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70-638: The earliest predecessor Daily News-Record was the Rockingham Weekly Register that began publication on July 27, 1822. In 1833 the Rockingham Weekly Register became the Rockingham Register. On May 8, 1899, The Evening News was first published. The Evening News is the oldest direct parent of the Daily News-Record. When The Evening News became a morning paper it changed its name to Harrisonburg Daily News. In 1905

140-629: A Rhodes Scholar and received a degree from Oxford University . While in Europe, he met American journalist Helen Hill , and they married in 1927 in Oxfordshire, England. They would remain married until his death more than five decades later, and have sons Andrew P. Miller and Robert D. Miller. Miller served during World War I in the 5th Field Artillery Regiment of the American Expeditionary Force , rising through

210-427: A chance of winning the presidential nomination. Roosevelt won on the fourth ballot. Although Byrd never again formally sought the presidency nor became his party's candidate, Southern Democrats drafted him in several campaigns between 1944 and 1960. At the 1944 Democratic National Convention , Southern delegates opposed to Roosevelt's New Deal and racial policies nominated Byrd as the party's presidential candidate. He

280-711: A coma for four months. He was 79 years of age and had been a senator for over 32 years. He was interred in Mount Hebron Cemetery in Winchester. Byrd worked in public service for almost fifty years, becoming an influential figure in U.S. politics, and through his Byrd machine , the most powerful force in Virginia politics for much of the 20th century. His leading role in defying the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Brown v. Board of Education (1954) by devising

350-487: A family-owned orchard, and they moved there. The cabin was constructed from chestnut logs and remains one of the few examples of natural chestnut bark existing in the United States due to the chestnut blight . The Byrds had three sons: Harry F. Byrd Jr. , Bradshaw Beverley Byrd, and Richard Byrd, and one daughter, Westwood Beverly Byrd. In 1926, Byrd purchased Rosemont Manor, an estate outside Berryville, adjacent to

420-548: A federal judgeship in Virginia in 1939. Byrd broke with Roosevelt and became an opponent of the New Deal , but he was an internationalist and strongly supported Roosevelt's foreign policy. As war loomed in 1941 Congress approved his proposal for a joint House–Senate committee to look into ways of eliminating nonessential expenditures. By late September, the Joint Committee on Reduction of Non-essential Federal Expenditures

490-547: A fellow Democrat. While in the Virginia General Assembly (a part-time position) beginning in 1938, Miller allied with Virginia Governor James H. Price , who supported the New Deal despite the opposition of U.S. Senator Harry F. Byrd and his Byrd Organization , which prided itself on low tax rates and cared little about funding human welfare programs. During the Great Depression , Virginia

560-514: A fifty-year political career, no statement of Byrd's ever more succinctly spelled out his view of government. In 1907, he founded The Evening Journal in nearby Martinsburg, West Virginia . He sold the paper in 1912 to associate Max von Schlegell. In 1908, at the age of 21, he became president of The Valley Turnpike Company , overseeing the Valley Turnpike, a 93-mile (150-km) toll road between Winchester and Staunton . Earning $ 33

630-559: A lawyer, and in 1969 had been elected Virginia's attorney general to succeed segregationist Robert Young Button . Although re-elected to the Virginia Attorney General position, Andrew P. Miller like his father lost a Democratic primary for Governor (in 1977 to Lieutenant Governor Henry Howell , who lost the general election to Republican John N. Dalton ). The George Marshall Foundation maintains Francis Pickens Miller's papers relating to his military and federal service;

700-471: A liberal and controlled by labor unions, and nearly ignored his other opponents ( Horace Edwards and Petersburg businessman Remmie Arnold ). Prominent Republican Henry Wise of Virginia's Eastern Shore even urged his supporters to vote for Battle in the Democratic primary to repel the "invasion by aliens." Battle won 43% of the vote; Miller 35%, Edwards 15% and Arnold 7%. Undeterred, Miller announced

