Spessard Holland


Spessard Lindsey Holland was an American lawyer and politician. He served as the 28th Governor of Florida from 1941 to 1945, and as a United States Senator from Florida from 1946 to 1971. A Democrat, he was a member of the conservative coalition in Congress.

Early life and education

Holland was born in Bartow, Florida, the son of Benjamin Franklin and Virginia Spessard Holland, a teacher. He attended public schools, entering the Summerlin Institute in 1909. Holland graduated magna cum laude from Emory College in 1912, where he was a member of the Alpha Tau Omega fraternity. Holland would go on to teach high school in Warrenton, Georgia for four years.
In 1916, Holland began attending law school at the University of Florida. There he taught in the "sub-freshman department" 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 offered him a contract.

World War I service

Holland qualified to be a Rhodes Scholar, 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. Holland 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 Lt. George E. Goldwaithe as a gunner and aerial observer, gathering information and taking photographs in reconnaissance missions behind enemy lines. At various times he 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 was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross. The citation, signed by John J. Pershing, noted:
Upon resigning his commission in July 1919, Holland was promoted to captain. Once back in the U.S., he toured for the Victory Loan Drive and resumed his law practice in Bartow.

Early political career

After the war, Holland resumed his law practice in Bartow. This however, was short-lived, because Holland accepted an appointment as the Polk County prosecutor later that year. He served two years in the prosecutor's office, but left after being elected to a four-year term as a county judge in 1920. Holland was reelected in 1924, but left after the end of his second term in 1929. Holland returned to private law practice later that year, joining William F. Bevis in the law firm of Holland & Bevis. 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 term, 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 worker's compensation, tax cuts, and unemployment insurance. He was strongly opposed to both the sales tax and the poll tax, which he helped repeal in 1937.

Florida governor

Holland was an alternate Florida delegate to the 1940 Democratic National Convention. He was elected governor of Florida and on January 7, 1941 was sworn in for a four-year term. During his time as governor, Holland was noted for reforming the state tax system and supporting cigarette taxes to reduce a $4 million debt in the state budget. New property tax laws enacted during Spessard's term required uniform real estate assessments and only taxed the purchase of property. Early in his term, the teachers' retirement program began, and the financing of public schools became more stable. Spessard also recommended four amendments to the state constitution, all of which were eventually adopted. These four amendments provided for:
When American involvement in World War II began with the attack on Pearl Harbor, Holland promoted new military bases in Florida and coordinated state defenses with the federal government.
At a 1943 governors' conference in Denver, Colorado, Holland promoted new railroad freight prices, helping the Florida economy. Holland was also an outdoorsman and environmentalist. Holland's negotiation of the purchase of Everglades wetland and marshland in 1944 helped lead to the establishment of the Everglades National Park in 1947. Holland's term ended on January 2, 1945, when Millard F. Caldwell took office.

U.S. senator

On September 25, 1946 Holland assumed the U.S. Senate seat vacated by Charles O. Andrews, who had died a week earlier. In November 1946 he defeated Republican J. Harry Schad to win a full six-year term.
Re-elected in 1952, he, along with all other senators from the former Confederate states, signed the 1956 "Southern Manifesto", which condemned the Supreme Court ruling in Brown v. Board of Education, declaring that segregation of public schools was unconstitutional, and promised to resist its implementation.
Up for re-election in 1958, Holland was challenged by former U.S. Senator Claude Pepper in the Democratic primary. After fending off Pepper's challenge, he easily defeated his Republican opponent, Leland Hyzer, in November to win a third term.
During the 87th Congress Holland introduced a constitutional amendment prohibiting states from conditioning the right to vote in federal elections on payment of a poll tax or other types of tax. Approved by both Houses of Congress in August 1962, the amendment was quickly ratified by the required three-fourths of the states, and in January 1964 became the Twenty-fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution.
He won a fourth term in 1964, this time defeating Republican Claude R. Kirk, Jr.. Then, in November 1969, at the age of 77, Holland announced that he would not seek re-election in 1970. He actively campaigned for Democrat Lawton Chiles, who defeated U.S. Representative William C. Cramer in the November 1970 election. Cramer had the endorsement of U.S. President Richard Nixon, and had handily defeated G. Harrold Carswell in the Republican primary. Chiles boasted that Cramer could bring "Nixon, Agnew, Reagan, and anybody else he wants.... I'll take Holland on my side against all of them."

Retirement

Holland left office in January 1971. His activities were somewhat limited due to an increasingly severe heart condition. Holland died of a heart attack at his Bartow home on November 6, 1971 at age 79.

Family

Holland married Mary Agnes Groover on February 8, 1919 and they were together until his death. Together they had four children. Currently, their youngest daughter, Ivanhoe Craney, is the only one that is still alive. She currently lives in Bartow. Holland's surviving grandchildren reside in New York, Virginia, California, and Florida. His grandson Spessard Lindsey Holland III died August 4, 2014.

Degrees, honors, and affiliations

Throughout his life Holland was involved in multiple civic, fraternal, and collegiate institutions. He received several honorary degrees:
Holland was also a member of several organizations, including:
He was not a member of Phi Delta Phi, although his son, Spessard Lindsey Holland, Jr. was a member.
Several buildings and public facilities are named after Holland: