Ernest Hollings
Ernest Frederick Hollings | |
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In office November 8, 1966 – January 3, 2005 |
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Preceded by | Donald S. Russell |
Succeeded by | Jim DeMint |
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In office January 20, 1959 – January 15, 1963 |
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Deputy | |
Preceded by | George Bell Timmerman |
Succeeded by | Donald S. Russell |
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In office January 18, 1955 – January 20, 1959 |
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Preceded by | George Bell Timmerman, Jr. |
Succeeded by | |
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In office May 8, 1980 – January 3, 1981 |
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Preceded by | Edmund Muskie |
Succeeded by | Pete Domenici |
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Born | January 1, 1922 Charleston, South Carolina |
Political party | Democratic |
Spouse | Rita Louise Liddy |
Religion | Lutheran |
Ernest Frederick "Fritz" Hollings (born January 1, 1922) served as a Democratic United States Senator from South Carolina from 1966 to 2005.
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Early life
Hollings was born in Charleston, South Carolina. He went to The Citadel and received a B.A. in 1942; he later attended the University of South Carolina and received a LL.B. in 1947 and is a brother of the Pi Kappa Phi Fraternity. He is married to Rita "Peatsy" Liddy and has four children. He is a Lutheran.
Hollings served as an officer in the U.S. Army's 323rd and 457th Artillery units from 1942 to 1945, during World War II, and was awarded the Bronze Star.
Political career
He was first elected to the South Carolina House of Representatives in 1948; he was subsequently elected lieutenant governor of the state in 1954 and Governor in 1958. He was governor from 1959 until 1963. During his governorship he signed legislation ordering the Confederate Flag to be raised over the state capital to commemorate the 100th anniversary of South Carolina's secession from the union, and to protest the growing civil rights movement. He sought the Democratic nomination for a seat in the U.S. Senate in 1962, but lost to Olin D. Johnston.
While Governor, Hollings supported racial segregation and opposes federal intervention in this case on the ground of the "state's rights." However later he took much more liberal positions. In 1983 he said about his early policy "I know it was wrong."[1]
Johnston died on April 18, 1965, however. Hollings' successor as Governor, Donald S. Russell resigned in order to accept appointment to the Senate seat, and Hollings defeated Russell in the Democratic primary for the remaining two years of the term. He then won the November 1966 special election. He was subsequently elected to a full six-year term in 1968 and served for six full terms. For 36 years (until January 2003), he served alongside Republican Strom Thurmond, making them the longest-serving Senate duo ever. The two generally had a good relationship despite their sharp philosophical differences, and frequently collaborated on legislation and projects to benefit South Carolina. Only Thurmond, Robert Byrd, Ted Kennedy, Daniel Inouye, Carl Hayden and John Stennis served longer in the Senate.
In 1981, Hollings had to apologize to fellow Democrat Howard Metzenbaum after Hollings referred to him as the "senator from B'nai Brith" on the floor. Metzenbaum, who was Jewish, raised a point of personal privilege and Hollings's remarks were stricken from the record.
Hollings unsuccessfully sought the Democratic nomination for President of the United States in the presidential election of 1984. Hollings wit and experience, as well as call for a budget freeze, won him some positive attention, but his relatively conservative record alienated liberal Democrats, and he was never really noticed in a field dominated by Walter Mondale and John Glenn (and Gary Hart, who surged ahead as Glenn faded.) Hollings dropped out two days after losing badly in New Hampshire, and endorsed Hart a week later. His disdain for his competitors sometimes showed. He notably referred to Mondale as a "lapdog" and to former Astronaut Glenn as a "Sky King" who was "confused in his capsule."
During United States presidential election, 1988 he endorsed Jesse Jackson[2].
Hollings would become popular for the wrong reasons among fans of Beavis and Butt-Head after he said to Janet Reno; "We've got this...what is it...Buffcoat and Beaver or Beaver and something else. I haven't seen it, I don't watch it, but whatever it is, it was at 7, Buffcoat, and they put it on now at 10:30".[3] Since the quote was made, the act of mispronouncing Beavis and Butt-Head's names became a running gag on the show.
In his last Senate race in 1998, Hollings faced Republican congressman Bob Inglis. In one of the more heated and covered moments of the race was when Hollings referred to Inglis as a "goddamn skunk". Hollings was reelected 52%-45%.
On January 7, 2003, Hollings introduced the controversial Universal National Service Act of 2006, which would require all men and women aged 18–26 (with some exceptions) to perform a year of military service.
On August 4, 2003, he announced that he would not run for re-election in November 2004. Republican Jim DeMint succeeded him.
As a senator, Hollings was noted for his support for legislation that was in the interests of the established media distribution industry (such as the proposed "Consumer Broadband and Digital Television Promotion Act") and was described by opponents as 'Hollywood Hollings' or the 'senator from Disney'. His hard-line support of various client-side computer restrictions such as DRM and Trusted computing led the Fritz chip (a microchip that enforces such restrictions) to be nicknamed after him. Hollings also sponsored the (S. 2201).
Hollings was generally considered to be a liberal supportive of many civil rights bills. He voted for re-authorizing the Voting Rights Act in 1982. However, in 1967 he was one of the 11 senators that voted against the confirmation of Thurgood Marshall, the first African-American Supreme Court justice.[1] Hollings later voted in favor of the failed nomination of Robert Bork and also for the succesful nomination of Clarence Thomas.
On fiscal issues, he was leaning conservative, and was one of the namesakes for the Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act, an attempt to put limits on government spending.
With his fellow Southern Democrat Howell Heflin from Alabama, Hollings were one of the two Democratic senators to vote against Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 [2].
Hollings penned a controversial editorial in the May 6, 2004 Charleston Post and Courier, where he argued that Bush invaded Iraq possibly because "spreading democracy in the Mideast to secure Israel would take the Jewish vote from the Democrats."
Hollings started the Hollings Scholarship in 2005. This scholarship gives over 100 undergraduates from around the country a 10 week internship with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and a monetary scholarship for the school year.
He will be the speaker at the Charleston School of Law's first graduating class ceremony.
Trivia
Senator Hollings played a Southern senator, Senator Marquand, whom Al Pacino attempts to woo in order to land the Democratic convention in the 1996 film City Hall.
Because of Strom Thurmond's longevity and length of service, Senator Hollings spent 36 years as the junior senator from South Carolina, despite having seniority over the vast majority of his peers. He was the senior senator from South Carolina for only the last 2 years of his Senate service while serving alongside Lindsey Graham.
References
- ^ http://www.slate.com/id/2075662/
- ^ http://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=55210
- ^ Dude... This Sucks — We mourn the loss of fresh Beavis and Butt-Head episodes. EW.com Television News (August 15, 1997).
External links
- Ernest Hollings at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
- Center for Responsive Politics figures on Hollings' funding
- Salon article on the Online Personal Privacy Act
- LawMeme article about the Online Personal Privacy Act
- "Hollings's Harangue" NY Sun Article about the Howard Metzenbaum incident
- SCIway Biography of Ernest Frederick Hollings
- NGA Biography of Ernest Frederick Hollings
See also
Preceded by George Bell Timmerman |
Governor of South Carolina 1959–1963 |
Succeeded by Donald S. Russell |
Preceded by Donald S. Russell |
United States Senator (Class 3) from South Carolina 1966–2005 Served alongside: J. Strom Thurmond, Lindsey Graham |
Succeeded by Jim DeMint |
Preceded by Edmund S. Muskie Maine |
Chairman of Senate Budget Committee 1979–1981 |
Succeeded by Pete Domenici New Mexico |
Preceded by John Danforth Missouri |
Chairman of Senate Commerce Committee 1987–1995 |
Succeeded by Larry Pressler South Dakota |
Preceded by John McCain Arizona |
Chairman of Senate Commerce Committee 2001–2003 |
Succeeded by John McCain Arizona |
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