View source for Fielding L. Wright

{{short description|American politician (1895–1956)}}
{{good article}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=August 2022}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name                = Fielding L. Wright
| image               = Fielding L. Wright, 1948.jpg
| order               = 49th and 50th [[List of governors of Mississippi|Governor of Mississippi]]
| lieutenant          = [[Sam Lumpkin]]
| term_start          = November 2, 1946
| term_end            = January 22, 1952
| predecessor         = [[Thomas L. Bailey]]
| successor           = [[Hugh L. White]]
| office1             = 25th [[Lieutenant Governor of Mississippi]]
| governor1           = Dennis Murphree<br />Thomas L. Bailey
| term_start1         = January 17, 1944
| term_end1           = November 2, 1946
| predecessor1        = [[Dennis Murphree]]
| successor1          = [[Sam Lumpkin]]
| office2             = 54th Speaker of the [[Mississippi House of Representatives]]
| term_start2         = September 14, 1936
| term_end2           = January 2, 1940
| predecessor2        = [[Horace Stansel]]
| successor2          = [[Sam Lumpkin]]
| office3             = Acting Speaker of the [[Mississippi House of Representatives]]
| term_start3         = February 1936
| term_end3           = September 14, 1936
| office4             = Member of the [[Mississippi House of Representatives]]
| term_start4         = January 5, 1932
| term_end4           = January 2, 1940
| predecessor4        = 
| successor4          = 
| office5             = Member of the [[Mississippi State Senate]] from the 20th District
| term_start5         = 1928
| term_end5           = January 5, 1932
| predecessor5        = 
| successor5          = 
| birth_name          = Fielding Lewis Wright
| birth_date          = {{birth date|1895|5|16}}
| birth_place         = [[Rolling Fork, Mississippi]], U.S.
| death_date          = {{death date and age|1956|5|4|1895|5|16}}
| death_place         = [[Jackson, Mississippi]], U.S.
| party               = [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]]
| otherparty          = [[Dixiecrat]] {{small|(1948)}}
| spouse              = Nan Kelly
| education           = [[Gardner–Webb University]]<br />[[University of Alabama]] ([[Bachelor of Laws|LLB]])
| allegiance          = {{flag|United States|1912}}
| branch              = [[United States Army]]
| serviceyears        = 1918–1919
| rank                = [[Private (rank)|Private]]
| unit                = [[38th Infantry Division (United States)|38th Infantry Division]]<br />105th Engineer Combat Battalion<ref name="wright life 2"/><br />[[Mississippi National Guard]]
| battles             = [[World War I]]
| mawards             = 
}}

'''Fielding Lewis Wright''' (May 16, 1895{{spnd}}May 4, 1956) was an American politician who served as the 25th [[Lieutenant Governor of Mississippi|lieutenant governor]] and 49th and 50th [[List of Governors of Mississippi|governor of Mississippi]]. During the [[1948 United States presidential election|1948 presidential election]] he served as the vice presidential nominee of the [[Dixiecrat|States' Rights Democratic Party]] (Dixiecrats) alongside presidential nominee [[Strom Thurmond]]. During his political career he fought to maintain racial segregation, fighting with President [[Harry S. Truman]] over civil rights legislation, and holding other racist views.

Wright grew up in [[Rolling Fork, Mississippi]], where he was educated and later attended [[Gardner–Webb University]] and the [[University of Alabama]]. During [[World War I]] he was sent to [[France]] as a captain. Wright served in the 149th Machine Gun Battalion and the 105th Engineer Combat Battalion before being honorably discharged in 1919. Following his service in the [[United States Army]], he joined the [[Mississippi National Guard]].

After entering politics in the 1920s, Wright was elected to the state legislature, where he served in the late 1920s and through the 1930s. Following the death of Speaker [[Horace Stansel]], he rose to the speakership of the state House of Representatives. After a brief absence from politics, Wright was elected as Mississippi's lieutenant governor and served until he ascended to the governorship following the death of [[Thomas L. Bailey]] on November 2, 1946. During his gubernatorial tenure he made efforts to maintain racial segregation and supported Senator [[Theodore G. Bilbo]], a member of the [[Ku Klux Klan]] and segregationist, in his attempt to maintain his seat in the United States Senate.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.mcclatchydc.com/227/story/59178.html |title=McClatchy Washington Bureau &#124; 01/07/2009 &#124; Obama's new home was slow to accept integration |access-date=October 26, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090122213714/http://www.mcclatchydc.com/227/story/59178.html |archive-date=January 22, 2009 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2007/07/17/2581/ |title=Sen. Theodore G. Bilbo's Legacy of Hate |publisher=Common Dreams |date=July 17, 2007 |access-date=August 10, 2016 |archive-date=February 21, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140221124345/https://www.commondreams.org/archive/2007/07/17/2581 |url-status=live }}</ref> Over the two decades prior to his becoming governor, Wright had (according to one observer) “been acclaimed for his progressive legislative record in transportation, education, tax policy, industrial development, natural resource conservation, public health, old-age pensions, and welfare.”<ref>[https://www.mississippihistory.org/sites/default/files/spring_summer_2019_final.pdf The Journal of Mississippi History Volume LXXXI Spring/Summer 2019 No. 1 and No. 2, P.61]</ref>

Wright was elected to a term in his own right in the [[1947 Mississippi gubernatorial election|1947 election]]. In his inaugural address, he voiced opposition to Truman's support of civil rights and called for [[Southern Democrats]] to leave the Democratic Party. He served as a leader of the States' Rights Democratic Party, declining offers to run for the presidential nomination, although he later accepted the vice-presidential nomination. In the presidential election, Thurmond and Wright won multiple Southern states, but failed to prevent Truman from winning the presidential election.  Wright completed his gubernatorial term on January 22, 1952, and retired from public service. He unsuccessfully sought the Democratic nomination in the [[1955 Mississippi gubernatorial election]], and died on May 4, 1956.

==Early life and education==

[[File:Governor Thomas L. Bailey, Jan. 18, 1944 to Nov. 2, 1946 (13936315729).jpg|thumb|right|200px|From 1944 to 1946, Wright served under Governor [[Thomas L. Bailey]] until he succeeded him following Bailey's death.]]

Fielding Lewis Wright was born on May 16, 1895, in Rolling Fork, Mississippi, to Frances Foote Clements and Henry James Wright and was named after his uncle, Colonel Fielding Lewis.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://arlisherring.com/tng/getperson.php?personID=I071056&tree=Herring&PHPSESSID=43081aef0bf0e4d1813e8f23687fb11e |title=Fielding Lewis Wright |access-date=March 26, 2015 |archive-date=April 2, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402114654/http://arlisherring.com/tng/getperson.php?personID=I071056&tree=Herring&PHPSESSID=43081aef0bf0e4d1813e8f23687fb11e |url-status=live }}</ref> In 1901, he entered elementary school and graduated in 1911, as a member of the school's second graduating class. Wright attended [[Gardner–Webb University]] and the [[University of Alabama]], graduating with a law degree and was later admitted to the legal bar in September 1916.<ref name="wright life 2"/><ref name="wright life 3"/><ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/49366301/vicksburg-evening-post/ |title=Day's Proceedings In Chancery Court |date=September 7, 1916 |work=Vicksburg Evening Post |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200423153443/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/49366301/vicksburg-evening-post/ |archive-date=April 23, 2020 |page=8 |via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref> On July 16, 1917, he married Nan Kelly, with whom he had two children.<ref name="presidential">{{Cite news |url=https://tigerprints.clemson.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1366&context=strom |title=FIELDING LEWIS WRIGHT |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200424140717/https://tigerprints.clemson.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1366&context=strom |archive-date=April 24, 2020}}</ref>

===Military===

In April 1918, Wright enlisted into the [[United States Army]] and was given the rank of private at [[Camp Shelby]]. He served as a member of the 149th Machine Gun Battalion inside the [[38th Infantry Division (United States)|38th Infantry Division]].<ref name="wright life 2"/> He later served as the commander of the 105th Engineer Combat Battalion. During [[World War I]] he participated in the battles of [[Battle of Belleau Wood|Belleau Wood]] and [[Battle of Château-Thierry (1918)|Château-Thierry]] before being honorably discharged on August 31, 1919. After leaving the army he organized a unit of the [[Mississippi National Guard]] in Rolling Fork and was selected to serve as its first captain where he would lead the unit through the [[Great Mississippi Flood of 1927]].<ref name="wright life 3">{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/49350652/clarion-ledger/ |title=From An "Ice House" Law Office To State's Chief Executive --- That's Story Of Fielding Wright |date=January 19, 1948 |work=The Clarion-Ledger |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200423053100/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/49350652/clarion-ledger/ |archive-date=April 23, 2020 |page=14 |via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref>

