View source for Ross Bass

{{short description|American politician (1918–1993)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox officeholder 
| name=Ross Bass
| image name=Senator Ross Bass "On the Job!" (1965 UPI press photo).jpg
| caption= Bass in 1965
| jr/sr=United States Senator
| state=[[Tennessee]]
| party=[[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]]
| term=November 4, 1964 – January 3, 1967
| preceded=[[Herbert S. Walters]]
| succeeded=[[Howard Baker]]
| office2= Member of the <br> [[United States House of Representatives|U.S. House of Representatives]] <br> from [[Tennessee's 6th congressional district|Tennessee's 6th District]]
| term_start2= January 3, 1955
| term_end2= November 3, 1964
| predecessor2= [[James Patrick Sutton]]
| successor2= [[William R. Anderson]]
| birth_date= {{birth date|1918|3|17}}
| birth_place= [[Giles County, Tennessee]], U.S.
| death_date= {{death date and age|1993|1|1|1918|3|17}}
| death_place= [[Miami Shores, Florida]], U.S.
| resting_place= [[Maplewood Cemetery (Pulaski, Tennessee)|Maplewood Cemetery]], [[Pulaski, Tennessee]], U.S.
| spouse= Avanell K Bass<br>Judy Bobo<br>Jacqui Colter
| alma_mater= [[Martin Methodist College]]
| branch= [[United States Army Air Corps]]
| serviceyears= 1941-1945
| battles= [[World War II]]
| rank= [[File:US-O3 insignia.svg|25px]] [[Captain (armed forces)|Captain]]
}}

'''Ross Bass''' (March 17, 1918 – January 1, 1993) was an American [[Congressman]] and [[United States Senate|United States Senator]] from [[Tennessee]].

==Early life==
Bass was the son of a [[circuit rider (religious)|circuit-riding]] [[Methodism|Methodist]] [[minister (religion)|minister]] in rural [[Giles County, Tennessee|Giles County]], attended the local [[Public school (government funded)|public school]]s, and graduated from [[Martin Methodist College|Martin Methodist Junior College, Pulaski, Tennessee]] in 1938.<ref name="nytimes"/>

He joined the [[United States Army Air Forces]] and served as a [[bombardier (air force)|bombardier]] in Europe during [[World War II]], reaching the rank of captain. After his 1945 discharge Bass opened a [[flower shop]] in Pulaski, the [[county seat]]. He was named [[postmaster]] of Pulaski in 1946, serving until 1954.<ref name="nytimes">[https://www.nytimes.com/1993/01/02/obituaries/ross-bass-ex-senator-tennessean-was-75.html?pagewanted=1 "Ross Bass, Ex-Senator; Tennessean Was 75"], ''[[New York Times]]'', January 2, 1993.</ref>

==United States Representative==
{{See also|1964 United States Senate special election in Tennessee|1966 United States Senate election in Tennessee}}
In 1954, Bass was elected as a [[United States Democratic Party|Democratic]] [[United States House of Representatives|U.S. Congressman]] from Tennessee's 6th District, which included Pulaski. He was reelected four times. Bass signed onto the 1956 anti-desegregation [[Southern Manifesto]],<ref>{{cite journal|title=Southern Congressmen Present Segregation Manifesto|journal=CQ Almanac|year=1956|url=http://library.cqpress.com/cqalmanac/cqal56-1349188|access-date=January 3, 2024}}</ref> but was the only Democratic Representative from the rural [[Southern United States|South]] to vote for the [[Civil Rights Act of 1964]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/88-1964/h182|title=H.R. 7152. CIVIL RIGHTS ACT OF 1964. ADOPTION OF A RESOLUTION (H. RES. 789) PROVIDING FOR HOUSE APPROVAL OF THE BILL AS AMENDED BY THE SENATE.}}</ref> The only other Southern Representatives to vote for the bill were from large cities—[[Richard Fulton]] from [[Nashville, Tennessee]], [[Charles Weltner]] from [[Atlanta, Georgia]], [[Claude Pepper]] from [[Miami, Florida]] and four Representatives from [[Texas]] ([[Jack Brooks (American politician)|Jack Brooks]] of [[Beaumont, Texas|Beaumont]], [[Henry B. Gonzalez]] of [[San Antonio]], [[J. J. Pickle]] of [[Austin, Texas|Austin]] and [[Albert Thomas (American politician)|Albert Thomas]] of [[Houston]]). Bass also voted in favor of the [[Twenty-fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution|24th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution]] in 1962.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/87-1962/h193|title=S.J. RES. 29. CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT TO BAN THE USE OF POLL TAX AS A REQUIREMENT FOR VOTING IN FEDERAL ELECTIONS.|work=GovTrack.us}}</ref>

==United States Senator==
In 1963, Senator [[Estes Kefauver]] died in office. [[Governor of Tennessee|Governor]] [[Frank G. Clement]] made no secret that he wanted to run in the special election due in 1964 for the final two years of Kefauver's term. To that end, he appointed one of his cabinet members, [[Herbert S. Walters]], to serve as a caretaker until the special election. However, Clement's plan backfired when Bass defeated him in the Democratic primary held in August.

