William F Holmes

1597 The White Chief: James Kimble Vardaman, by William F. Holmes (read 24 Nov 1980) This is a 1970 biography of Vardaman, who was born July 26, 1861, in Jackson county, Tex. The book is written in a pedestrian style and yet I found it absorbing. I had long heard about Vardaman, dressed in white, being pulled by white oxen--I thought that was how he got around during the campaign! How dumb! He was pulled by a team of 80 white oxen in a parade--and that was it. He was a progressive, but his obnoxious racism makes him despicable. He was Governor from 1904 to 1908, lost in 1907 to John Sharp Williams in the primary for the Senate term beginning in 1909, and then won the 1911 primary for the Senate term beginning in 1913. He lost in 1918 to Pat Harrison and in 1922--when he gave no speeches--he lost to Hubert Stephens. He died June 2, 1930, in Birmingham, Ala. His name is memorable to me since he stood with LaFollette, Norris, Stone, Gronna, and Lane as the six Senators who voted against declaring war on Germany on April 6, 1917.… (més)