Floridian of His Century

by Dyckman, Martin A.

• ISBN13: 9780813029696
• ISBN10: 0813029694
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2006-08-31
• Publisher: Univ Pr of Florida

Summary

"Six years after his election as a segregationist, Florida governor LeRoy Collins denounced racial discrimination as contrary to "moral, simple justice". In 1991, the Florida House of Representatives eulogized Collins as the "Floridian of the Twentieth Century," and today Collins is remembered as one of Florida's outstanding governors. As champion against rural misrule in 1954 and as the voice of racial moderation in 1956, Collins won the two most important gubernatorial elections in Florida history. In Floridian of His Century, a political portrait of this controversial Southern governor, Martin Dyckman argues that Collins's courageous moral leadership spared Florida the humiliation that befell other states under less enlightened leaders." "While his home-state rivals and other Southern leaders preached defiance of the U.S. Supreme Court's desegregation decisions, Collins's conscience and faith persuaded him there was no justification for segregation. At President Lyndon Johnson's request, Collins became the first Director of the Community Relations Service Agency formed under the 1964 Civil Rights Act - a post that would take Collins to Selma for the infamous Selma to Montgomery voting rights march. It was Collins who, in the wake of the bloody attack on the demonstrators by Alabama authorities, arranged for a peaceful conclusion. But his mission became fuel for a racist backlash when Collins ran for the U.S. Senate in 1968. Although the defeat ended his political career, it did not diminish Collins's pride in his record or the hope that in time his principles would prevail."--BOOK JACKET.

Table of Contents

Series Foreword	ix
Acknowledgments	xi
``I Will Do the Right Thing''	1	(4)
``This Is Where I Stood''	5	(13)
A Young Man in a Hurry	18	(8)
Every Man for Himself	26	(8)
The Grove	34	(9)
Reform, Sales Tax, Scandals, Segregation	43	(9)
A Bridesmaid Again	52	(4)
Triumph and Tragedy	56	(5)
``Do Not Hesitate''	61	(11)
Interregnum	72	(6)
``So Much to Be Done. So Little Time''	78	(7)
``Whew!''	85	(8)
The Pork Chop Gang	93	(8)
Massive Resistance	101	(9)
Backlash	110	(16)
Pressure	126	(22)
Turning Point	148	(6)
The Right to Be Loved	154	(4)
``An Evil Thing''	158	(9)
Little Rock	167	(5)
Failure?	172	(5)
Spotlight	177	(5)
The Last Session	182	(8)
``Moral, Simple Justice''	190	(8)
``Reaction, Retreat, and Regret''	198	(8)
``A Big, Loud, Noisy Show''	206	(8)
Dog Eat Dog	214	(9)
Selma	223	(11)
Watts	234	(6)
The Last Campaign	240	(13)
Floridian of the Century	253	(9)
The Glory of Government	262	(4)
Epilogue	266	(5)
Notes	271	(40)
Bibliography	311	(8)
Index	319