770-633: A man got into debt, there was small chance of getting out of it." Even worse in Byrd's eyes was the dilemma of the state itself, which was also heavily in debt during Byrd's youth. Before the Civil War, Virginia had taken on debt to help finance many internal public improvements (canals, turnpikes, and railroads) through the Virginia Board of Public Works . Most had been destroyed during the War, although

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840-475: A month, he was required to drive the entire route at least twice a month to inspect it and arrange any repairs. As automobile traffic increased, he ensured road conditions were maintained within the available revenues. He held that office for seven years until his election to state office. Byrd also owned extensive apple orchards in the Shenandoah Valley and an apple-packing operation which was among

910-481: A presidential candidate, he received votes in the 1956 presidential election and 15 electoral votes in the 1960 election . Harry Flood Byrd was born in Martinsburg, West Virginia , in 1887 (just two weeks after future fellow U.S. senator Absalom Willis Robertson was born in the same community). His parents, Eleanor Bolling (Flood) and Richard Evelyn Byrd Sr. , moved the young family to Winchester, Virginia ,

980-585: A probation and parole system and a merit personnel system for state employees. Richard R. Farr defeated Miller in 1942, but died before taking his seat. Thus, Robert J. McCandlish Jr. replaced him as Fairfax's delegate in the General Assembly. During World War II , Miller served for three years (1942-1945) as an intelligence officer with the Office of Strategic Services and the SHAEF . Promoted to

1050-478: A run against U.S. Senator Byrd himself in 1952, characterizing the powerful senator's record as one of "isolation and indifference." Byrd's allies in the Virginia General Assembly moved the primary from early August to July 15, and Byrd rebuffed Miller's offer to debate, instead delivering over 300 speeches across the Commonwealth (sometimes as many as eight in a day). Byrd handily defeated Miller, winning 63% of

1120-840: A series of laws, known as the Stanley Plan , to implement his "massive resistance" policy. This led to closure of some public school systems in Virginia between 1959 and 1964, most notably a five-year gap in public education in Prince Edward County, Virginia . In 1933 Byrd was appointed to fill a vacancy in the United States Senate ; he won reelection as a Democrat in 1933, 1934, 1940, 1946, 1952, 1958, and 1964. Byrd and his colleague Carter Glass invoked senatorial courtesy to stop President Franklin Delano Roosevelt's nomination of Floyd H. Roberts to

1190-468: A stroke about two weeks after witnessing his son Andrew P. Miller win his party's nomination for U.S. Senator (although Republican John Warner would win what became a close contest). Hospitalized, Francis Pickens Miller died of pneumonia (and another stroke) in Norfolk, Virginia on August 3, 1978. He was survived by his wife ( Helen Hill Miller ), both sons and numerous grandchildren. A memorial service

1260-629: The Antietam Paper Company . The company refused to ship more newsprint on credit, so Byrd cut a deal to make daily cash payments in return for ownership. As Byrd would later say, "when you have to hunt for them that way, you get to know how many cents there really are in a dollar." He eventually bought the Harrisonburg Daily News-Record and several other papers in the Shenandoah Valley. His family operated these papers until April 1, 2018, when they were sold to

1330-485: The Electoral College : eight unpledged electors from Mississippi (all of that state's electoral votes), six unpledged electors from Alabama (the other 5 electoral votes from that state went to John F. Kennedy ), and a faithless elector from Oklahoma (the other 7 electoral votes from that state went to Richard Nixon ). Shortly after leaving office, Byrd died in 1966 from a brain tumor; he had been in

1400-659: The Interstate Highway System , and played a key role in the passing of the 1964 Revenue Act . He had blocked the bill until President Lyndon Johnson agreed to decrease the total budget to under $ 100 billion. Subsequently, he helped push the Act through. Byrd retired from the Senate for health reasons in November 1965. His son, Harry F. Byrd Jr. , was appointed his successor. Having supported Al Smith ,

