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William B. Umstead

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William Bradley Umstead
United States Senator
from North Carolina
In office
December 18, 1946 – December 30, 1948
Appointed byR. Gregg Cherry
Preceded byJosiah Bailey
Succeeded byJ. Melville Broughton
63rd Governor of North Carolina
In office
January 8, 1953 – November 7, 1954
LieutenantLuther H. Hodges
Preceded byW. Kerr Scott
Succeeded byLuther H. Hodges
Member of the
U.S. House of Representatives
from North Carolina's 6th district
In office
March 4, 1933 – January 3, 1939
Preceded byJ. Bayard Clark
Succeeded byCarl T. Durham
Personal details
Born(1895-05-13)May 13, 1895
Mangum Township, Durham County, North Carolina, U.S.
DiedNovember 7, 1954(1954-11-07) (aged 59)
Durham, North Carolina, U.S.
Resting placeMount Tabor Church Cemetery Durham, North Carolina
Political partyDemocratic
Alma materThe University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Trinity College
Military service
Allegiance United States
Branch/service United States Army
Years of service1917–1918
Rank First Lieutenant
Battles/warsWorld War I

William Bradley Umstead (May 13, 1895 – November 7, 1954) was an American politician who served as a United States Senator and the 63rd Governor of North Carolina from 1953 to 1954.

Early life and education

Umstead was born in the northern Durham County town of Bahama in 1895. In 1916, he earned a bachelor's degree in history from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill where, like several of North Carolina's UNC-alumni Governors before him, he was a member of the Philanthropic Society. Reflecting on his time as a Phi, in 1948 Umstead (then a U.S. Senator) asserted in an article to the Daily Tar Heel "If I had in my hand everything I learned in the halls of [the Philanthropic Society] and in my left hand everything I learned in the University, I wouldn't swap my experiences in debating for other things I've learned here in the University."[1]

Career

Umstead taught high school history for approximately one school year before joining the army after the U.S. entry into World War I. He served as an officer and saw combat in France; Umstead was discharged in 1919 as a first lieutenant. He later entered law school at Trinity College (now Duke University). Umstead was a prosecutor for most of his legal career and served as the elected solicitor (today called district attorney) for a five-county district from 1927 to 1933.

He served from 1933 to 1939 in the United States House of Representatives, choosing not to seek re-election in 1938. Umstead was chairman of the North Carolina Democratic Party for several years until he was appointed to fill a vacant United States Senate seat in 1946. Defeated for a Senate term of his own in 1948, Umstead ran for governor in 1952 and won.

Umstead spent several weeks preparing his inaugural address. He was inaugurated as Governor of North Carolina on January 8, 1953 at the Memorial Auditorium. He delivered an hour-long speech outlining his extensive legislative program,[2] including a 10 percent salary increase for public school staff retroactive to 1 July 1952, passage of a bill requiring vehicle inspections and establishment of a drivers' education program in every public high school, bond issues to construct facilities for the treatment and education of the mentally ill and to build schools, and a statewide referendum on the legalization of liquor sales.[3] He also criticized his predecessor's road construction program, saying it placed a large financial burden upon the state.[2] Umstead was exhausted by the days' ceremonies and was feeling ill, but he stood to great visitors at the Executive Mansion for four hours and attended a ball in the evening.[4]

Umstead spent most of the following day getting his office in order, and on January 10 he went to work in his Durham law firm before retiring to his home near Bahama in the evening. He called a doctor when he could not fall asleep due to a cough, and after midnight he was taken to Watts Hospital in Durham. Once there, his doctor discovered that he had suffered a heart attack and was close to developing pneumonia.[5]

In June, 1954, Umstead appointed Sam Ervin to fill the U.S. Senate seat of Clyde Hoey, who had died in office.

Death

Umstead was constantly in ill health until his death nearly two years after his 1953 heart attack, upon which he was succeeded as governor by Luther H. Hodges.[6] Umstead is buried in the Mount Tabor Church Cemetery in Durham, North Carolina.

William B. Umstead State Park in Raleigh, North Carolina was named in his honor in 1966.[7]

References

  1. ^ "Handbook of the Dialectic and Philanthropic Societies.pdf". Google Docs. Retrieved 2020-09-08.
  2. ^ a b Covington & Ellis 1999, p. 120.
  3. ^ Stewart, A. W. (1996). "Umstead, William Bradley". NCPedia. NC Government & Heritage Library. Retrieved December 18, 2020.
  4. ^ Covington & Ellis 1999, pp. 120–121.
  5. ^ Covington & Ellis 1999, p. 121.
  6. ^ Warner, Seth. "Governor William Bradley Umstead".
  7. ^ "History of William B. Umstead State Park". N.C. Division of Parks and Recreation.

Works cited

Party political offices
Preceded by Democratic nominee for Governor of North Carolina
1952 		Succeeded by
U.S. House of Representatives
Preceded by Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from North Carolina's 6th congressional district
March 4, 1933-January 3, 1939 		Succeeded by
U.S. Senate
Preceded by U.S. senator (Class 2) from North Carolina
December 18, 1946– December 30, 1948
Served alongside: Clyde Roark Hoey 		Succeeded by
Political offices
Preceded by Governor of North Carolina
January 8, 1953– November 7, 1954 		Succeeded by
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