Spessard Lindsey Holland (July 10, 1892 – November 6, 1971) was an American lawyer and politician. A Southern Democrat, he served as the 28th governor of Florida from 1941 to 1945, and as a U.S. senator for Florida from 1946 to 1971. He was the first person born in Florida to serve as governor and U.S. senator for the state. While serving as a U.S. senator he would notably introduce the 24th Amendment.
During his tenure as governor, he was mainly preoccupied with preparations for World War II and the war itself. On the death of U.S. senator Charles O. Andrews, Holland was appointed by Governor Millard F. Caldwell on September 25, 1946, to serve out the rest of Andrews' term, which was to expire the following January. He was elected to a full term in November 1946 and was re-elected senator in 1952, 1958 and 1964, retiring in January 1971.Stone, Spessard (2002) "An Extraordinary Floridia: A Profile of Spessard Lindsey Holland," Sunland Tribune: Vol. 28, Article 8. Available at: https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1357&context=sunlandtribune
Early life and education Spessard Holland was one of three children of Benjamin Franklin Holland and the former Fannie Virginia Spessard. Benjamin Holland was a Confederate veteran of the American Civil War, serving as a member of the Georgia State Line under Company I of the 2nd Regiment. Benjamin's father was the orderly sergeant for his son's unit. Benjamin was born in Carroll County, Georgia, in 1846 and was 17 when he joined the Georgia State Line in January 1864. He participated in the Battle of Kennesaw Mountain, where he was wounded. In 1882 he moved to Bartow, Florida, where he created the first abstract company in Polk County; he eventually served as a member of the school board, as a county commissioner, and as the county treasurer.
Virginia Spessard, who was known by her middle name, moved to Bartow in 1889 and was a teacher at the Summerlin Institute (now Bartow High School) prior to her marriage. Benjamin and Virginia married in September 1890 in Monroe County, West Virginia.
Their son Spessard was born at his family's home at 390 East Church Street in Bartow, on July 10, 1892. He attended public schools, graduating from the Summerlin Institute in 1909. Holland graduated magna cum laude from Emory College (now Emory University) in Atlanta in 1912. Holland went on to teach high school in Warrenton, Georgia, from 1912 to 1914.
In 1916, Holland began attending law school at the University of Florida. There he taught in the "sub-freshman department" (high school) of the university. He also became the first elected student body president and a member of the debating society. During his time at Emory and UF, he participated in track and field, football, basketball, and baseball. On one occasion, he played so well as a pitcher in an exhibition game against the Philadelphia Athletics that Connie Mack (the grandfather of Connie Mack III, who later held the Senate seat Holland once occupied) offered him a contract that Holland ultimately declined.
World War I service Holland qualified for a Rhodes Scholarship, and was already a junior partner with R.B. Huffaker in the Huffaker & Holland law firm, but his plans were interrupted by World War I. He volunteered for service and was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Coast Artillery Corps, where he was transferred to France and served in the brigade's JAG Corps as an assistant adjutant. At his request, Holland was later transferred to the 24th Aero Squadron, Signal Corps of the Army Air Corps. Here he served with Lieutenant George E. Goldthwaite as a gunner and aerial observer, gathering information and taking photographs in reconnaissance missions behind enemy lines. At various times Holland took part in battles at Meuse-Argonne, Champagne, St. Mihiel, and Lunéville, where he downed two enemy planes; on one mission, Holland's plane crash-landed in a crater. On December 11, 1918, Holland and Goldthwaite were each awarded the Distinguished Service Cross. Holland's citation, signed by General John J. Pershing, noted:
First Lieutenant Spessard L. Holland, C.A.C. Observer 24th, Aero Squadron, distinguished himself by extra-ordinary heroism in connection with military operations against an armed enemy of the United States at Bois de Banthville, France, on October 15, 1918 and in recognition of his gallant conduct I have awarded him in the name of the President the Distinguished Service Cross."
Holland was promoted to captain. Once back in the U.S., he toured for the Victory Loan Drive. He then went to Fort Monroe, Virginia, where he resigned his commission in July 1919. Holland then resumed his law practice in Bartow.
Early political career Holland's return to his law practice was short-lived; he accepted an appointment as the Polk County prosecutor in late 1919. He left that position after being elected to a four-year term as a county judge in 1920. Re-elected in 1924, Holland left the judgeship at the end of his second term, in 1929. He then returned to private law practice, joining William F. Bevis to establish the firm of Holland & Bevis in Bartow. The firm grew rapidly, eventually becoming a large international law firm that still exists today as Holland & Knight.