1470-508: The Ogden Newspapers Inc. of Wheeling, West Virginia. Thus started what would become Byrd's famous "pay-as-you-go" policy. He developed a lifelong aversion to borrowing money and any indebtedness. "I stand for strict economy in governmental affairs," Byrd proclaimed. "The State of Virginia is similar to a great business corporation ... and should be conducted with the same efficiency and economy as any private business." In

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1540-669: The Skyline Drive , the Blue Ridge Parkway , and the Virginia state park system. Byrd's influence kept Shenandoah National Park segregated during its construction by the CCC, at its initial establishment, and even a year after the Truman Administration mandated full desegregation in all National Parks. Shenandoah National Park's main visitor center is named in his honor. The Blue Ridge Parkway bridge over

1610-694: The United States Army Foreign Science and Technology Center . In his 1948 application for membership in the Sons of the American Revolution , Miller characterized his occupation as "MI-Res" and as a writer. He and his wife would also live for a time in Washington, D.C. before their retirement. After President Harry S. Truman took office upon President Franklin D. Roosevelt 's death, and particularly after Truman

1680-714: The United States Supreme Court ruled in 1915 that West Virginia owed Virginia $ 12,393,929.50. After the Reconstruction period, most of Virginia's governors insisted upon paying state bondholders, rather than pay for public education (newly added in Virginia Constitution of 1869) or other government services. The Readjuster Party , which briefly challenged the Conservative Party of Virginia (the latter of which became

1750-458: The massive resistance strategy has come to dominate public memory of his career, leading to a mixed legacy. The author of the most comprehensive biography of Byrd (as of 2024), Dr. Ronald L. Heinemann, Squires Professor of History at Hampden-Sydney College from 1969 to 2007, assessed Byrd's life and career in Harry Byrd of Virginia (published in 1996). Heinemann concluded that although Byrd

1820-607: The Byrd family's once vast fortune through gambling and bad investments. One younger brother was Naval aviator and polar explorer Admiral Richard Evelyn Byrd (1888–1957). His other younger brother, Thomas Bolling Byrd (1890–1968), became an infantry captain during World War I . Their uncle Henry De La Warr Flood served in the House of Representatives of the U.S. Congress from Appomattox County from 1901 to 1921. Another uncle from Appomattox County, Joel West Flood , served as that county's Commonwealth Attorney (1919 to 1932), in

1890-551: The Byrd statue was subsequently removed in 2021. In 2016, forty-five years after its 1971 founding, Harry F. Byrd Middle School, a National Blue Ribbon School in a suburb of Richmond, Virginia , was renamed to Quioccasin Middle School . In response to a campaign in the local community, the Henrico County School Board agreed that "having a school named after a man who supported school segregation

1960-711: The Democratic governor of New York , in the 1928 U.S. presidential campaign , Byrd was selected by the Virginia Democratic Convention as a favorite son for the 1932 presidential nomination. According to the American political historian Steve Neal , at one point during the Democratic National Convention Byrd was offered the vice-presidential slot in exchange for instructing his 24 delegates to vote for Franklin D. Roosevelt , but declined because he believed he had

2030-605: The Harrisonburg Daily News-Record until 1914. In 1923, the Rockingham Publishing Company, led by State Senator Harry Byrd Sr. , acquired the Daily News-Record. Byrd became the publisher. Two years later, Byrd won the elections for Governor of Virginia yet continued to function as the Daily News-Record publisher. In 1939 Harry Byrd Jr. became the new publisher only to be replaced in 2001 by his own son, Thomas Byrd. In 2016

2100-666: The Harrisonburg Daily Times was founded as a continuation of the Spirit of the Valley of 1878. Yet another competitor, the Rockingham Daily Record, was founded in 1911. The Daily Times folded in 1912. The Harrisonburg Daily News merged with Rockingham Daily Record resulting in the Harrisonburg Daily News-Record, published from June 4, 1913. The Rockingham Register was published as a weekly supplement of