[[1964 United States Senate special election in Tennessee|In November]], Bass defeated the [[United States Republican Party|Republican]] nominee, [[Howard Baker]] by only 51,575 votes the closest that a Republican had come to winning election to the Senate from Tennessee at the time.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=142382|title = Our Campaigns - TN US Senate Special Race - Nov 03, 1964}}</ref>  Since the election was for an unexpired term, and in the Senate seniority is a very important consideration when being considered for committee assignments, office assignments, and the like, Bass was sworn in as soon as the election results could be certified in order to give him a slight seniority advantage over other freshmen Senators elected in 1964. Bass became Tennessee's junior Senator (the senior Senator at that time being [[Albert Gore, Sr.]]) and prepared to run for a full term in [[1966 United States Senate election in Tennessee|1966]]. Bass voted in favor of the [[Voting Rights Act of 1965]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/89-1965/s178|title=TO AGREE TO THE CONFERENCE REPORT ON S. 1564, THE VOTING RIGHTS ACT OF 1965.}}</ref>

However, this race proved problematic for Bass. Clement still desired the seat for himself, especially since he could not run for reelection as governor in 1966 (in those days, Tennessee governors were barred from immediately succeeding themselves). He wanted to avoid being forced out of politics, as he had once before when faced with term limits the first time in 1958. Due to a large Republican crossover vote, Bass lost the August 1966 Democratic primary to Clement, even though he received 10% more votes than in the previous election. Clement went on to lose resoundingly to Baker in the general election.

==Later campaigns==
Bass subsequently made two attempts to re-enter politics. He ran for the 1974 Democratic nomination for governor, but finished fifth in a nine-candidate field—well behind the eventual winner, [[Ray Blanton]].<ref>Langsdon, Philip. ''Tennessee: A Political History'' Franklin, Tenn.: Hillsboro Press, 2000; pp. 375-387.</ref>

In 1976 he entered the Democratic primary for his old House seat and won the nomination. The district, however, had been significantly [[redistricting|redrawn]] since his previous service. Bass found himself running in a large amount of territory that he did not know and that did not know him. Much of this area was located in suburban territory near Memphis and Nashville that had turned heavily Republican, at least at the national level. Bass lost badly 64% to 36% to the incumbent Republican representative, [[Robin Beard]].<ref>[http://knoxfocus.com/archives/this-weeks-focus/last-hurrah-ross-bass/ Hill, Ray. "The Last Hurrah of Ross Bass". ''Knoxville Focus'' September 10, 2017]</ref>

==Personal life==
His first marriage to Avanell K Bass ended in divorce in 1967. He married Judy Bobo, of Nashville, in 1975; they divorced in 1979.  In 1992 he married Jacqui Colter, who outlived him. After his divorce in 1979, he moved to [[Florida]], where he lived in [[Miami Shores]] until his death from [[lung cancer]] in 1993, aged 74.[https://www.nytimes.com/1993/01/02/obituaries/ross-bass-ex-senator-tennessean-was-75.html] His first cousin is actor [[Dewey Martin (actor)|Dewey Martin]].

==References==
<references/>

==External links==
*{{CongBio|B000223}}
*{{find a Grave|8036294}}

{{S-start}}
{{s-ppo}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Estes Kefauver]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]] nominee for [[List of United States Senators from Michigan|U.S. Senator]] from [[Tennessee]]<br>([[Classes of United States Senators|Class 2]])|years=[[1964 United States Senate special election in Tennessee|1964]]}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Frank G. Clement]]}}
{{S-par|us-hs}}
{{US House succession box 
| state=Tennessee
| district=6
| before= [[James Patrick Sutton]] 
| after= [[William Anderson (naval officer)|William R. Anderson]] 
| years= 1955&ndash;1964}}
{{S-par|us-sen}}
{{U.S. Senator box |
  state= Tennessee |
  class=2|
  before= [[Herbert S. Walters]] |
  after= [[Howard Baker|Howard H. Baker]] |
  alongside= [[Albert Gore, Sr.|Albert Gore]] |
  years= 1964&ndash;1967
}}
{{S-end}}

{{USSenTN}}
{{USCongRep-start|congresses= 84th–89th [[United States Congress]]es |state=[[Tennessee]]}}
{{USCongRep/TN/84}}
{{USCongRep/TN/85}}
{{USCongRep/TN/86}}
{{USCongRep/TN/87}}
{{USCongRep/TN/88}}
{{USCongRep/TN/89}}
{{USCongRep-end}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bass, Ross}}
[[Category:1918 births]]
[[Category:1993 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Giles County, Tennessee]]
[[Category:Democratic Party United States representatives from Tennessee]]
[[Category:Democratic Party United States senators from Tennessee]]
[[Category:Tennessee postmasters]]
[[Category:Florists]]
[[Category:University of Tennessee Southern alumni]]
[[Category:United States Army Air Forces officers]]
[[Category:Military personnel from Tennessee]]
[[Category:United States Army Air Forces personnel of World War II]]
[[Category:Deaths from lung cancer in Florida]]
[[Category:People from Miami Shores, Florida]]
[[Category:Signatories of the Southern Manifesto]]
[[Category:20th-century United States senators]]
[[Category:20th-century United States representatives]]
[[Category:American florists]]