==Career==
===Local politics===

During the 1920s Wright served two terms on the Rolling Fork Board of Alderman. In 1927, he was elected to represent the Twentieth district in the [[Mississippi State Senate|state senate]] and served until 1932.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/49420401/semi-weekly-journal/ |title=Newest Member of State Senate |date=September 24, 1927 |work=Semi-Weekly Journal |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200424025532/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/49420401/semi-weekly-journal/ |archive-date=April 24, 2020 |page=1 |via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref> In 1929 he authored a paved highway bill, but it was vetoed by Governor [[Theodore G. Bilbo]] due to disputes over the program's implementation.{{sfn|Smith|2019|p=66}} In 1930, he was appointed to serve as the assistant director of the state tax commission to aid in the enforcement and administration of the tax laws.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/49435584/the-greenwood-commonwealth/ |title=Name Legislators To Revenue Jobs |date=June 3, 1930 |work=Semi-Weekly Journal |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200424121403/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/49435584/the-greenwood-commonwealth/ |archive-date=April 24, 2020 |page=1 |via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref>

===Mississippi House of Representatives===

In 1932, Wright was elected to the [[Mississippi House of Representatives|state House of Representatives]] and served until 1940. In 1932, he was appointed to serve as the chairman of the House Committee on Highways and Highway Financing.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/49436240/enterprise-journal/ |title=Studying Roads |date=March 4, 1932 |work=Enterprise-Journal |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200424123843/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/49436240/enterprise-journal/ |archive-date=April 24, 2020 |page=6 |via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref> In 1936, he was appointed to serve as the chairman of the House Rules Committee and was also appointed onto the Levees committee and the Joint Committee on Executive Contingent Fund.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/49512457/the-greenwood-commonwealth/ |title=1936 House Committees |date=January 8, 1936 |work=The Greenwood Commonwealth |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200425125954/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/49512457/the-greenwood-commonwealth/ |archive-date=April 25, 2020 |page=1 |via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/49512650/clarion-ledger/ |title=Stansel Chooses More Committee Memberships |date=January 16, 1936 |work=The Clarion-Ledger |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200425130438/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/49512650/clarion-ledger/ |archive-date=April 25, 2020 |page=8 |via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref> On March 19, 1936, he introduced a resolution proposing a state constitutional amendment that would allow for the election of highway commission members starting in the 1938 elections, but the resolution failed.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/49519292/clarion-ledger/ |title=Constitutional Amendment |date=March 20, 1936 |work=The Clarion-Ledger |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200425161743/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/49519292/clarion-ledger/ |archive-date=April 25, 2020 |page=14 |via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/49519310/clarion-ledger/ |title=Amendment Is Quickly Killed |date=March 21, 1936 |work=The Clarion-Ledger |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200425161925/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/49519310/clarion-ledger/ |archive-date=April 25, 2020 |page=10 |via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref> Facing opposition from House and statewide leadership for his highway reforms, he helped organize the removal of Speaker [[Thomas L. Bailey]] and his replacement by a fellow highway advocate, [[Horace Stansel]]. Stansel made Wright chairman of the House Rules Committee.{{sfn|Smith|2019|p=66}}

====Speaker of the House====

In February 1936, Speaker Stansel requested for Wright to be designated as the acting Speaker of the House and the request was accepted. On April 4, Stansel died from a heart attack while Wright was still serving as the acting Speaker and Wright participated in the planning of Stansel's funeral.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/49526570/clarion-ledger/ |title=Temporary Speaker |date=February 8, 1936 |work=The Clarion-Ledger |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200425170459/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/49526570/clarion-ledger/ |archive-date=April 25, 2020 |page=3 |via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/49526423/the-greenwood-commonwealth/ |title=Funeral Services Ruleville Sunday |date=April 4, 1936 |work=The Greenwood Commonwealth |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200425170559/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/49526423/the-greenwood-commonwealth/ |archive-date=April 25, 2020 |page=1 |via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref>

From June 23 to 27, 1936, Governor [[Hugh L. White]] was outside of Mississippi to attend the [[1936 Democratic National Convention|Democratic national convention]] causing Lieutenant Governor [[Jacob Buehler Snider]] to become the acting governor. When Snider left the state, John Culkin, President pro tempore of the Senate, was elevated to acting governor. If Culkin had left the state the Speaker of the House would have become the acting governor, but Wright was not eligible as he was in an acting role. However, Culkin did not leave the state which prevented a [[constitutional crisis]] over the succession of acting governor.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/49580834/clarion-ledger/ |title=Culkin Becomes Governor When Snider Quits State |date=June 27, 1936 |work=The Clarion-Ledger |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200426045215/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/49580834/clarion-ledger/ |archive-date=April 26, 2020 |page=3 |via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref>

On September 14, 1936, he was nominated by Pearl Stansel and the House of Representatives voted by acclamation, as he faced no opposition despite statements made by John Armstrong and Ira L. Morgan about being interested in running, to formally appoint Wright as the Speaker of the House.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/49604243/enterprise-journal/ |title=The New Speaker |date=September 16, 1936 |work=Enterprise-Journal |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200426163702/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/49604243/enterprise-journal/ |archive-date=April 26, 2020 |page=2 |via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/49580284/the-newton-record/ |title=The Speakership |date=July 2, 1936 |work=The Newton Record |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200426043906/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/49580284/the-newton-record/ |archive-date=April 26, 2020 |page=3 |via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/49580016/clarion-ledger/ |title=Wright to be Chosen |date=September 14, 1936 |work=The Clarion-Ledger |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200426044020/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/49580016/clarion-ledger/ |archive-date=April 26, 2020 |page=10 |via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/49579993/clarion-ledger/ |title=Governor Asks Solons To Give Warm Invitation |date=September 15, 1936 |work=The Clarion-Ledger |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200426044115/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/49579993/clarion-ledger/ |archive-date=April 26, 2020 |page=1 |via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref>

After being appointed to the speakership Wright appointed Hilton Waits to replace him as the chairman of the House Rules committee and appointed R. E. Lee to replace him as the chairman of the Highways and Highway Financing House committee.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/49604274/clarion-ledger/ |title=New Members Get Committee Posts |date=September 16, 1936 |work=The Clarion-Ledger |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200426163954/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/49604274/clarion-ledger/ |archive-date=April 26, 2020 |page=16 |via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref> Waits resigned shortly after being appointed as chairman of the House Rules Committee and Joe Owen was selected by Wright to replace him.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/49604984/clarion-ledger/ |title=New Rules Chief Named By Wright |date=September 23, 1936 |work=The Clarion-Ledger |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200426164651/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/49604984/clarion-ledger/ |archive-date=April 26, 2020 |page=2 |via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref> Wright would continue to serve as Speaker of the House until 1940.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=p8qBC3V-qgcC&q=Fielding+L.+Wright&pg=PA124 |title=The Governors of Mississippi |last=Sumners |first=Cecil L |date=January 1, 1998 |publisher=Pelican Publishing |page=124 |isbn=9781455605217 |via=Google Books}}</ref>

On March 24, 1938, the House of Representatives voted twenty-one to nineteen in favor of drafting articles of impeachment against Land Commissioner [[R. D. Moore]].<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/49661535/enterprise-journal/ |title=Land Office Measure Still Being Disputed |date=March 25, 1938 |work=Enterprise-Journal |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200427041759/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/49661535/enterprise-journal/ |archive-date=April 27, 2020 |page=1 |via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref> Wright appointed a five-man committee of Walter Sillers, John T. Armstrong, Gerald Chatham, Guy B. Mitchell, and [[Sam Lumpkin]] to draft the articles of impeachment.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/49661565/mccomb-daily-journal/ |title=Impeachment Group Is Named |date=March 25, 1938 |work=McComb Daily Journal |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200427041937/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/49661565/mccomb-daily-journal/ |archive-date=April 27, 2020 |page=5 |via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref> Moore criticized the committee as being "stacked" against his favor by Wright.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/49661700/mccomb-daily-journal/ |title=Moore Says |date=April 11, 1938 |work=McComb Daily Journal |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200427042123/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/49661700/mccomb-daily-journal/ |archive-date=April 27, 2020 |page=6 |via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref>