2170-681: The James River in Big Island, Virginia was named and dedicated to him in 1985. On November 26, 1968, the Virginia State Highway Commission named Virginia State Route 7 , a historic road which travels from Alexandria past Berryville to Winchester, as "Harry Flood Byrd Highway" between Alexandria and Winchester. In 2021, the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors voted to rename Route 7 within

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2240-632: The National Policy Committee, and helped found the Council on Foreign Relations , whose chief executive he became. During the 1930s, Miller also strongly spoke out against Adolf Hitler and urged war preparedness. He realized that Virginia's U.S. Senator Harry F. Byrd's close financial scrutiny was "nickel and dimming" national war preparedness, because of the Senator's hatred of the administration of Franklin D. Roosevelt , although

2310-447: The U.S. A New York Times editorial following Byrd's retirement from the U.S. Senate in 1965 gave a similar assessment: "A talented man, Byrd chose to stand outside the broad currents of his time and to set his face against the future... He began as a force and ended as an anachronism." Possibly Byrd's greatest and most enduring achievement in public life was his strong advocacy for the creation of Shenandoah National Park , as well as

2380-668: The U.S. Congress (beginning in 1932 to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Henry St. George Tucker ), and as a state appellate Judge (of the Virginia Fifth Circuit, based in Richmond, from 1940 to 1964). Born only twenty-two years after the end of the American Civil War , Byrd grew up in an era when "the Shenandoah Valley was still a place of genteel poverty  ... Harry Byrd never lacked food, but he had no money for luxuries. No one had any money. If

2450-546: The Virginia Democratic Party), advocated adjusting the terms of the prewar bonds, but had a relatively brief lifespan. Thus, the issue of Virginia's public debt was far from resolved during Byrd's formative years. Byrd married Anne Douglas Beverley, a childhood friend, on October 7, 1913. They lived with her parents in Winchester until 1916, when he built a log cabin, named Westwood, in Berryville at

2520-634: The consent of either. The slate got 17,205 votes nationwide. In 1956 , the year that Byrd initiated the "massive resistance" campaign, the States' Rights Party of Kentucky named Byrd as a presidential candidate. He received 2,657 votes in that state; in South Carolina, in the same election, he received 88,509 votes as the choice of an independent (i.e. unpledged ) slate of electors with the endorsement of former governor James Byrnes and Senator Strom Thurmond . In 1960 , Byrd received 15 votes in

2590-452: The debt remained and the infrastructure needed to be rebuilt to get crops and goods to market. Virginia's first postwar legislature had affirmed those debts at original terms (highly favorable to bondholders, which by then were mostly out-of-state purchasers at rates a small fraction of par value). Some related to improvements in the area that separated during the war to form the new State of West Virginia ; those were litigated for decades until

2660-590: The decline of the Byrd Organization. Byrd succeeded to what had been the Virginia Democratic Party organization of U.S. senator Thomas Staples Martin , who died in 1919. Elected the 50th governor of Virginia in 1925, initially Byrd reorganized and modernized Virginia's government. His political machine dominated state politics for much of the first half of the 20th century. Byrd was vehemently opposed to racial desegregation of

2730-565: The enlisted ranks (private, corporal, sergeant major) to become an officer (2nd then 1st lieutenant in the 58th Coast Artillery Corps ). From 1928 until 1938, Miller served as chairman of the World Student Christian Federation , and would remain active in his Presbyterian Church throughout his life, as well as publish in Presbyterian Life. Miller was the organizer and the executive secretary of

2800-546: The family apple orchards. The family moved into the antebellum mansion in 1929, at the end of Byrd's term as governor, after some renovations. As a businessman, Byrd had several operations: publishing newspapers, running a local turnpike, and selling apples and apple products. In 1903, Harry Byrd took over his father's newspaper, the Winchester Star . Under his father's ownership, it came to owe $ 2500 ( equivalent to $ 85,000 in 2023 ) to its newsprint supplier,

