Oscar Underwood

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Oscar Wilder Underwood
United States Senator from Alabama
In office March 4, 1915 – March 4, 1927
Preceded by	Francis S. White
Succeeded by	Hugo Black
1st United States Senate Minority Leader
In office 1920–1925
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Alabama
In office March 4, 1897 – March 4, 1915
Majority Leader of the U.S. House of Representatives
In office 1911–1915
Born	May 6, 1862 Louisville, Kentucky
Died	January 25, 1929 (aged 66) near Accotink, Virginia
Political party	Democratic

Oscar Wilder Underwood (May 6, 1862–January 25, 1929) was an American politician. He served as a Representative from Alabama in the House of Representatives from 1895 to 1896 and from 1897 to 1915. He was subsequently elected to the Senate and served there from March 4, 1915 to March 3, 1927, and did not run for reelection in 1926.

Underwood served as the first House minority whip from about 1900^[1] to 1901. He was then House majority leader between 1911 and 1915. Finally, he was Senate minority leader from 1920 to 1923. He was a candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1912 and in 1924. He was a "wet" (opponent of prohibition), and was the leader of the anti-Ku Klux Klan forces in the Democratic party in 1924.

During the 1924 Democratic National Convention, the first such convention to be broadcast via radio, Underwood's candidacy assumed a prominent role as a symbol of political stalemate. The convention was marked by a deadlock between the supporters of the Irish Catholic New York Governor Al Smith and former Secretary of the Treasury William Gibbs McAdoo (the son-in-law of former President Woodrow Wilson) whose candidacy was backed by the anti-Catholic Klan. Neither candidate was able to get a majority of the delegates, as critical delegations, including Alabama's, clung to their "favorite son" candidates: In Alabama's case, Underwood.

The Convention became the longest continually running convention in history, as 103 ballots were taken before a compromise candidate, John W. Davis, was nominated. Alabama, as the first state alphabetically, led every ballot, and delegation leader Governor William W. Brandon ("Plain Bill"), reporting the state's unanimous vote tally ballot after ballot, and Underwood, became symbols of the Convention's deadlock. For a time, Brandon's booming southern drawl, heard on the radio again and again declaring "Alabama casts twenty-four votes for Oscar W. Underwood," became one of the most recognizable voices in the country, and Underwood's one of its most recognized names.

Underwood was the grandson of Joseph R. Underwood. He was buried in Birmingham's Elmwood Cemetery.

[edit] References

• Oscar Underwood at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Fleming, James S. "Oscar W. Underwood: The First Modern House Leader, 1911—1915," in Raymond W Smock and Susan W Hammond, eds. Masters of the House: Congressional Leadership Over Two Centuries (1998) pp 91–118
• Evans C. Johnson. Oscar W. Underwood: A Political Biography (LSU Press, 1980).
• John Milton Cooper, Jr., Woodrow Wilson: A Biography (NY, 2009), p. 150

[edit] External links

• Oscar Underwood at Find a Grave

United States House of Representatives
Preceded by Louis Washington Turpin	Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Alabama's 9th congressional district March 4, 1895 – June 9, 1896	Succeeded by Truman Heminway Aldrich
Preceded by Truman Heminway Aldrich	Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Alabama's 9th congressional district March 4, 1897 – March 3, 1915	Succeeded by George Huddleston
United States Senate
Preceded by Francis S. White	United States Senator (Class 3) from Alabama 1915–1927 Served alongside: John H. Bankhead, B. B. Comer, J. Thomas Heflin	Succeeded by Hugo Black
Party political offices
Preceded by None (new office)	House Democratic Whip 1899–1901	Succeeded by James T. Lloyd
Preceded by Sereno E. Payne	House Majority Leader 1911–1915	Succeeded by Claude Kitchin
Preceded by Champ Clark	House Democratic Leader 1911–1915	Succeeded by Claude Kitchin
Preceded by None (new office)	Senate Democratic Leader 1920–1923	Succeeded by Joseph T. Robinson Arkansas

v • d • e United States Senators from Alabama Class 2 King • Lewis • Fitzpatrick • Clemens • C. Claiborne Clay • Warner • Goldthwaite • Morgan • Bankhead, Sr. • Comer • J. Heflin • Bankhead, Jr. • Swift • Sparkman • H. Heflin • Sessions Class 3 Walker • Kelly • Chambers • Pickens • McKinley • Moore • McKinley • C. Comer Clay • Bagby • King • Fitzpatrick • Spencer • Houston • Pryor • Pugh • Pettus • Johnston • White • Underwood • Black • Graves • Hill • J. Allen • M. Allen • Stewart • Denton • Shelby

v • d • e United States Senate Minority Leaders Underwood • Robinson • McNary • Austin • McNary • White • Barkley • Wherry • Bridges • Johnson • Knowland • Dirksen • Scott • Baker • Byrd • Dole • Daschle • Lott • Daschle • Lott • Frist • Daschle • Reid • McConnell

v • d • e Democratic Party Leaders in the United States Senate Underwood • Robinson • Barkley • Lucas • McFarland • Johnson • Mansfield • Byrd • Mitchell • Daschle • Reid

v • d • e Majority Leaders of the United States House of Representatives Payne • Underwood • Kitchin • Mondell • Longworth • Tilson • Rainey • Byrns • Bankhead • Rayburn • McCormack • Halleck • McCormack • Halleck • McCormack • Albert • Boggs • O'Neill • Wright • Foley • Gephardt • Armey • DeLay • Blunt (acting) • Boehner • Hoyer • Cantor (elect)

v • d • e Democratic Party Leaders in the United States House of Representatives Bailey • Richardson • Williams • Clark • Underwood • Kitchin • Clark • Kitchin • Garrett • Garner • Rainey • Byrns • Bankhead • Rayburn • McCormack • Rayburn • McCormack • Rayburn • McCormack • Albert • Boggs • O'Neill • Wright • Foley • Gephardt • Pelosi • Hoyer • Pelosi (elect)

v • d • e Minority Whips of the United States House of Representatives Underwood • Lloyd • Dwight • Burke • Hamilton • Oldfield • McDuffie • Bachmann • Englebright • Arends • McCormack • Arends • McCormack • Arends • Michel • Lott • Cheney • Gingrich • Bonior • Pelosi • Hoyer • Blunt • Cantor • Hoyer (elect)

v • d • e Democratic Whips of the United States House of Representatives Underwood • Lloyd • Bell • Oldfield • McDuffie • Greenwood • Boland • Ramspeck • Sparkman • McCormack • Priest • McCormack • Albert • Boggs • O'Neill • McFall • Brademas • Foley • Coelho • Gray •Bonior • Pelosi • Hoyer • Clyburn • Hoyer (elect)

Persondata
Name	Underwood, Oscar Wilder
Alternative names
Short description	American politician
Date of birth	May 6, 1862
Place of birth	Louisville, Kentucky, United States
Date of death	January 25, 1929
Place of death	Woodlawn Plantation, Alexandria VA, United States