Dissertation Information for George Elwood Sims NAME: - George Elwood Sims
DEGREE:
- Ph.D.
DISCIPLINE:
- History
SCHOOL:
- Emory University (USA) (1981)
ADVISORS: - Dan T. Carter
COMMITTEE MEMBERS: - None
MPACT Status: Incomplete - Inspected
Title: "THE LITTLE MAN'S BIG FRIEND": JAMES E. FOLSOM IN ALABAMA POLITICS, 1946 - 1958
Abstract: Alabama voters elected James E. Folsom as their forty-third Governor in 1946 after an election campaign that upset the state's traditional political leaders. Virtually a political amateur, Folsom won election with a campaign that featured his hillbilly band, the "Strawberry Pickers," and his mop and suds bucket. The six foot eight inch tall candidate promised progressive state services and fundamental political reforms to voters in hundreds of small Alabama communities.
After winning the Democratic gubernatorial nomination, Jim Folsom's political inexperience and his personal troubles allowed him to waste the seven months during which he should have planned for the beginning of his administration. The inadequate preparation aided the traditional political leaders who dominated the Alabama Legislature and who viewed Folsom's campaign promises as threats to their political leadership. During legislative sessions in 1947, 1949, and 1950, a political stalemate developed between Governor Folsom and the Legislature's traditional political leaders. Folsom's inadequate preparation also contributed to the success of the State's Rights Party in Alabama during the 1948 presidential election campaign.
As Folsom ended his first gubernatorial administration in 1951, his promises had been frustrated and he was suspected of complicity in a pardon and parole board scandal. His successor, Governor Gordon Persons, supported investigations of corruption that sought to discredit Folsom as a political leader. Rather than discredit Folsom, the investigations failed to establish Folsom's guilt and thereby contributed to the resurgence of his popularity. With the aid of ambitious, skilled political advisors, Folsom easily won re-election in 1954.
During the first year of his second administration, Folsom's political advisors helped him become an effective legislative leader. The Folsom administration quickly won legislative approval for almost all of the progressive state services Folsom had advocated. Folsom's legislative leadership failed to win the basic political reforms he favored because legislators continued to view those reforms as threats to the political status quo.
After 1955, Governor Folsom's popularity deteriorated rapidly. The civil rights movement emerged in Alabama as a mass movement during 1955 and 1956. In the racially charged atmosphere, Folsom's desire to remain a moderate leader alienated both white supremacists and supporters of the movement. In 1956 and afterwards, petty corruption within the Folsom administration and the Governor's own dependence on alcohol further alienated Alabama voters. Unable to control either racial tensions or his own personal weaknesses, Folsom was a thoroughly discredited leader when he left office in early 1959.
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MPACT Scores for George Elwood Sims A = 0
C = 0
A+C = 0
T = 0
G = 0
W = 0
TD = 0
TA = 0
calculated 2008-08-18 14:00:53
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