2870-637: The former Flora B. McElwee (1861-1890), Francis Pickens Miller was descended from Capt. William Moore, who served during the American Revolutionary War in the militia from Rockbridge County, Virginia , across the Cumberland Gap from his great-grandson's birthplace. Young Francis Miller was educated in Rockbridge County and attended Washington and Lee University , from which he received a B.S. in 1914. He then became

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2940-495: The general election. In 1923, he became a member of the Virginia Society of the Sons of the American Revolution . As governor, serving a term from 1926 to 1930, Byrd pushed through constitutional amendments that streamlined the state government and allowed for more efficient use of tax dollars. He also made property taxes solely a county responsibility. When it was obvious that increased spending on road construction

3010-565: The largest on the East Coast. He later pointed out that he paid his African-American workers the same wages as his white farm workers. In the 1950s, Edward P. Morgan 's assistant visited Byrd's Northern Virginia farm during the apple harvest and was outraged by the living conditions of the migrant workers . This prompted Morgan to take up the issue of migrant labor in his CBS Radio Network commentaries. Producer Fred W. Friendly then prompted his close associate Edward R. Murrow to produce

3080-415: The late 1960s. Byrd became one of the most vocal proponents of maintaining policies of racial segregation . Byrd authored and signed the " Southern Manifesto " condemning the 1954 U.S. Supreme Court decision in Brown v. Board of Education . His call for " massive resistance " against desegregation of public schools led to many Virginia schools closing rather than be forced to integrate. He helped draft

3150-529: The leading Democratic critics of the Byrd Organization (sometimes called "antis"), and unsuccessfully ran in the Democratic primaries for Virginia Governor in 1949 against John S. Battle and U.S. Senator against Harry F. Byrd in 1952. Born in Middlesboro , Bell County, Kentucky to Rev. Henry Miller (1855-1911) (a Presbyterian clergyman and son of a Presbyterian clergyman) and his wife

3220-399: The national Democratic party, in part because the era of Massive Resistance had begun. In February 1949, Miller announced his candidacy for Governor of Virginia. However, with the assistance of Virginia Beach boss Sidney Kellam (U.S. Senator Byrd technically remaining neutral), John S. Battle defeated Miller and two lesser opponents in the Democratic primary. Battle depicted Miller as

3290-517: The newspaper was printed in 26,000 copies and digitally circulated another 800 copies. In 2018 Ogden Newspapers bought the Byrd Newspapers group. Craig Bartoldson became the first publisher not from the Byrd family after 95 years. In 2019, the print figure was down to 23,000. The combined daily readership (print plus online) was estimated at more than 70,000. Harry Byrd Sr. Harry Flood Byrd Sr. (June 10, 1887 – October 20, 1966)

3360-495: The public schools, and was the leader of massive resistance , a campaign of opposition to the U.S. Supreme Court decisions in Brown v. Board of Education that led to closure of some public schools in Virginia in the 1950s. Students who were denied their education in several Virginia counties became known as the "lost generation". According to Clarence M. Dunnaville Jr. , Byrd was a racist and avowed white separatist . Although Byrd paid his black and white workers similarly, he

3430-596: The public schools, but received most of his education from the private Shenandoah Valley Academy in Winchester. Byrd's ancestors included the First Families of Virginia . His paternal ancestors included Col Benjamin Harrison of Brandon Plantation , William Byrd II of Westover Plantation (who established Richmond ) and Robert "King" Carter of Corotoman . His maternal ancestors included John Rolfe and Pocahontas . His ancestor William Byrd III squandered

3500-486: The rank of colonel, Miller served on the staff of General Dwight Eisenhower . Miller became the U.S. representative on the Tripartite Control Committee for Operation Sussex . In 1946, Miller moved his family from the stone farmhouse near Fairfax city where they had lived for decades, to Charlottesville, Virginia , location of the U.S. Army's Officer Candidate School and (beginning in the 1960s)

3570-401: The road system could be completed within ten years through such cooperation... A tour of the highway system convinced him of the progress being made in extending the arterial network. Indeed, over 2,000 miles would be added to the system during Byrd's governorship, 1,787 of these miles in 1928. Road building was one way to keep the voters happy and prove the efficacy of pay-as-you-go." While he

