I don't have any decrees in US history, but I do have three degrees in it.
So let's dig in!
So let's dig in!
The first two images of that tweet concern Senator Willis Smith, Democrat of North Carolina.
Smith was, by all accounts, a vicious racist and an outspoken segregationist.
(As a UNC alum, I have to note Smith went to Duke and Duke Law. They still give an award in his name!)
Smith was, by all accounts, a vicious racist and an outspoken segregationist.
(As a UNC alum, I have to note Smith went to Duke and Duke Law. They still give an award in his name!)
As the ad in that original tweet shows, Willis Smith waged one of the ugliest race-baiting campaigns in the state's history to win his Senate seat. 
But, importantly, this was a *primary* campaign.
This was still the Solid South, where Democrats ran virtually everything, so the primary was the only contest that mattered. And this particular primary shows how divided and diverse the Democratic Party was on race in 1950.
This was still the Solid South, where Democrats ran virtually everything, so the primary was the only contest that mattered. And this particular primary shows how divided and diverse the Democratic Party was on race in 1950.
The Truman administration represented a real turning point in the Democratic coalition, as the old conservative southern segregationists who'd long run the party began to be edged out by northern liberals for the first time.
See this thread for more:
See this thread for more:
The Dixiecrat rebellion failed, but as I've explained before, the segregationists remained Democrats for the next decade or so, hoping to wrest control of the party back from the upstart liberals.
The Willis Smith campaign of 1950 was a prime example of this movement.
The Willis Smith campaign of 1950 was a prime example of this movement.
Why? Because the incumbent Smith sought to unseat was Frank Porter Graham, former president of UNC and an outspoken racial liberal.
Most important, Graham had served on Truman's Presidential Commission on Civil Rights, which sparked the Dixiecrat revolt in the first place.
Most important, Graham had served on Truman's Presidential Commission on Civil Rights, which sparked the Dixiecrat revolt in the first place.
So the 1950 NC Senate primary fight *really* shows the range of opinion inside the Democratic Party on matters of civil rights and segregation.
As idiotic as it is to argue that a political party is monolithic and unchanging, it's especially true of the Democrats in this era.
As idiotic as it is to argue that a political party is monolithic and unchanging, it's especially true of the Democrats in this era.
So the original tweet offers a great illustration of how the Democrats were torn on civil rights.
On one side, liberals like Truman, Graham & Gov. Kerr Scott, who'd appointed him to the seat.
On the other, conservative Willis Smith ... and a young strategist named Jesse Helms.
On one side, liberals like Truman, Graham & Gov. Kerr Scott, who'd appointed him to the seat.
On the other, conservative Willis Smith ... and a young strategist named Jesse Helms.
As countless studies of the campaign note, the candidate Willis Smith and his publicity director Jesse Helms pushed race-baiting to new lows in the South.
Here's just a small sampling of what they and their allies did to destroy the liberal incumbent Democrat, Frank Graham.
Here's just a small sampling of what they and their allies did to destroy the liberal incumbent Democrat, Frank Graham.
And it worked.
Smith toppled Graham in an ugly Democratic primary and, in the era when Republicans didn't even compete, easily won election to the Senate that fall.
Helms went to work in his office, staying in DC until Smith suddenly died in 1953.
Smith toppled Graham in an ugly Democratic primary and, in the era when Republicans didn't even compete, easily won election to the Senate that fall.
Helms went to work in his office, staying in DC until Smith suddenly died in 1953.
Helms went back to North Carolina, briefly serving on the Raleigh City Council as a Democrat and working on a segregationist's gubernatorial campaign.
He gained fame as an editorialist on WRAL-TV, where he fought the civil rights movement. (Text from @Lankwa's great Helms bio.)
He gained fame as an editorialist on WRAL-TV, where he fought the civil rights movement. (Text from @Lankwa's great Helms bio.)
Long a critic of national Democrats, Helms switched his party registration to Republican in 1970.
He secured the nomination for an open Senate seat in 1972, and upset the favored candidate, a liberal Durham congressman named Nick Galifianakis.
You may have heard of his son:
He secured the nomination for an open Senate seat in 1972, and upset the favored candidate, a liberal Durham congressman named Nick Galifianakis.
You may have heard of his son:
So, thanks for the reminders that:
(1) Democrats were once deeply split on matters of race in the late 1940s and 1950s, as seen in the Smith-Graham race and
(2) many racial conservatives like Helms slowly made their way out of the party and soon emerged as Republicans.
(1) Democrats were once deeply split on matters of race in the late 1940s and 1950s, as seen in the Smith-Graham race and
(2) many racial conservatives like Helms slowly made their way out of the party and soon emerged as Republicans.
Oh, I didn't have time to get into George Wallace, but I guess we can note quickly that he served as a key model for Nixon-Agnew in the late 1960s ("I wish I'd copyrighted my speeches!").
See Dan Carter's amazing Wallace biography The Politics of Rage. amazon.com/Politics-Rage-…
See Dan Carter's amazing Wallace biography The Politics of Rage. amazon.com/Politics-Rage-…
Last thing -- it's true, for all the inspiration he offered Nixon, George Wallace never became a Republican himself.
That said, he tried:
That said, he tried:
As many have pointed out, Zack is Nick's nephew, not son. Sorry!
Text from: amazon.com/Paul-Green-Pla…
For more, see the classic account by Pleasants and Burns: amazon.com/Porter-Carolin…
For more, see the classic account by Pleasants and Burns: amazon.com/Porter-Carolin…