===Interlude===

Although it was speculated that Wright would run in the lieutenant gubernatorial election in 1939, he announced on July 19, 1938, that he would not seek another term in the House of Representatives and would not seek election to another office.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/49687759/the-greenwood-commonwealth/ |title=May Run |date=June 16, 1938 |work=The Greenwood Commonwealth |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200427173048/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/49687759/the-greenwood-commonwealth/ |archive-date=April 27, 2020 |page=8 |via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/49687927/mccomb-daily-journal/ |title=Wright Will Not Run For Office |date=July 16, 1938 |work=McComb Daily Journal |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200427173205/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/49687927/mccomb-daily-journal/ |archive-date=April 27, 2020 |page=1 |via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref>

After leaving the state house he started working for the law firm of John Brunini and Sons in Rolling Fork.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/49688071/the-greenwood-commonwealth/ |title=Fielding Wright Will Not Accept Any Office |date=July 19, 1938 |work=The Greenwood Commonwealth |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200427173411/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/49688071/the-greenwood-commonwealth/ |archive-date=April 27, 2020 |page=1 |via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref> In 1942, he represented the Union Producing company at a House Ways and Means committee to argue for Mississippi to place flat taxes on oil producers rather than multiple severance and sales taxes.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/49746946/clarion-ledger/ |title=Oil And Gas News |date=February 5, 1942 |work=The Clarion-Ledger |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200428124935/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/49746946/clarion-ledger/ |archive-date=April 28, 2020 |page=14 |via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref> After the United States entered [[World War II]] Wright attempted to rejoin the army, but was rejected due to his poor eyesight.<ref name="wright life 4">{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/49747310/mccomb-daily-journal/ |title=Fielding L. Wright To Be Candidate |date=February 5, 1942 |work=McComb Daily Journal |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200428132242/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/49747310/mccomb-daily-journal/ |archive-date=April 28, 2020 |page=3 |via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/49749206/simpson-county-news/ |title=Announces As A Candidate For Lieutenant Governor |date=February 18, 1942 |work=Simpson County News |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200428135934/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/49749206/simpson-county-news/ |archive-date=April 28, 2020 |page=1 |via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref>

===Lieutenant gubernatorial===

On November 19, 1942, Wright met with friends in Jackson, Mississippi, and stated that he would be a candidate in the lieutenant gubernatorial election.<ref name="wright life 4"/> In January 1943, he formally announced his candidacy for the Democratic nomination for the lieutenant gubernatorial election.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/49749001/the-greenwood-commonwealth/ |title=Fielding L. Wright Announces Candidacy |date=January 16, 1943 |work=The Greenwood Commonwealth |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200428134754/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/49749001/the-greenwood-commonwealth/ |archive-date=April 28, 2020 |page=1 |via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref> Walter D. Davis, a former member of the state House of Representatives and attorney in the [[United States Department of War|Department of War]], was appointed to serve as his campaign manager.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/49759763/clarion-ledger/ |title=Davis Will Manage Wright's Campaign |date=July 4, 1943 |work=The Clarion-Ledger |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200428164552/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/49759763/clarion-ledger/ |archive-date=April 28, 2020 |page=2 |via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref>

In the initial primary he won with a plurality of the vote ahead of Paul Spearman and Charles G. Hamilton, who were eliminated, and John Lumpkin, who would continue onto the runoff primary.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/49761057/clarion-ledger/ |title=Wright Leads With Lumpkin Second For Lieutenant Governor |date=August 5, 1943 |work=The Clarion-Ledger |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200428172717/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/49761057/clarion-ledger/ |archive-date=April 28, 2020 |page=1 |via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref> Wright defeated Lumpkin in the runoff with 155,265 to 108,661 votes winning the Democratic nomination.<ref name="election 1943">{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/49761047/hattiesburg-american/ |title=Bailey's Official Majority 17,271 |date=August 31, 1943 |work=Hattiesburg American |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200428172820/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/49761047/hattiesburg-american/ |archive-date=April 28, 2020 |page=1 |via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref> In the general election he and gubernatorial nominee Thomas L. Bailey faced no opposition.<ref>{{Cite news |date=November 1, 1943 |title=Interest High In One Race In District |page=1 |work=McComb Daily Journal |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/78609794/mccomb-daily-journal/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20210530175551/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/78609794/mccomb-daily-journal/ |archive-date=May 30, 2021 |via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref>

The state House and Senate passed a resolution allowing for Wright to be inaugurated one day before Bailey{{why|date=February 2022}} and Wright was inaugurated as the Lieutenant Governor of Mississippi on January 17, 1944.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/49822203/the-greenwood-commonwealth/ |title=Inauguration of Wright Monday |date=January 12, 1944 |work=The Greenwood Commonwealth |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200429131302/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/49822203/the-greenwood-commonwealth/ |archive-date=April 29, 2020 |page=1 |via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/49822210/mccomb-daily-journal/ |title=Inaugurated |date=January 17, 1944 |work=McComb Daily Journal |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200429131720/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/49822210/mccomb-daily-journal/ |archive-date=April 29, 2020 |page=1 |via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref> On March 21, 1944, he gave his first tie breaking vote, in which he voted in favor, when the state Senate voted nineteen in favor to nineteen against on a bill authorizing chancery clerks to use photostat machines in recording records.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/49825081/clarion-ledger/ |title=Wright Breaks Tie |date=March 21, 1944 |work=The Clarion-Ledger |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200429152656/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/49825081/clarion-ledger/ |archive-date=April 29, 2020 |page=2 |via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref> In April 1944, Wright became acting governor when Governor Bailey went to Kansas City to attend the Methodist general conference as one of Mississippi's two delegates.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/49827675/mccomb-daily-journal/ |title=Wright Now Governor |newspaper=Mccomb Daily Journal |date=April 25, 1944 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200429160517/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/49827675/mccomb-daily-journal/ |archive-date=April 29, 2020 |page=1 |via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref>

In 1946, he attempted to call another session of the state legislature to have the state's election laws changed to prevent black voters from participating in the 1947 primaries.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/49981194/clarion-ledger/ |title=Fielding Wright Urges Extra Session Of Solons To Correct Mississippi Primaries |date=April 9, 1946 |work=The Clarion-Ledger |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200501131333/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/49981194/clarion-ledger/ |archive-date=May 1, 2020 |page=5 |via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref> In June 1946, he refused to authorize the extradition of George Johnson, a black man facing charges of child abandonment, back to California and refused to commute the death sentence of James Leo Williams, a 25 year old black man convicted for murder, while serving as acting governor.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/49983703/clarion-ledger/ |title=Wright Turns Down Extradition Of Negro |date=June 5, 1946 |work=The Clarion-Ledger |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200501140847/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/49983703/clarion-ledger/ |archive-date=May 1, 2020 |page=9 |via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/49983713/clarion-ledger/ |title=Commutation Plea In Murder Case Denied By Wright |date=June 19, 1946 |work=The Clarion-Ledger |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200501140924/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/49983713/clarion-ledger/ |archive-date=May 1, 2020 |page=2 |via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref> On August 1, 1946, he was made aware of plans by the [[United States Department of Justice|Department of Justice]] to investigate the activities of the [[Ku Klux Klan]] in Mississippi. Wright claimed that he did not know of any activities conducted by the Ku Klux Klan and that the organization had not existed in the state since 1923.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/49995719/enterprise-journal/ |title=KU KLUX KLAN IN STATE NEWS TO EXECUTIVE |date=August 2, 1946 |work=Enterprise-Journal |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200501172452/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/49995719/enterprise-journal/ |archive-date=May 1, 2020 |page=1 |via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref>

===Gubernatorial===
[[File:Fielding L. Wright portrait.jpg|thumb|Portrait of Governor Wright.]]

====First term====

[[File:TheodoreBilbo.jpg|thumb|right|250px|Wright supported Senator [[Theodore G. Bilbo]] after the Senate refused to seat him and later praised him following his death.]]