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3640-670: The same year. Young Harry Byrd's father became wealthy as an apple grower in the Shenandoah Valley , and publisher of the Winchester Star newspaper. He represented Winchester in the Virginia House of Delegates , and served as that body's Speaker from 1908 until 1914. He was the United States Attorney for the Western District of Virginia from 1914 until 1920. Harry initially attended

3710-517: The state would sacrifice future flexibility by committing too many resources to paying off construction debt. In 1923, Byrd was sued by the Virginia Highway Contractors Association because he said their activities "by combination and agreements may be very detrimental" to the State. The court dismissed the suit, stating the criticism was legal, imposing all costs upon the association. The publicity helped him to be elected Governor of Virginia in November 1925, easily defeating Republican Samuel H. Hoge in

3780-444: The television documentary Harvest of Shame on this issue. In 1915, while still heading the Valley Turnpike Company, at the age of 28, Byrd was elected to the Virginia Senate . That election was to begin his 50 years of service in various roles in the state and federal government. At the Virginia State Capitol in Richmond , as a new state senator, Byrd was initially a progressive with an early interest in road improvements. He

3850-513: The unincorporated areas of Loudoun County, "Leesburg Pike". Byrd's home from 1926 until his death, Rosemont Manor, still exists and is surrounded by about 60 acres. Although many acres of Byrd's former orchards are now commercial and residential properties, Rosemont is now open to the public as a bed and breakfast, as well as event venue. A statue of Byrd was installed in Richmond's Capitol Square in 1976. The statue became controversial after Virginia began to reconsider its historical monuments, and

3920-531: The vote. That marked the demise of the "anti's", although their other goals (increased education funding, end of the poll tax , and end of political machine rule) would be achieved a decade later as the Byrd Organization collapsed at the end of Massive Resistance . The University of North Carolina Press published Miler's autobiography Man from the Valley in 1971, which he dedicated to his wife, correspondent Helen Hill Miller. When both retired, they moved to near Kitty Hawk, North Carolina . There Miller suffered

3990-420: Was a greatly-talented and intelligent politician, one who came to dominate Virginia politics and substantially impact U.S. politics for decades, he frequently overlooked many other issues he could have helped address in favor of defending white supremacist policies and resisting the changing of the times, consequently squandering his long-term reputation on a doomed battle to preserve de jure racial segregation in

4060-416: Was a member of the Senate Committee on Roads, the Finance Committee, the Steering Committee, the Committee on Privileges and Elections, and the Committee of Schools and Colleges. He advocated a tax on gasoline as a fair method of raising revenue for road construction. However, he first came to prominence in 1922, when he led a fight against using bonded indebtedness as a method to pay for new roads. He feared

4130-566: Was an American newspaper publisher, politician, and leader of the Democratic Party in Virginia for four decades as head of a political faction that became known as the Byrd Organization . Byrd served as Virginia's governor from 1926 until 1930, then represented the state as a U.S. senator from 1933 until 1965. He came to lead the conservative coalition in the Senate, and opposed President Franklin D. Roosevelt , largely blocking most liberal legislation after 1937. His son Harry Jr. succeeded him as U.S. senator, but ran as an Independent following

4200-404: Was elected on his own behalf in 1948 (despite the opposition of the Byrd Organization which was appalled by his support for civil rights legislation), Miller thought he and other "anti's" (including state senators Robert Whitehead and Lloyd M. Robinette ) could take over and liberalize the state Democratic party. That never happened, in part because of lack of patronage and financial support from

4270-584: Was governor, Byrd built up contacts with the "courthouse cliques" in most of Virginia's counties. He curried support from the five constitutional officers in those counties (sheriff, Commonwealth's attorney, clerk of the court, county treasurer, and commissioner of revenue). This formed the basis of the Byrd Organization , which dominated Virginia politics well into the 1960s. They carefully vetted candidates for statewide office, and Byrd only made an endorsement, or "nod," after consulting with them. Without his "nod," no one could win statewide office in Virginia. While he

