the Democratic primary election with 51 percent of the ballots over twelve opponents. In office, he seemingly went against his campaign promise by proposing a new transaction tax, which was voted down by the

Texas Legislature The Texas Legislature is the state legislature of the US state of Texas. It is a bicameral body composed of a 31-member Senate and a 150-member House of Representatives. The state legislature meets at the Capitol in Austin. It is a powerful ...

. Despite this position change, he remained personally popular and handily won re-election in 1940. In both elections, his main competition came from

Texas Railroad Commission The Railroad Commission of Texas (RRC; also sometimes called the Texas Railroad Commission, TRC) is the state agency that regulates the oil and gas industry, gas utilities, pipeline safety, safety in the liquefied petroleum gas industry, and su ...

er Ernest O. Thompson, the former mayor of

Amarillo Amarillo ( ; Spanish language, Spanish for "yellow") is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat, seat of Potter County, Texas, Potter County. It is the List of cities in Texas by population, 14th-most populous city in Texas and th ...

U.S. Senate

In 1941, O'Daniel ran for the

United States Senate 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 pow ...

in a special election. He defeated

Lyndon Johnson Lyndon Baines Johnson (; August 27, 1908January 22, 1973), often referred to by his initials LBJ, was an American politician who served as the 36th president of the United States from 1963 to 1969. He had previously served as the 37th vice ...

by 1,311 votes in one of the most controversial elections in state history. As a result of this experience, in the 1948 election, Johnson prepared for a close runoff by arranging for his supporters who controlled votes, including George Parr, to withhold their final tallies until the statewide results were announced. As a senator, O'Daniel was ineffective, and most of his legislation was defeated. He endorsed the anti-

Roosevelt Roosevelt may refer to: *Theodore Roosevelt (1858–1919), 26th U.S. president * Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882–1945), 32nd U.S. president Businesses and organisations * Roosevelt Hotel (disambiguation) * Roosevelt & Son, a merchant bank * Rooseve ...

Texas Regulars The Texas Regulars was a group based in Texas which was formed in 1944 to deny Franklin D. Roosevelt a majority of the Electoral College in the 1944 presidential election. Background By the 1940s, conservative Democrats in Texas had become i ...

in the 1944 presidential election. Elected to a full term in 1942, O'Daniel refused to run for another term in 1948.

Later career

After leaving the Senate, O'Daniel bought a ranch near Fort Worth. He invested in real estate in

Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

and was also active in the insurance business. O'Daniel ran for governor in 1956 and 1958 and claimed that the ''

Brown v. Board of Education ''Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka'', 347 U.S. 483 (1954), was a landmark decision by the U.S. Supreme Court, which ruled that U.S. state laws establishing racial segregation in public schools are unconstitutional, even if the segregat ...

'' decision was part of a

Communist Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...

conspiracy. He finished third in the Democratic primaries both times.

Death and burial

O'Daniel died in Dallas on May 11, 1969. He was buried at

Sparkman-Hillcrest Memorial Park Cemetery Sparkman-Hillcrest Memorial Park Cemetery is a multi-faith cemetery located at 7405 West Northwest Highway in North Dallas, Texas ( USA). It is owned by Service Corporation International. Among the notable persons interred here are: *Mary Kay Ash ( ...

in Dallas.

In popular culture

The 2000

Coen Brothers Joel Daniel Coen (born November 29, 1954) and Ethan Jesse Coen (born September 21, 1957),State of Minnesota. ''Minnesota Birth Index, 1935–2002''. Minnesota Department of Health. collectively known as the Coen brothers (), are American film ...

film ''

O Brother, Where Art Thou? ''O Brother, Where Art Thou?'' is a 2000 comedy drama film written, produced, co-edited, and directed by Joel and Ethan Coen. It stars George Clooney, John Turturro, and Tim Blake Nelson, with Chris Thomas King, John Goodman, Holly Hunter, and C ...

'' featured a character played by

Charles Durning Charles Edward Durning (February 28, 1923 – December 24, 2012) was an American actor who appeared in over 200 movies, television shows and plays.Schudel, Matt (December 26, 2012) "''In real life and on the screen, he played countless role ...

and named Governor Pappy O'Daniel, loosely based on the real O'Daniel, and set in

Mississippi Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Miss ...

.. Flensted-Jensen elaborates on the connection between the fictional and the real Pappy O'Daniel on pp. 27–28.

References

External links

* * *
Photos of W. Lee O'Daniel
hosted by th
Portal to Texas History

Congressional Biographical Directory
*

{{DEFAULTSORT:Odaniel, W. Lee 1890 births 1969 deaths People from Fort Worth, Texas Democratic Party governors of Texas People from Malta, Ohio People from Reno County, Kansas American radio personalities Vocalion Records artists Democratic Party United States senators from Texas American conspiracy theorists Burials at Sparkman-Hillcrest Memorial Park Cemetery Old Right (United States) 20th-century American politicians People from Anthony, Kansas American anti-communists