“Alabama Senator” James Allen Hand Signed 3X5 Card Todd Mueller COA

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“Alabama Senator” James Allen Hand Signed 3X5 Card. This item is authenticated By Todd Mueller Autographs and comes with their certificate of authenticity.
ES-8932E
James Browning Allen
(December 28, 1912 – June 1, 1978) was an American
Democratic
politician serving as
U.S. senator
representing
Alabama
. Allen previously served as the Lieutenant Governor of Alabama and also served in the Alabama Senate and the Alabama House of Representatives. Allen was succeeded in the US Senate by his wife,
Maryon Pittman Allen
. The Gadsden native attended the
University of Alabama
and the
University of Alabama School of Law
, both located in
Tuscaloosa
. At the University of Alabama he was a member of
Alpha Sigma Phi
. He practiced law in Gadsden from 1935 to 1968 and was a member of the
Alabama House of Representatives
from 1938 to 1942. He resigned from the state legislature to enter active duty in the
United States Naval Reserve
from 1943 to 1946. He again ran for office after
World War II
and was a member of the
Alabama Senate
from 1946 to 1950. He was the
17th and 20th Lieutenant Governor of Alabama
from 1951 to 1955 and again from 1963 to 1967. In 1968, James Allen was elected to succeed the retiring Democratic U.S. Senator
J. Lister Hill
of
Montgomery
. Allen won 638,774 (76 percent) to 201,227 (24 percent) for his
Republican
opponent,
Perry O. Hooper, Sr.
Allen was known as one of the most
conservative Democrats
in the chamber. He was considerably more conservative even than many Republicans of the time. He was an active opponent of the
Panama Canal Treaty
of 1978. James Allen received one vote for the Republican vice-presidential nomination at the
1976 Republican National Convention
. In March 1974, Allen stated that
Governor
George Wallace
would run in the 1976 Democratic primary and that he believed the Wallace campaign would seek to prevent a repeat of the previous election cycle where the popular vote was not translated into his support from delegates. Like his Republican Senate colleague,
Jesse Helms
of
North Carolina
, Allen was a master of
parliamentary procedure
. He was considered to have revived the
filibuster
rule during his nearly nine years as a senator. Following the 1974 midterm elections, Allen pledged to use filibusters against liberal officeholders in favor of large spending in the upcoming
94th United States Congress
, reasoning that some of the newly elected Democrats could favor larger spending than the members they had replaced: "I don't feel the voters have given any mandate toward increased expenditures. The people's wishes as indicated by the vote are for us to curtail unnecessary programs and cut Federal spending." It was thought at this time that James Allen "could emerge as a leader of the Senate's conservative bloc with the retirement of Senator
Sam J. Ervin
, Democrat of
North Carolina
, and the aging of other conservatives".In December 1974, James Allen led a group of senators in an anti-busing filibuster against the removal of an amendment previously passed in the
House of Representatives
designed to curb Government enforcement of desegregation orders. The filibuster ended with a two–thirds majority voting 56 to 27 to end debate on language revising the amendment, marking only the 19th time a filibuster was ended in such a manner in Senate history. James Allen stated that the closure move would result in a legislative delay,
Hugh Scott
replying, "The supplemental is being delayed by the opposition of the Senator from Alabama to the Scott-Mansfield amendment." James Allen served in the Senate until his death of a
heart attack
on June 1, 1978, at the resort community of
Gulf Shores
, Alabama. He is interred at Forrest Cemetery in Gadsden. Governor
George C. Wallace
, under whom James Allen served previously as lieutenant governor, appointed Allen's widow,
Maryon Pittman Allen
, to succeed him in the Senate. However, Mrs. Allen lost the special Democratic primary to fill the remaining two years of her husband's term to
Donald W. Stewart
of
Anniston
. Stewart then defeated
James D. Martin
of
Gadsden
, who became the Republican nominee after a primary had already been held between George W. Nichols and Elvin McCary, also of Anniston, and a longtime friend of Senator James Allen's. For the change in nominees to occur, Nichols, who defeated McCary in the special Republican primary, had to agree to step down from the race.