On October 30, 1946, Governor Bailey suffered a stroke and was in poor health for the next four days until he died from a spinal tumor on November 2. Wright was supposed to leave the state for a physical checkup, but remained in Mississippi due to Bailey's poor health and succeeded him following his death to fulfill the remainder of his term as the 49th governor.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/49998575/clarion-ledger/ |title=Executive Passes Saturday Evening After Long Illness |date=November 2, 1946 |work=The Clarion-Ledger |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200501185032/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/49998575/clarion-ledger/ |archive-date=May 1, 2020 |page=9 |via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref> On November 7, he was formally inaugurated by Chief Justice [[List of justices of the Supreme Court of Mississippi|Sydney M. Smith]] without a ceremony.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/50016351/clarion-ledger/ |title=Wright Takes Oath Here This Morning |date=November 7, 1946 |work=The Clarion-Ledger |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200501215959/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/50016351/clarion-ledger/ |archive-date=May 1, 2020 |page=13 |via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref>

The [[United States Senate]], controlled by a Republican majority, refused to seat Senator Theodore G. Bilbo at the request of Senator [[Glen H. Taylor]]. Wright threatened to appoint Bilbo to serve as an interim senator if he was not allowed to be seated, for which the Harrison County affiliate of the Bilbo Campaign Committee passed a resolution praising Wright.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/50019918/hattiesburg-american/ |title=Governor Standing By Bilbo |date=January 9, 1947 |work=Hattiesburg American |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200501225458/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/50019918/hattiesburg-american/ |archive-date=May 1, 2020 |page=1 |via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/50019866/the-greenwood-commonwealth/ |title=Bilbo Resolution |date=January 15, 1947 |work=The Greenwood Commonwealth |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200501225506/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/50019866/the-greenwood-commonwealth/ |archive-date=May 1, 2020 |page=1 |via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref> The issue was resolved when it was proposed that Bilbo's credentials remain on the table while he returned home to Mississippi to seek medical treatment for oral cancer.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/minute/Members_Death_Ends_a_Senate_Predicament.htm |title=1941: Member's Death Ends a Senate Predicament – August 21, 1947 |website=Senate.gov |access-date=August 10, 2016 |archive-date=June 23, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160623180112/http://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/minute/Members_Death_Ends_a_Senate_Predicament.htm |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,855556,00.html |title=The Congress: That Man |magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] |date=January 13, 1947}}</ref> When Bilbo died on August 21, 1947, Wright stated that "He was a long and faithful servant of the state. He was an outstanding official whose loss will be felt by Mississippi."<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/50072607/the-greenwood-commonwealth/ |title=Governor Wright Issues Statement |date=August 21, 1947 |work=The Greenwood Commonwealth |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200502185514/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/50072607/the-greenwood-commonwealth/ |archive-date=May 2, 2020 |page=1 |via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref>

On May 20, the [[Amalgamated Transit Union|Amalgamated Association of Street, Electric Railway and Motor Coach Employees of America]], affiliated with the [[American Federation of Labor]], organized a walkout and strike to improve the wages of bus drivers working for Southern Trailways, the Mississippi affiliate of the [[Trailways Transportation System]].<ref name="police"/> On September 28, a man driving a carnival truck attempted to crash into two Trailway buses and later another driver attempted to crash a bus off a highway near [[Winona, Mississippi|Winona]]. On October 1, Wright threatened to place members of the [[Mississippi National Guard]] onboard every bus with orders to shoot to protect the buses.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/50092265/clarion-ledger/ |title=Wright Threatens To Place Troops On Southern Buses |date=October 2, 1947 |work=The Clarion-Ledger |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200502233740/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/50092265/clarion-ledger/ |archive-date=May 2, 2020 |page=1 |via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref> In November, the [[Mississippi Bureau of Investigation]] was formed as a temporarily state police force to prevent further violence during the strike, although it was criticized as similar to the [[Gestapo]] and the Veterans of Foreign Wars post in [[Hattiesburg, Mississippi|Hattiesburg]] passed a resolution calling it fascist, Wright successfully transformed it into a permanent police force.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/50099200/hattiesburg-american/ |title=VFW Post Condemns MBI |date=January 14, 1948 |work=The Clarion-Ledger |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200503022333/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/50099200/hattiesburg-american/ |archive-date=May 3, 2020 |page=5 |via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref><ref name="police">{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/50091491/the-greenwood-commonwealth/ |title=Wright Wants State Police Permanent |date=January 10, 1948 |work=The Greenwood Commonwealth |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200503022548/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/50091491/the-greenwood-commonwealth/ |archive-date=May 3, 2020 |page=6 |via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref>

====1947 election====

On January 25, 1947, Wright announced his intention to seek election to a term in his own right in the [[1947 Mississippi gubernatorial election]].<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/50020686/clarion-ledger/ |title=Governor Wright Formally Announces For Re-election To Executive Office |date=January 26, 1947 |work=The Clarion-Ledger |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200501230806/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/50020686/clarion-ledger/ |archive-date=May 1, 2020 |page=2 |via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref> [[Paul B. Johnson Jr.]], the son of former governor and representative [[Paul B. Johnson Sr.]], later announced his intention to challenge Wright in the Democratic primary.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/50022444/clarion-ledger/ |title=With 4 Months To Go, State Aspirants Beating Bushes |date=April 6, 1947 |work=The Clarion-Ledger |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200501233318/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/50022444/clarion-ledger/ |archive-date=May 1, 2020 |page=26 |via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref> On June 12, he formally launched his campaign at a campaign rally in Rolling Fork where he showed his twenty-point platform which included support for veteran benefits, road improvements, sales tax exemptions, and stopping outside influence on Mississippi.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/50058488/hattiesburg-american/ |title=Wright Presents Platform |date=June 12, 1947 |work=Hattiesburg American |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200502151034/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/50058488/hattiesburg-american/ |archive-date=May 2, 2020 |page=1 |via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref>

On August 5, he won the Democratic primary with over 55% of the popular vote and later received a letter of congratulations from Johnson, who had placed second in the primary.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/50065735/the-greenwood-commonwealth/ |title=State Ballots Total 365,472 |date=August 12, 1947 |work=The Greenwood Commonwealth |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200502171523/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/50065735/the-greenwood-commonwealth/ |archive-date=May 2, 2020 |page=1 |via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/50065722/the-greenwood-commonwealth/ |title=Johnson Congratulations |date=August 13, 1947 |work=The Greenwood Commonwealth |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200502171523/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/50065722/the-greenwood-commonwealth/ |archive-date=May 2, 2020 |page=1 |via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref> Wright's first ballot victory was the second time in Mississippi history that the Democratic gubernatorial nominee won without a runoff being needed, with Theodore G. Bilbo's [[1915 Mississippi gubernatorial election|1915 victory]] being the first.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/50068523/the-greenwood-commonwealth/ |title=Wright's Majority Sets State Record |date=August 15, 1947 |work=The Greenwood Commonwealth |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200502175340/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/50068523/the-greenwood-commonwealth/ |archive-date=May 2, 2020 |page=1 |via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref> In the general election he defeated former Nebraskan Governor [[George L. Sheldon]], who ran on the ballot as an [[Independent Republican (United States)|Independent Republican]] and who had stated that he had only expected to receive a few thousand votes against Wright.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/50074449/the-greenwood-commonwealth/ |title=1947 election |date=November 3, 1947 |work=The Greenwood Commonwealth |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200502191814/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/50074449/the-greenwood-commonwealth/ |archive-date=May 2, 2020 |page=1 |via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=June 4, 1947 |title=Sheldon To Qualify On Republican Ticket |page=5 |work=[[The Clarion-Ledger]] |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/78608401/clarion-ledger/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20210530174222/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/78608401/clarion-ledger/ |archive-date=May 30, 2021 |via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref><ref name="election 1947">{{Cite news |date=November 14, 1947 |title=Official Vote Finally Revealed |page=1 |work=[[The Greenwood Commonwealth]] |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/78608409/the-greenwood-commonwealth/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20210530174432/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/78608409/the-greenwood-commonwealth/ |archive-date=May 30, 2021 |via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref>

