View source for Morris Sheppard

{{short description|American politician}}

{{Infobox officeholder
|name         = Morris Sheppard
|image        = SHEPPARD, MORRIS. SENATOR LCCN2016862554 (cropped).jpg
|office       = [[Party leaders of the United States Senate|Senate Minority Whip]]
|leader       = [[Joseph Taylor Robinson]]
|term_start   = March 4, 1929
|term_end     = March 4, 1933
|predecessor  = [[Peter G. Gerry]]
|successor    = [[Felix Hebert]]
|jr/sr1       = United State Senator
|state1       = [[Texas]]
|term_start1  = February 3, 1913
|term_end1    = April 9, 1941
|predecessor1 = [[Rienzi Melville Johnston|Rienzi Johnston]]
|successor1   = [[Andrew Jackson Houston|Andrew Houston]]
|office2      = Member of the<br>[[U.S. House of Representatives]]<br>from [[Texas]]
|constituency2 = {{ushr|TX|4|4th district}} (1902–03)<br>{{ushr|TX|1|1st district}} (1903–13)
|term_start2  = November 15, 1902
|term_end2    = February 3, 1913
|predecessor2 = [[John Levi Sheppard]]
|successor2   = [[Horace Worth Vaughan]]
|birth_name   = John Morris Sheppard
|birth_date   = {{birth date|1875|5|28}}
|birth_place  = [[Morris County, Texas]], U.S.
|death_date   = {{death date and age|1941|4|9|1875|5|28}}
|death_place  = [[Washington, D.C.]], U.S.
|party        = [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]]
|spouse       = Lucille Sanderson
|children     = 3 daughters
|parents      = [[John Levi Sheppard]]<br>Margaret Alice Eddins
|relatives    = [[Connie Mack III]] (grandson)<br>[[Richard S. Arnold]] (grandson)<br>[[Morris S. Arnold]] (grandson)<br>[[Connie Mack IV]] (great-grandson)
|education    = [[University of Texas at Austin|University of Texas, Austin]] ([[Bachelor of Arts|BA]], [[Bachelor of Laws|LLB]])<br>[[Yale University]] ([[Master of Laws|LLM]])
}}

'''John Morris Sheppard''' (May 28, 1875{{spaced ndash}}April 9, 1941) was a [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]] [[United States Congressman]] and [[United States Senate|United States Senator]] from [[Texas]]. He authored the [[Eighteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution|Eighteenth Amendment]] ([[Prohibition in the United States|Prohibition]]) and introduced it in the Senate, and is referred to as "the father of national Prohibition."<ref>{{cite book |title=Hood, bonnet, and little brown jug: Texas politics, 1921–1928 |last=Brown |first=Norman D. |year=1984 |publisher=Texas A&M University Press |isbn=0-89096-157-3 |page=226 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1LV8z4R_6_wC&pg=PA226 |access-date=October 17, 2011 }}{{Dead link|date=March 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

==Background==
Sheppard was born in [[Morris County, Texas|Morris County]] in east Texas, the oldest of seven children, to lawyer [[John Levi Sheppard]], later a judge and United States Representative; and his wife, the former Margaret Alice Eddins.<ref name="John Morris Sheppard"/>

Through his mother Margaret, Morris Sheppard was a direct descendant of [[Robert Morris (financier)|Robert Morris]] (1734–1806) of [[Philadelphia, Pennsylvania]], a financier who had signed the [[Declaration of Independence (United States)|Declaration of Independence]], the [[Articles of Confederation]], and the [[United States Constitution]].<ref name="John Morris Sheppard"/>

==Education==

Sheppard received his [[Bachelor of Arts|B.A.]] degree from the [[University of Texas at Austin]] in 1895, and an [[Bachelor of Laws|LL.B.]] from the [[University of Texas School of Law]] in 1897.  While in law school Sheppard became a member of the [[Methodist|Methodist Church]], and became friendly with two classmates, future Governor [[Pat Neff]], and future U.S. Senator [[Tom Connally]].<ref name="The Land, the Law, and the Lord: The Life of Pat Neff">{{cite book |last=Blodgett|first=Dorothy, Terrell Blodgett, and David L. Scott|title=The Land, the Law, and the Lord: The Life of Pat Neff |year=2007 |publisher=Home Place Publishers Publishing|isbn=978-0-9761152-2-9|page=19}}</ref> In 1898, he received his [[LL.M.]] from [[Yale Law School]].<ref name="Representing Texas: a Comprehensive History of U.S. and Confederate Senators and Representatives from Texas">{{cite book |last=Guttery|first=Ben|title=Representing Texas: a Comprehensive History of U.S. and Confederate Senators and Representatives from Texas |year=2008 |publisher=BookSurge Publishing|isbn=978-1-4196-7884-4|page=138}}</ref>

He began practicing law with his father in [[Pittsburg, Texas]] and later [[Texarkana]].