In 1932, Holland was elected to the Florida Senate, where he served eight years. During his two terms, Holland was noted for his strong advocacy for public schools; as a member of the school committee, he drafted and cosponsored the Florida School Code and supported legislation that raised teachers' pay and retirement benefits. Holland also supported workers' compensation, tax cuts, and unemployment insurance. He was strongly opposed to both the sales tax and the poll tax, the latter of which he worked with fellow state Senator Ernest R. Graham to repeal in 1937.
Although Holland supported discrimination against African-American voters, he opposed the poll tax because he viewed it as a form of wealth discrimination that made voting difficult for both poor whites and poor African-Americans. Publicly, Holland cited two reasons for his opposition to the poll tax. The first was that he thought it allowed politicians to "buy" their way into office through political machines. Secondly, he thought that eliminating the poll tax would increase voter turnout in elections.
Gubernatorial campaign Holland announced he was running for governor on December 4, 1939, after considering running for U.S. senator but deciding against it. His campaign platform called for expanding assistance to the elderly through increasing a tax on horse and dog tracks, making highways safer, continuing a ban on poll taxes for state elections, creating Everglades National Park, giving state financial aid for economic development, regulating salary buyers (loan sharks), repealing the gross receipts tax, and improving working conditions in Florida. He also pitched himself as being hard on crime but for tourism in the state. Holland also identified himself with the progressive policies of the Roosevelt Administration, expressing his support in late 1940 for a number of New Deal measures that he felt had benefited moderate income groups and the middle class such as social security and rural electrification.The Evening Independent 15 Oct 1940
In the initial primary, Holland finished first but failed to attain the required majority of the vote. Advancing to a runoff, he faced Francis P. Whitehair, who attacked Holland throughout the runoff campaign. Whitehair said in a speech that Holland was a candidate for "'an invisible government' of duPont interests, chain stores, and a fertilizer trust." Holland, for his part, charged that Whitehair was a product of a political machine; Whitehair accused Holland of the same thing.
Holland ended up winning the runoff. For the general election, the Republicans nominated John F. Walter as their candidate for governor, but he ended up dropping out; Walter's party then was a distinct minority in Florida. Holland ended up winning the general election even more easily than Democrats usually did at the time.
Governorship
Overview While governor, Holland promoted the establishment of military bases in his state. He also supported the state public school system's financial condition. A variety of financial reforms were also undertaken during his tenure.
1941 Holland was sworn in as governor of Florida on January 7, 1941. As governor, his powers were limited. Under the 1885 Florida Constitution, the governor could only serve for one four-year term and the governorship was described as being a weak position. Holland also had to compete with the influence of Cabinet members who could be re-elected.
Concerns about World War II were dominant with audiences during Holland's campaign for governor; he wished for peace but said that preparations should be made in case of American involvement in the war. He began those preparations with a review of $7 million in State Road Department contracts made during the administration of his predecessor as governor, Fred P. Cone. Holland and his wife attended President Franklin D. Roosevelt's third inauguration and while in Washington, D.C., he spoke with federal authorities and Florida's congressional delegation about getting more money for defense road construction; he was successful in obtaining the funds. Florida saw an increase in military activities during the mobilization prior to entering World War II.
When Holland became governor, he attempted to improve Florida's record on lynching. Florida, like the rest of the Southern U.S., faced pressure to take action on lynching during the 1940s. Holland's first challenge came on May 12, 1941, when 22-year-old A.C. Williams, an African-American accused of raping a 12-year-old girl and committing a robbery, was abducted in Quincy, Florida and lynched. Afterward, there was pressure on the local government to act as it was feared that the federal government would become involved; pressure was also seen from the Association of Southern Women for the Prevention of Lynching (ASWPL), who wrote letters to Holland. In response, Holland called for an investigation into the death of Williams and named Maurice Tripp as the special investigator. A spokesperson for Holland said: "he would be able to reach a decision on whether any action by him against Quincy law enforcement authorities was justified. The pressure of legislative business on the governor was heavy, and the inquest transcript is long." Tripp submitted a report to Governor Holland on May 25, 1941, and in July 1942 the case was given to the United States Department of Justice, which reviewed it. The identities of those who killed Williams were never discovered.
When American involvement in World War II began with the attack on Pearl Harbor, Holland promoted new military bases in Florida and co-ordinated state defenses with the federal government. Governor Holland put the Florida Highway Patrol on standby to assist the Federal Bureau of Investigation with taking Japanese Americans and foreigners into custody.
The impact of World War II was felt at a more personal level in Holland's life as well. One of his sons, Spessard Holland Jr., served as a Marine in the South Pacific. The family planted a victory garden and set up a chicken coop at the Governor's Mansion. Holland's daughter Mary volunteered as an aircraft spotter, while his daughter Ivanhoe and his wife Mary sewed squares to be used in quilts sent to U.S. troops. The mansion was visited by British soldiers who were training in the area; the First Lady corresponded with the soldiers' mothers.
1942