====Second term====

On January 20, 1948, Wright was inaugurated as the 50th Governor of Mississippi by Chief Justice [[Sydney M. Smith]].<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/50106920/the-greenwood-commonwealth/ |title=Governor Fielding Wright Sworn Into Office Today |date=January 20, 1948 |work=The Greenwood Commonwealth |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200503031747/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/50106920/the-greenwood-commonwealth/ |archive-date=May 3, 2020 |page=1 |via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref> In his inaugural address he called for [[Southern Democrats]] to abandon the Democratic Party due to the [[Fair Employment Practice Committee]], and [[Poll taxes in the United States|anti-poll tax]], [[Anti-lynching movement|anti-lynching]], and [[Civil rights movement|pro-civil rights]] measures. He also criticized President [[Harry S. Truman]] for his [[President's Committee on Civil Rights|committee on civil rights]] and support for other "anti-southern" legislation.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/50107367/hattiesburg-american/ |title=Only Course Unless Anti-Southern Legislation Is Dropped, He Says |date=January 20, 1948 |work=Hattiesburg American |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200503032828/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/50107367/hattiesburg-american/ |archive-date=May 3, 2020 |page=1 |via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref>

His speech and call for Southern Democrats to leave the party was praised by Senator [[James Eastland]] and Representatives [[John Bell Williams]] and [[Jamie Whitten]] who stated that they had been ignored by the party's leadership and should not allow the region's racial beliefs to be undermined.<ref name="reaction">{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/50108014/clarion-ledger/ |title=Washington Reaction |date=January 21, 1948 |work=The Clarion-Ledger |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200503033716/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/50108014/clarion-ledger/ |archive-date=May 3, 2020 |page=1 |via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref> However, Senators [[Allen J. Ellender]] and [[Claude Pepper]], Representative [[William Madison Whittington]], Governor [[Benjamin Travis Laney]], and Alabama Democratic Chairman Gessner T. McCorvey criticized him stating that they should remain in the party to reform it from the inside.<ref name="reaction"/><ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/50107988/clarion-ledger/ |title=Arkansas Governor Thinks Bolt Unwise |date=January 21, 1948 |work=The Clarion-Ledger |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200503034347/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/50107988/clarion-ledger/ |archive-date=May 3, 2020 |page=1 |via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/50107997/clarion-ledger/ |title=Alabama Democrat Doubts Wisdom Of Southern Party Bolt |date=January 21, 1948 |work=The Clarion-Ledger |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200503034329/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/50107997/clarion-ledger/ |archive-date=May 3, 2020 |page=1 |via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref> On January 21, the state house and senate approved resolutions supporting threats to leave the party if more "anti-southern" legislation was passed.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/50130241/hattiesburg-american/ |title=Legislature |date=January 22, 1948 |work=Hattiesburg American |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200503155310/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/50130241/hattiesburg-american/ |archive-date=May 3, 2020 |page=1 |via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref>

In April, the state legislature passed the first [[workers' compensation]] bill in Mississippi history and it was later signed into law by Wright. Secretary of Labor [[Lewis B. Schwellenbach]] praised the passage of the bill as Mississippi was the last of the then forty-eight states to pass a workers' compensation bill.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/50164377/hattiesburg-american/ |title=Compensation Act Ready For Wright |date=April 8, 1948 |work=Hattiesburg American |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200503224116/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/50164377/hattiesburg-american/ |archive-date=May 3, 2020 |page=1 |via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/50164432/hattiesburg-american/ |title=Mississippi News Briefs |date=April 15, 1948 |work=Hattiesburg American |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200503224109/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/50164432/hattiesburg-american/ |archive-date=May 3, 2020 |page=8 |via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref>

On July 8, Lycurgus Spinks, who had run in the 1947 Democratic gubernatorial primary and was an Imperial Emperor of the [[United Klans of America]], filed a $50,000 lawsuit against Wright claiming that Wright, W.W. Wright, and George Godwin had convinced John L. Dagget to cancel a contract he had with Spinks.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/12107096/imperial-emperor-of-the-kkk-dr-spinks/ |title=Florida Klan Merger Explained By Spinks |date=February 2, 1950 |work=The Clarion-Ledger |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200505152202/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/12107096/imperial-emperor-of-the-kkk-dr-spinks/ |archive-date=May 5, 2020 |page=2 |via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/50277856/the-greenwood-commonwealth/ |title=Gov. Wright Sued For $50,000 |date=July 9, 1948 |work=The Greenwood Commonwealth |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200505152248/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/50277856/the-greenwood-commonwealth/ |archive-date=May 5, 2020 |page=8 |via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref> On January 11, 1949, Spinks' lawsuit was dismissed by Judge [[Sidney Carr Mize]] of the [[United States District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi|Southern District Court of Mississippi]], but Spinks refiled his lawsuit.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/52316384/the-greenwood-commonwealth/ |title=Dismiss Slander Suit Of Spinks |date=January 11, 1949 |work=The Greenwood Commonwealth |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200528172403/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/52316384/the-greenwood-commonwealth/ |archive-date=May 28, 2020 |page=1 |via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/52322617/clarion-ledger/ |title=Governor Is Named In New $50,000 Suit Filed By Spinks |date=February 1, 1949 |work=The Clarion-Ledger |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200528184608/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/52322617/clarion-ledger/ |archive-date=May 28, 2020 |page=2 |via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref> On June 29, Spinks removed Wright from his lawsuit, but continued his lawsuit against W. W. Wright and George Godwin.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/52330485/the-montgomery-advertiser/ |title=Suit Withdrawn Against Wright |date=June 30, 1949 |work=The Montgomery Advertiser |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200528202108/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/52330485/the-montgomery-advertiser/ |archive-date=May 28, 2020 |page=14 |via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref>

On September 7, Wright declared a state of emergency as Mississippi had suffered its second highest number of [[polio]] cases in its history during 1949.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/52338558/clarion-ledger/ |title=Governor Proclaims Polio Emergency |date=September 8, 1949 |work=The Clarion-Ledger |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200528220755/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/52338558/clarion-ledger/ |archive-date=May 28, 2020 |page=1 |via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref>

====Segregation====

In February 1948, a "State-wide Mass Meeting of Negro citizens" organized in Jackson, Mississippi, and called for a biracial committee to oversee the educational improvement project that was started in 1946, but Wright declined their request.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Bolton |first=Charles C. |title=[[The Hardest Deal of All The Battle over School Integration in Mississippi, 1870-1980]]|date=2005 |publisher=[[University Press of Mississippi]]|page=46 |via=Google Books}}</ref>

Due to federal threats to force the [[School integration in the United States|integration of schools]] Wright reorganized Mississippi's public education system in an attempt to maintain racial segregation. Education funding towards black schools was increased, but still remained inferior to the funding given to white-only schools.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Busbee |first=Westley F. Jr. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sG0gBQAAQBAJ |title=Mississippi A History |date=March 21, 2005 |publisher=Wiley |page=285 |isbn=9781118755921 |via=Google Books |access-date=July 1, 2020 |archive-date=November 5, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211105185834/https://www.google.com/books/edition/Mississippi/sG0gBQAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1 |url-status=live }}</ref> In 1951, he opposed attempts by the [[NAACP]] to admit black students into white-only colleges and stated that he would "insist on (racial) segregation regardless of the costs or consequences".<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/54511304/the-greenwood-commonwealth/ |title=Wright Reiterates Segregation Stand |date=April 7, 1951 |work=The Greenwood Commonwealth |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20200701135617/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/54511304/the-greenwood-commonwealth/ |archive-date=July 1, 2020 |page=1 |via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref> At the Southern Governors Conference Wright stated that "regardless of what others may say, we in Mississippi are determined that the segregated educational system shall be maintained."<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/54518086/the-journal-times/ |title=Dixie Governors Open Session |date=November 12, 1951 |work=The Journal Times |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20200701162026/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/54518086/the-journal-times/ |archive-date=July 1, 2020 |page=7 |via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref>

===1948 presidential election===
====Democratic====
[[File:James O Eastland.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Senator [[James Eastland]] was an early supporter of Wright's plan to leave the Democratic Party.]]
[[File:Thurmond and Wright button.png|thumb|right|200px|Political button showing support for Strom Thurmond and Fielding L. Wright]]

Wright's inaugural address calling for Southerners to abandon the Democratic Party was supported by Senator James Eastland, who was later invited to speak before the state legislature. On January 29, 1948, Senator Eastland gave a speech to a joint session of the Mississippi state legislature where he called for the [[Solid South]] to withhold its 127 electoral votes from the Democratic presidential nominee so that "a Southern man would emerge as president of the United States".<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/50133675/clarion-ledger/ |title=Eastland Speech Draws Ovation In Legislature |date=January 30, 1948 |work=The Clarion-Ledger |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200503164133/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/50133675/clarion-ledger/ |archive-date=May 3, 2020 |page=1 |via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref>