==Public service==

In 1902, Morris Sheppard was elected as a [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democrat]] to replace his deceased father in the [[United States House of Representatives]].  He held the seat until his resignation in 1913, when the [[Texas legislature]] elected him to the United States Senate.<ref name="John Morris Sheppard">{{Handbook of Texas | name=John Morris Sheppard |author=Bailey, Richard |id=fsh24|  retrieved=17 July 2010}} Texas State Historical Association</ref> In 1914 and while holding the office of Senator, he was on the Central Committee of the First National Conference on Race Betterment, a conference on eugenics held at the Battle Creek Sanatorium.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://archive.org/details/proceedingsoffir14nati/page/n15/mode/1up?ref=ol&view=theater|title = Proceedings of the first National Conference on Race Betterment, January 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 1914. Battle Creek, Michigan|year = 1914|location = Battle Creek, Mich.|publisher = Gage Printing Company}}</ref> He served as Democratic whip between 1929 and 1933.

In the 1928 presidential election, Texas voters abandoned the Democratic candidate, [[Alfred E. Smith]], Governor of New York and a Catholic, carrying the state for Republican [[Herbert Hoover]] and contributing to his victory. In the summer of 1929, [[First Lady of the United States|First Lady]] [[Lou Hoover]] arranged the traditional teas for wives of congressmen, inviting Jessie De Priest, wife of [[Oscar Stanton De Priest]] of Chicago, the first African American elected to Congress in the 20th century. Senator Sheppard was among those who objected to this invitation, quoted as saying, "I regret the incident beyond measure. It is recognition of social equality between the white and black races and is fraught with infinite danger to our white civilization."<ref name="whitehouse">[https://www.whitehousehistory.org/photos/photo-3-46 Special Dispatch to ''The New York World'' and ''The Sun,'' "Recognition of Representative De Priest by Hoovers Is Causing Stir in Washington"], Springfield, Ohio, 17 June 1929</ref>

Sheppard held his Senate seat until his death in Washington, D.C. in 1941. Then-Representative [[Lyndon B. Johnson]] ran for Sheppard's Senate seat in the 1941 [[special election]], and lost to Governor [[W. Lee O'Daniel]].

===Legislative agenda===

As Senator, Sheppard sponsored progressive reform legislation promoting rural credit programs, child labor laws, and antitrust laws. He was also an advocate of [[women's suffrage in the United States]].<ref name="John Morris Sheppard"/> But he supported the maintenance in Texas and the South of [[racial segregation]] in public facilities and the [[Disfranchisement after Reconstruction era|disenfranchisement of blacks]].

===Prohibition===

During his tenure, Sheppard was a vocal supporter of the [[temperance movement]]. He helped write the [[Webb–Kenyon Act]] (1913) to regulate the interstate shipment of [[alcoholic beverage]]s, authored the [[Sheppard Bone-Dry Act]] (1916) to impose prohibition on the [[District of Columbia]], introduced the Senate resolution for the [[Eighteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution|Eighteenth Amendment]] establishing national prohibition, and helped write the [[Volstead Act]] that provided for its enforcement.

However, during the Prohibition era, a [[still]] that produced 130 gallons of [[moonshine]] per day was discovered on a Texas ranch that Sheppard owned.<ref>From [[Ken Burns]]'s documentary series ''[[Prohibition (miniseries)|Prohibition]]'', episode 2 ("A Nation of Scofflaws"), circa 1:16:00.</ref>

When a resolution calling for a [[Twenty-first Amendment to the United States Constitution|Twenty-first Amendment]] to repeal prohibition was introduced to the Senate by [[John J. Blaine]] of [[Wisconsin]], Sheppard filibustered it for eight-and-a-half hours. He was not helped by a single "dry" senator and he relented, the motion passing by 63 votes to 23.<ref>From Ken Burns's documentary series ''Prohibition'', episode 3 ("A Nation of Hypocrites"), circa 1:30:00.</ref>

===Sheppard–Towner Maternity and Infancy Protection Act of 1921===

Co-sponsored by Morris Sheppard and [[Horace Mann Towner]], the [[Sheppard–Towner Act]] of 1921 provided Federal matching funds for services aimed to reduce maternal and infant mortality.  The funding included: midwife training; visiting nurses for pregnant women and new mothers; distribution of nutrition and hygiene information; health clinics, doctors and nurses, for pregnant women, mothers and children.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://womenshistory.about.com/od/laws/a/sheppard-towner.htm |title=Sheppard-Towner Maternity And Infancy Protection Act – 42 Stat. 224 (1921) |access-date=17 July 2010 |archive-date=22 November 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091122220204/http://womenshistory.about.com/od/laws/a/sheppard-towner.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref>