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4340-441: Was governor, he shortened the ballot so that only three officials ran statewide: the governor, lieutenant governor and attorney general. This limited opportunities to challenge the candidates that he wanted to run. His secondary roads bill in 1932, which became known as the Byrd Road Act , did not apply to the state's independent cities . Education was not on his agenda, and state spending for public schools remained very low until

4410-565: Was held at Richmond's Union Theological Seminary , at which Rev. John H. Leith extolled Miller's patriotism and love of the Commonwealth and its liberal democratic tradition (ranging from Thomas Jefferson and Rev. John Witherspoon to James Madison , George Mason and Woodrow Wilson ), as well as describing how Miller worked for economic justice but never played it off against liberty. He also explained Miller as guided by Calvinism —both its emphasis on simplicity and its abhorrence of pretense and ostentation. His son Andrew P. Miller had become

4480-505: Was in operation with Senator Byrd as chairman; it built his national reputation as an economizer. By the 1950s Byrd was one of the most influential senators, serving on the Armed Services Committee , and later as chairman of the Finance Committee . He often broke with the Democratic Party line, going so far as to refuse to endorse the re-election of liberal President Harry S. Truman in 1948. He also refused to endorse Adlai Stevenson in 1952. He voted against public works bills, including

4550-498: Was inappropriate." "Quioccasin" is both the name of the road on which the school is located as well as the name of a black village that had once been located in the immediate vicinity. Francis Pickens Miller Francis Pickens Miller (June 5, 1895 – August 3, 1978) was an American military and intelligence officer and Virginia politician who served in the Virginia House of Delegates for two terms (from 1938 until 1942), representing Fairfax County, Virginia . He became one of

4620-464: Was nominated by Ruth Nooney of Florida, who said she did so without his knowledge or consent. He won 89 delegate votes to Roosevelt's 1,086 ( James Farley of New York got one vote). All the convention delegates from Louisiana, Mississippi and Virginia, and 12 of the 36 delegates from Texas voted for Byrd. In 1952 , both the Constitution Party and the America First Party nominated Byrd for vice president, and Douglas MacArthur for president, without

4690-424: Was not enough to "get Virginia out of the mud," he pushed through a secondary roads bill that gave the state responsibility for maintaining county roads. These measures made Byrd seem like a New South progressive at first. However, many of his measures were more to the benefit of rural areas more interested in low taxes than better services. He instituted a "pay as you go" approach to spending, in which no state money

4760-429: Was spent until enough taxes and fees came in to pay for it. Highways and tourism were his primary pursuits, says his biographer. "He advocated building roads to state shrines such as Jamestown and Monticello and called for historical markers along roadways, the first of which appeared in Fredericksburg . He held regional meetings to bring about closer cooperation between state and county road officials, prophesying that

4830-552: Was the 8th lowest in the country in terms of residents on general relief, and ranked 32nd nationally in the amount of state funds obligated for relief. Delegate Miller joined with editors Virginius Dabney and Douglas Southall Freeman , labor commissioner Hall and Virginia Tech 's William Garnett to found the Virginia Consumers League. They lobbied for financial security legislation, and succeeded in establishing an Unemployment Compensation Commission in 1938. Miller also helped increase teachers' pay, aid rural libraries and create both

4900-689: Was vehemently opposed to racial desegregation even early in the New Deal , and later opposed Presidents Harry S. Truman and John F. Kennedy as well as losing presidential candidate Adlai Stevenson , despite their all being fellow Democrats, because unlike Byrd they opposed racial discrimination within the federal workforce. The Byrd Organization also benefited from limiting the political participation of blacks and poor whites in Virginia by means of poll taxes and literacy tests , but managed to defeat opposition ranging from New Deal governor James H. Price to gubernatorial and senatorial candidate Francis Pickens Miller . Although Byrd never announced himself as

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