In February, Wright attended the [[Southern Governors' Association]] conference with plans to introduce a resolution calling for the creation of a new [[Dixiecrat|Southern party]]. However, Georgia Governor [[Melvin E. Thompson]] gave Wright a copy of a statement condemning his call although Wright stated that he would still introduce his resolution. Alabama Governor [[Jim Folsom]], Maryland Governor [[William Preston Lane Jr.]], and Florida Governor [[Millard Caldwell]] also criticized Wright while South Carolina Governor [[Strom Thurmond]] and Texas Governor [[Beauford H. Jester]] declined to comment.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/50138725/the-greenwood-commonwealth/ |title=Governors Show Cool Attitude |date=February 7, 1948 |work=The Greenwood Commonwealth |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200503174835/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/50138725/the-greenwood-commonwealth/ |archive-date=May 3, 2020 |page=1 |via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref> When he proposed his resolution it was rejected by the eight other governors present and a different resolution calling for a committee to study the effects of recently proposed civil rights legislation was accepted.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/50139870/clarion-ledger/ |title=Governors Dodge Resolution |date=February 8, 1948 |work=The Clarion-Ledger |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200503175318/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/50139870/clarion-ledger/ |archive-date=May 3, 2020 |page=1 |via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref> Although Wright's resolution was unsuccessful another resolution proposed by Thurmond calling for the Truman administration to stop attacking white supremacy or the Southern Democrats would leave the party.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/50141364/the-greenwood-commonwealth/ |title=Governors Condemn Civil Rights Program |date=February 9, 1948 |work=The Greenwood Commonwealth |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200503181041/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/50141364/the-greenwood-commonwealth/ |archive-date=May 3, 2020 |page=1 |via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref>

After his failure at the Southern Governors' Association conference Wright went to Little Rock, Arkansas to meet with political leaders. While there almost four hundred Arkansas political leaders voted unanimously in favor of a resolution supporting Wright and in Virginia Governor [[William M. Tuck]] called for the state legislature to prevent Truman from appearing on the [[1948 United States presidential election in Virginia|ballot]].<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/50143957/clarion-ledger/ |title=Governor Tunes Ear To Tuck's Address, Refuses Comment |date=February 27, 1948 |work=The Clarion-Ledger |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200503184847/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/50143957/clarion-ledger/ |archive-date=May 3, 2020 |page=1 |via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref> On March 13, another Southern governor meeting was held where a resolution against civil rights and the party's leadership was supported by the governors of South Carolina, Texas, Arkansas, Mississippi, Georgia, Virginia, and Florida while the governors of North Carolina and Louisiana were not at the meeting and the governor of Maryland voted "present".<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/50146239/clarion-ledger/ |title=Southern Chiefs Unite In Demand |date=March 14, 1948 |work=The Clarion-Ledger |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200503195639/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/50146214/clarion-ledger/ |archive-date=May 3, 2020 |page=1 |via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/50146239/clarion-ledger/ |title=Southern |date=March 14, 1948 |work=The Clarion-Ledger |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200503195641/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/50146239/clarion-ledger/ |archive-date=May 3, 2020 |page=1 |via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref>

The Anti-Truman Democratic Club of Florida, which controlled twenty-eight of Florida's delegates to the national convention, formed a [[Draft (politics)|presidential draft]] movement supporting Wright. The organization also passed a resolution where it would support South Carolina Governor Strom Thurmond or Arkansas Governor [[Benjamin Travis Laney]] if Wright did not run for the presidency.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/50151410/the-greenwood-commonwealth/ |title=Draft Wright For President |date=March 20, 1948 |work=The Greenwood Commonwealth |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200503201057/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/50151410/the-greenwood-commonwealth/ |archive-date=May 3, 2020 |page=6 |via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref> After being informed of the movement Wright stated that he was not interested in running for president.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/50151883/enterprise-journal/ |title=Mississippi News Flashes Of Interest |date=March 22, 1948 |work=Enterprise-Journal |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200503204440/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/50151883/enterprise-journal/ |archive-date=May 3, 2020 |page=1 |via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref> Former Alabama Governor [[Frank M. Dixon]] attempted to start another draft movement for Wright, but Wright declined to run for president again.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/50278372/enterprise-journal/ |title=Wright Takes Names Off List Of Prospects |date=July 8, 1948 |work=Enterprise-Journal |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200505152708/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/50278372/enterprise-journal/ |archive-date=May 5, 2020 |page=1 |via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref>

On May 10, the States' Rights Democrats conference was held in Jackson, Mississippi, with Wright serving as temporary chairman.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/50166815/hattiesburg-american/ |title=Gov. Thurmond Will Address Jackson Party Bolt Rally |date=April 19, 1948 |work=Hattiesburg American |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200503230519/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/50166815/hattiesburg-american/ |archive-date=May 3, 2020 |page=10 |via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref> The conference was attended by around 2,500 people and a resolution calling for a separate national convention in Birmingham was passed.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/50235548/the-tribune/ |title=Southern Democrats Vote 'Rump' Convention |date=May 11, 1948 |work=The Tribune |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200504215957/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/50235548/the-tribune/ |archive-date=May 4, 2020 |page=1 |via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref>

On May 25, Wright was elected to serve as one of [[Sharkey County, Mississippi|Sharkey County's]] eight delegates to Mississippi's state Democratic convention.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/50238221/the-greenwood-commonwealth/ |title=State Delegates |date=May 25, 1948 |work=The Greenwood Commonwealth |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200504223342/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/50238221/the-greenwood-commonwealth/ |archive-date=May 4, 2020 |page=1 |via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref> On June 23, he was selected to serve as one of the delegates to the national convention.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/50253002/hattiesburg-american/ |title=Mississippi Delegates Ready To Take A Walk If Truman Nominated At National Convention |date=June 23, 1948 |work=Hattiesburg American |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200505015956/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/50253002/hattiesburg-american/ |archive-date=May 5, 2020 |page=1 |via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref>

====Dixiecrat====
Wright and former Governor [[Hugh L. White]] led the twenty-two member Mississippi delegation to the [[1948 Democratic National Convention|Democratic National Convention]].<ref name="presidential"/> At the national convention he and the Mississippi delegation supported Governor Laney for the presidential nomination.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/50278915/hattiesburg-american/ |title=Bulletin |date=July 12, 1948 |work=Hattiesburg American |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20200505153725/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/50278915/hattiesburg-american/ |archive-date=May 5, 2020 |page=1 |via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref> An attempt was made by Charles Hamilton to prevent the seating of the Mississippi delegation due to its pledge to leave the party if Truman was nominated or if the platform was pro-civil rights. However, the Credentials Committee voted fifteen to eleven in favor of seating Wright's delegation.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/50280427/the-greenwood-commonwealth/ |title=Mississippi Delegation Seated |date=July 13, 1948 |work=The Greenwood Commonwealth |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200505160029/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/50280427/the-greenwood-commonwealth/ |archive-date=May 5, 2020 |page=1 |via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref>

[[File:ElectoralCollege1948.svg|thumb|right|300px|Results of the [[1948 United States presidential election]]]]
On July 14, he led the Mississippi delegation in a walkout of the convention to protest the adoption of a pro-civil rights plank into the party's platform. On July 17, the Conference of States' Rights Democrats in Birmingham, Alabama suggested him as a candidate for the vice presidential nomination of the breakaway [[Dixiecrat|States' Rights Democratic Party]] and he later accepted the nomination on August 11.<ref name="presidential"/>

During the election Wright, a supporter of racial segregation, stated that "if any of you [African Americans] have become so deluded as to want to enter our white schools, patronize our hotels and cafes, enjoy social equality with the whites, then true kindness and sympathy requires me to advise you to make your homes in some other state."<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://segregationinamerica.eji.org/report/segregation-forever-leaders.html |title='Segregation Forever': Leaders of White Supremacy |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20200630223535/https://segregationinamerica.eji.org/report/segregation-forever-leaders.html |archive-date=June 30, 2020}}</ref>