===Federal Credit Union Act of 1934===

Senator Morris Sheppard and [[Wright Patman|Congressman Wright Patman]] are considered the fathers of the [[Federal Credit Union Act]] of 1934. Sheppard was the act's author.  The bill had stalled in the [[United States House of Representatives]], considerably shortening the time the [[United States Senate]] had to pass the final version. Rather than sending the bill to a conference committee, Sheppard asked the Senate to pass the bill unanimously without reading the bill or the amendments. The bill passed the Senate unanimously.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Federal CU Act Passes: 1934 |journal=Credit Union Magazine |publisher=Credit Union National Association Inc|issue=18 Nov 2008 }}</ref>  The Morris Sheppard Credit Union in [[Texarkana, Texas]] carries the Senator's name, while the institution's local credit union chapter is named after Congressman Patman.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://morrissheppardfcu.org/?page_id=2 |title=History-Morris Sheppard Texarkana Federal Credit  |access-date=17 July 2010}}</ref>

==Personal life==
[[File:SHEPPARD, MORRIS, MRS. LCCN2016856911 (cropped).jpg|thumb|Lucile Sanderson Sheppard, c. 1925]]
On December 1, 1909, Sheppard married Lucile Sanderson. The couple had three daughters: Susan, Lucile, and Janet. Some of their descendants also became politicians.

Through their daughter Susan, Sheppard and his wife were the grandparents of [[Connie Mack III]], [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] U.S. Representative and U.S. Senator from [[Florida]], and great-grandparents of [[Connie Mack IV]], Republican U.S. Representative from Florida. Other Sheppard grandsons, through daughter Janet, were Democrat [[Richard S. Arnold|Richard Sheppard Arnold]] (1936–2004) and Republican [[Morris S. Arnold|Morris Sheppard "Buzz" Arnold]] (born 1941), judges at different times on the [[United States District Court for the Western District of Arkansas]], and later concurrently on the [[United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit]], the only brothers to serve concurrently on a U.S. federal court of appeals. The federal courthouse in [[Little Rock, Arkansas|Little Rock]] is named in Judge Richard Arnold's honor. Judge Morris Arnold, a Republican, remains on the Eighth Circuit court under senior status.

==Death==
Sheppard died in office of a brain hemorrhage on April 9, 1941. He is interred at Hillcrest Cemetery in Texarkana, Texas. [[Andrew Jackson Houston]] was appointed senator in his place until a special election could be held.

The year following Sheppard's death, his widow Lucile Sanderson Sheppard married [[Tom Connally]], also a [[United States senator]] from Texas.<ref name="Representing Texas: a Comprehensive History of U.S. and Confederate Senators and Representatives from Texas"/>  Senator Connally also pre-deceased Lucile.  When she died in 1980, she was buried with her first husband Morris Sheppard in Hillcrest Cemetery.

==Legacy==

[[Sheppard Air Force Base]] in [[Wichita Falls, Texas]] was named in his honor.

==Fraternal memberships==

*[[Freemasonry|Freemasons]]
*[[Knights of Pythias]]
*[[Odd Fellows]]
*[[Woodmen of the World]]
*[[Improved Order of Red Men]]
*[[Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks]]
*[[Kappa Alpha Order]]
*[[Phi Beta Kappa Society]]

==See also==
* [[List of United States Congress members who died in office (1900–49)]]
* [[List of United States senators from Texas]]

==References==
{{reflist|2}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Morris Sheppard}}
{{CongBio|S000337}}

{{s-start}}
{{s-par|us-hs}}
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{{s-ttl|title=Member of the [[List of United States Representatives from Texas|U.S. House of Representatives]]<br>from [[Texas's 4th congressional district]]|years=1902–1903}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Choice B. Randell]]}}
|-
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|-
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|-
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{{s-ttl|title=[[List of United States Senators from Texas|U.S. Senator (Class 2) from Texas]]|years=1913–1941|alongside=[[Charles Allen Culberson]], [[Earle B. Mayfield]], [[Tom Connally]]}}
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|-
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{{s-ttl|title=Chair of the [[United States Senate Committee on Armed Services|Senate Military Affairs Committee]]|years=1933–1941}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Robert Rice Reynolds]]}}
|-
{{s-ppo}}
{{s-new|first}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]] nominee for [[United States Senator|U.S. Senator]] from [[Texas]]<br>([[Classes of United States Senators|Class 2]])|years=[[1918 United States Senate election in Texas|1918]], [[1924 United States Senate election in Texas|1924]], [[1930 United States Senate election in Texas|1930]], [[1936 United States Senate election in Texas|1936]]}}
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{{s-ttl|title=[[Party leaders of the United States Senate|Senate Democratic Whip]]|years=1929–1933}}
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{{s-end}}

{{USSenTX}}
{{USSenMinWhips}}
{{USSenDemWhip}}
{{SenArmedServiceCommitteeChairs}}
{{US House Transportation and Infrastructure chairs}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sheppard, Morris}}
[[Category:1875 births]]
[[Category:1941 deaths]]
[[Category:Activists from Texas]]
[[Category:Temperance activists from Texas]]
[[Category:Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Texas]]
[[Category:Democratic Party United States senators from Texas]]
[[Category:People from Morris County, Texas]]
[[Category:University of Texas School of Law alumni]]
[[Category:Yale University alumni]]
[[Category:American segregationists]]
[[Category:Progressivism in the United States]]
[[Category:20th-century United States senators]]
[[Category:20th-century members of the United States House of Representatives]]