William Bankhead | |
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42nd Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives | |
In office June 4, 1936 – September 15, 1940 |
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President | Franklin D. Roosevelt |
Preceded by | Jo Byrns |
Succeeded by | Sam Rayburn |
House Majority Leader | |
In office March 4, 1935 – June 4, 1936 |
|
Deputy | Patrick J. Boland |
Preceded by | Jo Byrns |
Succeeded by | Sam Rayburn |
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Alabama's 7th district |
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In office March 4, 1933 – September 15, 1940 |
|
Preceded by | Miles C. Allgood |
Succeeded by | Zadoc L. Weatherford |
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Alabama's 10th district |
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In office March 4, 1917 – March 4, 1933 |
|
Preceded by | Constituency established |
Succeeded by | Constituency abolished |
Personal details | |
Born |
William Brockman Bankhead April 12, 1874 Moscow, Alabama, U.S. (now Sulligent) |
Died | September 15, 1940 Washington, D.C., U.S. |
(aged 66)
Political party | Democratic |
Relations |
John H. Bankhead (Father) John H. Bankhead II (Brother) |
Education |
University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa (BA) Georgetown University (LLB) |
William Brockman Bankhead (April 12, 1874 – September 15, 1940) was an American politician who served as the 42nd Speaker of the United States House of Representatives from 1936 to 1940, representing Alabama's 10th and later 7th congressional districts as a Democrat from 1917 to 1940. Bankhead was a prominent supporter of President Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal of pro-labor union legislation, thus clashing with most other Southern Democrats in Congress at the time. Bankhead described himself as proud to be a politician, by which he meant that he did not neglect matters that concerned his district or reelection. He was the father of Tallulah Bankhead.
Bankhead was born at the Bankhead plantation in Lamar County, Alabama. His father, John H. Bankhead, was a very active politician, who had served in the Alabama legislature, and later served as U.S. Representative and Senator. His mother was Tallulah James Brockman, granddaughter of South Carolina state Senator Thomas Patterson Brockman, and he was raised as a Methodist. Bankhead's brother, John H. Bankhead II, also served in the Senate.
William Bankhead attended the University of Alabama, where he was a member of Phi Delta Theta fraternity, and played on the university's first football team, organized in 1892. He studied law at Georgetown University Law Center in Washington, DC, graduating in 1895.