In the general election he and South Carolina Governor [[Strom Thurmond]] won the popular and electoral votes of the states of [[1948 United States presidential election in Louisiana|Louisiana]], [[1948 United States presidential election in Mississippi|Mississippi]], [[1948 United States presidential election in Alabama|Alabama]], and [[1948 United States presidential election in South Carolina|South Carolina]], and received one faithless electoral vote from [[1948 United States presidential election in Tennessee|Tennessee]]. Although the party won multiple states it was unsuccessful in its goal of preventing Truman from winning the election as he still managed to defeat Republican nominee [[Thomas E. Dewey]] without the unanimous support of the Solid South.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/national.php?year=1948 |title=1948 Presidential General Election Results |access-date=May 5, 2020 |archive-date=September 22, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200922041324/https://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/national.php?year=1948 |url-status=live }}</ref>

The failure to spoil the election against Truman was credited to the Dixiecrats being a third party within the United States' [[two-party system]], the Republicans' campaign against Truman in which Dewey did not criticize Truman for his administration's scandals, the [[Progressive Party (United States, 1948)|Progressive]] presidential nominee [[Henry A. Wallace]] focusing on an idealistic foreign policy, remaining support of the [[New Deal]], labor issues voters against the [[Taft–Hartley Act]], and farm issue voters.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Ader |first=Emile B. |title=Why the Dixiecrats Failed |date=1953 |publisher=The University of Chicago Press |page=358 |via=Google Books}}</ref> In 1950, Truman invited every governor from the South to a luncheon, except for Wright and Thurmond, as Truman stated that invitations were given to Democrats only.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/54517556/burlington-daily-news/ |title=Truman Snubs State's Righters |date=June 22, 1950 |work=Burlington Daily News |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20200701161023/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/54517556/burlington-daily-news/ |archive-date=July 1, 2020 |page=1 |via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref> Wright continued to defend states' rights and segregation, but conceded that complete obstinance along the lines of the 1948 departure from the Democratic Party would cause Mississippi to lose "its standing with everybody in America."{{sfn|Smith|2019|pp=77–78}}

==Later life==
{{See also|1955 Mississippi gubernatorial election}}
Upon leaving gubernatorial office, Wright opened a law practice in Jackson.{{sfn|Sansing|2016|p=191}} In 1952, he was selected to serve as Mississippi's national committeeman to the [[Democratic National Committee]] for a four-year term.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/52376496/clarion-ledger/ |title=National Committeeman |date=July 18, 1952 |work=The Clarion-Ledger |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200529133021/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/52376496/clarion-ledger/ |archive-date=May 29, 2020 |page=1 |via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref> During the [[1952 United States presidential election|1952 presidential election]] he supported the Democratic presidential ticket of Governor [[Adlai Stevenson II]] and Senator [[John Sparkman]] and stated that he would not support the Republican presidential ticket of General [[Dwight D. Eisenhower]] and Senator [[Richard Nixon]].<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/52376610/clarion-ledger/ |title=Wright Stands By Stevenson |date=September 26, 1952 |work=The Clarion-Ledger |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200529133408/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/52376610/clarion-ledger/ |archive-date=May 29, 2020 |page=1 |via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref>

On October 2, 1954, Wright announced that he would seek the Democratic nomination for governor and he selected Gordon Roach, an attorney who had served as [[Pike County, Mississippi|Pike County]] attorney, as his campaign manager.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/52377057/the-greenwood-commonwealth/ |title=Fielding Wright To Be Candidate For Governor |date=October 2, 1954 |work=The Greenwood Commonwealth |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200529134439/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/52377057/the-greenwood-commonwealth/ |archive-date=May 29, 2020 |page=1 |via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/52377178/clarion-ledger/ |title=Fielding Wright Rally Held Here |date=April 6, 1955 |work=The Clarion-Ledger |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200529134854/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/52377178/clarion-ledger/ |archive-date=May 29, 2020 |page=16 |via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref> On May 5, 1955, he formally launched his campaign at his home in Rolling Fork with around 3,500 people in attendance.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/52377414/clarion-ledger/ |title=Wright Opens Campaign |date=May 8, 1955 |work=The Clarion-Ledger |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200529135300/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/52377414/clarion-ledger/ |archive-date=May 29, 2020 |page=1 |via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref> Hoping to build off of white discontent with the [[United States Supreme Court]]'s 1954 ''[[Brown v. Board of Education]]'' ruling mandating desegregation in public schools, Wright framed himself as an ardent segregationist. He argued that his involvement in the Dixiecrat foray made him "the man most feared by Negro
leaders who seek to integrate the schools" and pledged to use Mississippi's [[Police power (United States constitutional law)|police power]] to prevent such integration.{{sfn|Smith|2019|p=78}} Though the media reported his chances favorably, Wright placed third in the Democratic primary behind [[James P. Coleman]] and [[Paul B. Johnson Jr.]], surprising many observers{{sfn|Smith|2019|p=78}} and preventing him from participating in the primary runoff.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/52377695/columbian-progress/ |title=1955 Initial Democratic Gubernatorial primary results |date=August 11, 1955 |work=Columbian-Progress |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200529135908/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/52377695/columbian-progress/ |archive-date=May 29, 2020 |page=1 |via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref> He thereafter returned to practicing law{{sfn|Sansing|2016|p=191}} and Coleman went on to be elected governor.{{sfn|Smith|2019|p=78}}

===Death and legacy===

On May 4, 1956, Wright suffered a heart attack and died forty minutes later at his home in [[Jackson, Mississippi]].<ref name="wright life">{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/49331132/columbian-progress/ |title=Former Governor Wright Buried At Rolling Fork |date=May 10, 1956 |work=Columbian-Progress |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200422235452/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/49331132/columbian-progress/ |archive-date=April 22, 2020 |page=8 |via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref> Following his death, his son Fielding Wright Jr. was selected to succeed him as the president of the United Cerebral Palsy of Mississippi, Incorporated, a [[cerebral palsy]] humanitarian organization.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/49330700/clarion-ledger/ |title=Fielding Wright Jr. Carries On His Father's Great Work |date=May 25, 1956 |work=The Clarion-Ledger |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200422235213/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/49330700/clarion-ledger/ |archive-date=April 22, 2020 |page=10 |via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref> His funeral was held on May 6, and was attended by Senator [[Strom Thurmond]], state senator R. M. Kennedy, Mississippi Governor [[James P. Coleman]], Mississippi Lieutenant Governor [[Carroll Gartin]], and Mississippi Secretary of State [[Heber Austin Ladner|Heber Ladner]].<ref name="wright life"/> Thurmond stated that his death was "a tremendous loss to the South and to the nation".<ref name="wright life 2">{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/49333385/the-greenwood-commonwealth/ |title=Field L. Wright, Former Governor, Died Last Night |date=May 5, 1956 |work=The Greenwood Commonwealth |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200423002649/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/49333385/the-greenwood-commonwealth/ |archive-date=April 23, 2020 |page=1 |via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref> Most state newspaper obituaries focused on his participation in the 1948 Dixiecrat movement and his staunch segregationist pledges in the 1955 gubernatorial race.{{sfn|Smith|2019|pp=78–79}} He was buried at Kelly Cemetery in Rolling Fork.{{sfn|Sansing|2016|p=191}}

On November 17, 1960, a section of [[U.S. Route 61]] inside Mississippi was designated as the Fielding L. Wright Memorial Highway.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/49359769/clarion-ledger/ |title=Fitting Honor To The Memory Of A Beloved Mississippi Statesman |date=November 17, 1960 |work=The Clarion-Ledger |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200423132936/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/49359769/clarion-ledger/ |archive-date=April 23, 2020 |page=12 |via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref> An art center at the [[Delta State University]] and a science complex in the [[Mississippi Valley State University]] were named after him.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://segregationinamerica.eji.org/segregationists#full |title=FIELDING WRIGHT (1895-1956) GOVERNOR - MISSISSIPPI |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20200702012724/https://segregationinamerica.eji.org/segregationists%23full |archive-date=July 2, 2020}}</ref>

