Guest AuthorSecond of four parts.
It was an era devoid of long and expensive political campaigns. Since Democrats enjoyed an overwhelming numerical advantage, candidates only had to win the Democratic primary. Winning the primary, so the saying went, “was tantamount to election.”
The 1944 gubernatorial field was crowded. The favored candidate was Robert “Lex” Green. Born in Union County, Green served as a clerk in the Legislature while a student at the University of Florida.
Elected to the Florida House in 1918, he also served as a judge in Bradford County. In 1924, his constituents sent him to the U.S. House of Representatives, where he was re-elected for nine consecutive terms. When he announced his intention to run for governor, Green enjoyed his reputation as a loyal New Dealer and the dean of the Florida delegation. He was easily identified for his flowing bow ties.
Ernest Graham symbolized the growing economic and political power of South Florida. His personal narrative was compelling. Born in South Dakota in 1886, he moved to Dade County as an employee of the Pennsylvania Sugar Company. When the company ceased operations, Graham acquired land that he turned into the Graham Dairy farm.
Graham had served in the Florida Senate from 1936 to 1944. A son, Philip, was a University of Florida roommate to future U.S. Sen. George Smathers. In 1940, Philip married Katherine Meyer, the daughter of the owner of the Washington Post. Another son, Robert, became an illustrious Florida governor and senator.
Millard Caldwell was not considered a frontrunner. His candor both amused and appalled Floridians. He told a Jewish audience, “I’m sure you want to hear from me what I will do for Jews. The answer is nothing. I’m not interested in you as Jews, but citizens.” Ed Ball, the powerful patriarch of the DuPont and timber interests, backed Caldwell.
The 1944 gubernatorial campaign combined elements of the Victorian age as well as the modern era. Candidates crisscrossed the state in their Buicks and Fords, meeting voters face-to-face.
In Cedar Key, Caldwell addressed citizens in front of Trawick’s Drug Store. In Cocoa, he spoke in Central Park. His May 8, 1944 expense account listed the following receipts: $3.82 for gas and oil, $1.73 for dinner (which included drinks and a 40 cent tip), and a dime for newspapers. Staffers considered a campaign ad featuring an astrologer predicting Caldwell’s election.
Green and Graham enjoyed one important advantage over Caldwell: the former reminded voters he was a University of Florida graduate, while the latter boasted that his son was an alumnus of the school and a member of the Blue Key society.
Caldwell countered with a flier promising that he was tired of the Gators’ losing ways on the gridiron. The ad ended, “To hell with Georgia — Vote for Caldwell.”
Caldwell mastered the power of radio. One script introduced listeners to a deadbeat who borrows money with broken promises. “This fellow Millard Caldwell we hear is running for governor. . . They say he never did make a political promise.”
Candidates saw little reason to reach out to African Americans. Florida’s White Primary effectively eliminated black voters in the only election that mattered.
But in April 1944, the U.S. Supreme Court declared white primaries unconstitutional. “This new menace to the independence of the state,” declared Caldwell, “must be resisted with well-directed energy.”
Even Florida’s most liberal politician, U.S. Sen. Claude Pepper, vowed the South must “maintain white supremacy.”
Next: The Election
