Category Florida History
Flashback Friday: The “Graham Cracker” ticket wins the 1978 Election
Editors note: With Gwen Graham’s entrance into the Governor’s race recently, we have some recollections of the origins of the 1978 race where Graham’s father, Bob emerged from dark horse to Democratic nominee and then to Governor. Noted Florida historian and author Robert Buccellato gives this vivid account of the origins of the Graham juggernaut that would […]
Rick Scott falls victim to the legislature’s historic “seven year itch”
Florida’s legislature has a way of reinforcing checks and balances on second term “lame duck” governors. Governor Rick Scott experienced this session what Jeb Bush did in 2005 and Lawton Chiles did in 1997 – once you have no midterm election where you need to run with the Governor or a shift in priorities, the […]
Flashback Friday: The courage of post-Governorship Leroy Collins at Selma
Last year, I penned the afterward to Robert Buccellato’s excellent Florida History timepiece, Finding Dan McCarty focusing on the Governorship of Leroy Collins, who took the unfulfilled McCarty mantle and promise, and made Florida a modern state. I have in the past focused much my analysis on Collins’ views toward improving Florida’s business climate and had […]
Flashback Friday: Underdog Bob Graham pursues the 1978 Democratic Nomination
Editors note: With Gwen Graham’s entrance into the Governor’s race this week, we have some recollections of the origins of the 1978 race where Graham’s father, Bob emerged from dark horse to Democratic nominee. Noted Florida historian and author Robert Buccellato gives this vivid account of the origins of the Graham juggernaut that would win five […]
Flashback Friday: The Pork Chop Gang led by Charley Johns fights integration and disgraces Florida
Senator Charley Johns (D-Starke) is one of the best known figures in the political history of this state for multiple dubious reasons. The leader of the infamous “Pork Chop Gang,” Johns became Governor in 1953 after Governor Dan McCarty the first Governor elected from southern Florida died just months after taking office. Prior to 1968, […]
Flashback Friday: The Democrats who happily handed our state over to the GOP two decades ago – #neverforget
After losing a close election in 1994, Republican Jeb Bush faced Lieutenant Governor Buddy MacKay in the 1998 General Election. MacKay who was one of the most qualified candidates ever to run for Governor in this state suffered from a divided Democratic Party which was full of political opportunists who backed Bush. The election was […]
Flashback Friday: 1950 Florida US Senate Democratic Primary – Liberal vs Conservative and the onset of McCarthyism
The current battle that is raging between progressives and those who are more aligned with the corporate world is far from the first such battle within the Florida Democratic Party. The tension that began with the New Deal between progressives supportive of FDR and old-line Bourbon Democrats who were aligned with business interests raged throughout […]
Flashback Friday: A hundred years of political racism in Florida
Editors note: With the recent legislative discussion of the Groveland case and a potential state apology for the verdict we decided to combine several pieces over the years from TFS with some new material to create this narrative. It also seems an apt time to discuss this history in the United States under Donald Trump. […]
Flashback Friday: Senator George Smathers on the Civil Rights Act of 1964
Florida Senator George Smathers was a confidant of three Presidents, John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson and Richard M. Nixon. Having served with all three in Congress, Smathers became a hot item around Washington. The Senator was also for much of his tenure one of the most influential Democrats back home in Florida. His rise […]
Flashback Friday: I-10 and Tallahassee – a long road to today
Folks from the peninsula or west Florida who travel I-10 to get to/from Tallahassee may not be aware of the complicated history of building the Interstate through Leon County and how the city was the last major one in Florida (except Fort Myers) to be linked to the Interstate system despite being the state capital […]
The Florida Squeeze 