In 1990, former Arkansas Governor [[Sid McMath]] stated that Wright and Thurmond's nominations were "a racist thing" as "they were against Truman because of his attitude toward race and fair employment and these other things that finally became a matter of course later on, this social legislation."<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://docsouth.unc.edu/sohp/A-0352/excerpts/excerpt_3101.html |title=Oral History Interview with Sidney S. McMath |date=September 8, 1990 |work=Southern Oral History Program Collection |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20200701145332/https://docsouth.unc.edu/sohp/A-0352/excerpts/excerpt_3101.html |archive-date=July 1, 2020}}</ref> Historian James Patterson Smith wrote that 
Wright's association with the Dixiecrat movement "built the profoundly negative image that has long obscured his substantial achievements as a progressive legislator".{{sfn|Smith|2019|pp=61–62}} His personal papers were destroyed in a fire shortly after he left office, and he has generally been ignored in historiography or dismissed as a reactionary.{{sfn|Smith|2019|p=63}}

==Electoral history==

{{hidden begin|toggle=left|title=Fielding L. Wright electoral history}}

{{Election box begin no change|title = 1943 Mississippi Democratic lieutenant gubernatorial primary runoff<ref name="election 1943" />}}
{{Election box winning candidate with party link no change
|party      = Democratic Party (United States)
|candidate  = Fielding L. Wright
|votes      = 155,265
|percentage = 58.83%
}}
{{Election box candidate with party link no change
|party      = Democratic Party (United States)
|candidate  = John Lumpkin
|votes      = 108,661
|percentage = 41.17%
}}
{{Election box total no change
|votes     = 263,926
|percentage = 100.00%
}}
{{Election box end}}

{{Election box begin no change|title = 1947 Mississippi Democratic gubernatorial primary<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=384445 |title=MS Governor – D Primary 1947 |date=January 27, 2018 |access-date=April 23, 2020 |archive-date=March 8, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210308191354/https://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=384445 |url-status=live }}</ref>}}
{{Election box winning candidate with party link no change
|party      = Democratic Party (United States)
|candidate  = Fielding L. Wright (incumbent)
|votes      = 202,014
|percentage = 55.31%
}}
{{Election box candidate with party link no change
|party      = Democratic Party (United States)
|candidate  = [[Paul B. Johnson Jr.]]
|votes      = 112,123
|percentage = 30.70%
}}
{{Election box candidate with party link no change
|party      = Democratic Party (United States)
|candidate  = Jesse M. Byrd
|votes      = 37,997
|percentage = 10.40%
}}
{{Election box candidate with party link no change
|party      = Democratic Party (United States)
|candidate  = Frank L. Jacobs
|votes      = 8,750
|percentage = 2.40%
}}
{{Election box candidate with party link no change
|party      = Democratic Party (United States)
|candidate  = William L. Spinks
|votes      = 4,344
|percentage = 1.19%
}}
{{Election box total no change
|votes     = 365,228
|percentage = 100.00%
}}
{{Election box end}}

{{Election box begin|title = 1947 Mississippi gubernatorial election<ref name="election 1947" />}}
{{Election box winning candidate with party link
|party      = Democratic Party (United States)
|candidate  = Fielding L. Wright (incumbent)
|votes      = 166,095
|percentage = 97.59%
|change     = -2.41%
}}
{{Election box candidate with party link
|party      = Independent Republican (United States)
|candidate  = [[George L. Sheldon]]
|votes      = 4,102
|percentage = 2.41%
|change     = +2.41%
}}
{{Election box total
|votes     = 170,197
|percentage = 100.00%
|change    = 
}}
{{Election box end}}

{{Election box begin no change|title = 1955 Mississippi Democratic gubernatorial primary<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=385139 |title=MS Governor – D Primary 1955 |date=October 5, 2019 |access-date=April 23, 2020 |archive-date=March 8, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210308132229/https://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=385139 |url-status=live }}</ref>}}
{{Election box winning candidate with party link no change
|party      = Democratic Party (United States)
|candidate  = [[Paul B. Johnson Jr.]]
|votes      = 122,483
|percentage = 28.07%
}}
{{Election box candidate with party link no change
|party      = Democratic Party (United States)
|candidate  = [[James P. Coleman]]
|votes      = 104,140
|percentage = 23.87%
}}
{{Election box candidate with party link no change
|party      = Democratic Party (United States)
|candidate  = Fielding L. Wright
|votes      = 94,460
|percentage = 21.65%
}}
{{Election box candidate with party link no change
|party      = Democratic Party (United States)
|candidate  = [[Ross Barnett]]
|votes      = 92,785
|percentage = 21.27%
}}
{{Election box candidate with party link no change
|party      = Democratic Party (United States)
|candidate  = Mary D. Cain
|votes      = 22,469
|percentage = 5.15%
}}
{{Election box total no change
|votes     = 436,337
|percentage = 100.00%
}}
{{Election box end}}

{{hidden end}}

==See also==
*[[Curtis LeMay]] – vice-presidential nominee of the [[American Independent Party]] in [[1968 United States presidential election|1968]]
*[[Herman Talmadge]] – selected vice-presidential nominee of a faithless elector in [[1956 United States presidential election|1956]]
*[[Thomas H. Werdel]] – vice-presidential nominee of multiple third parties in [[1956 United States presidential election|1956]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

== Works cited ==
* {{cite book| last = Sansing| first = David G.| title = Mississippi Governors: Soldiers, Statesmen, Scholars, Scoundrels| publisher = Nautilus Publishing Company| edition = first| date = 2016| location = Oxford| isbn = 978-1-936946-81-5}}
* {{cite journal| last = Smith| first = James Patterson| title = Fielding L. Wright (1946-1952): Legacy of a White-Supremacist Progressive| journal = The Journal of Mississippi History| volume = LXXXI| issue = 1–2| pages = 61–80| date = 2019| url = https://www.mississippihistory.org/sites/default/files/spring_summer_2019_final.pdf| issn = 0022-2771}}

==External links==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20050831185200/http://mshistory.k12.ms.us/features/feature48/governors/wright.htm Mississippi History Now, publication of the Mississippi History Society]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20041025103538/http://www.mscode.com/free/statutes/37/115/0035.htm Mississippi Code of 1972, Fielding L. Wright Health Fund Established]
* [https://www.archives.gov/federal_register/electoral_college/scores.html#1948 Federal Register of Electoral College Votes, 1948 Election]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20051026230943/http://uncpress.unc.edu/chapters/frederickson_dixiecrat.html The Dixiecrat Revolt & The End Of The Solid South, University of North Carolina Press]
*{{Find a Grave|16297098|access-date=February 21, 2009}}

{{s-start}}
{{s-off}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Dennis Murphree]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Lieutenant Governor of Mississippi]]|years=1944–1946}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Sam Lumpkin]]}}
|-
{{s-bef|before=[[Thomas L. Bailey]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[List of Governors of Mississippi|Governor of Mississippi]]|years=1946–1952}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Hugh L. White]]}}
|-
{{s-ppo}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Dennis Murphree]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]] nominee for [[Lieutenant Governor of Mississippi]]|years=1943}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Sam Lumpkin]]}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Thomas L. Bailey]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]] nominee for [[List of Governors of Mississippi|Governor of Mississippi]]|years=[[1947 Mississippi gubernatorial election|1947]]}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Hugh L. White]]}}
|-
{{s-new|party}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Dixiecrat]] nominee for [[Vice President of the United States]]|years=[[1948 United States presidential election|1948]]}}
{{s-non|reason=Party dissolved}}
{{s-end}}

{{Governors of Mississippi}}
{{Lieutenant Governors of Mississippi}}{{MS House Speakers}}{{Historical right-wing third party presidential tickets (U.S.)}}
{{United States presidential election, 1948}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wright, Fielding L.}}
[[Category:1895 births]]
[[Category:1956 deaths]]
[[Category:1948 United States vice-presidential candidates]]
[[Category:Methodists from Mississippi]]
[[Category:United States Army personnel of World War I]]
[[Category:American people of English descent]]
[[Category:American people of Welsh descent]]
[[Category:Democratic Party governors of Mississippi]]
[[Category:Lewis family]]
[[Category:Lieutenant governors of Mississippi]]
[[Category:Dixiecrats]]
[[Category:Democratic Party Mississippi state senators]]
[[Category:People from Rolling Fork, Mississippi]]
[[Category:Speakers of the Mississippi House of Representatives]]
[[Category:Democratic Party members of the Mississippi House of Representatives]]
[[Category:University of Alabama alumni]]
[[Category:Webb School (Bell Buckle, Tennessee) alumni]]
[[Category:Candidates in the 1948 United States presidential election]]
[[Category:United States Army soldiers]]
[[Category:20th-century members of the Mississippi Legislature]]