-
Chapter 24: Twentieth Century Politics: Underwood to Rockefeller
- The University Press of Kentucky
- Chapter
- Additional Information
Twentieth Century Politics: Underwood to Rockefeller Midcentury Pditkal Changes. Historically, the American people have wearied of sustained departures from traditional modes of life, including the demands of liberal idealism, the exertions and regimentation of war, and the responsibilities and frustrations of world leadership. At the beginning of the second half of the twentieth century, they had experiencedtwenty years of New Deal and FairDeal policies, with their advanced socialand economicprograms; the most destructive war in history; and, following that war, the prospect of indefinite commitments abroad. A desire for what Warren G. Harding called "normalcy" and dissatisfactions with the Truman administration enabled Dwight D. Eisenhower, the Republican candidate, to defeat the Democratic presidential aspirant, Adlai Stevenson, in 1952by a popular vote of 33,936,234 to 27,314,987 and an electoral vote of 442 to 81 and, like Herbert Hoover in 1928, to break into the "solid South." Although national trends were apparent in West Virginia, the state generally remained Democratic. Stevenson and Marland, the Democratic candidate for governor, carried the state, but by the smallest margins since 1932. Except for one congressional seat, the Democrats retained all federal and statewide offices that they held and kept firm control of both houses of the legislature. The election of 1956in West Virginiawas a different story. The Democrats, split once again and many of them deeply disappointed in the actions of Governor Marland, faced an uphill battle. On March 30, a few weeks before the primary, Okey L. Patteson, who had pressed Marland upon a reluctant party as its gubernatorialnominee in 1952,publicly declaredthat he had made "a tragic mistake." He stated that his associations with Marland had led him to believe that his choice for the nominee was "honest, trustworthy, highly efficient and strictly sober," but he realized that his "faith was misplaced."' The Republicans made the most of their opportunity. For the first time since 1928 a Republican candidate for president carried West Virginia. Eisenhower, 'Quoted in John G. Morgan, West Virginia Governors, 1863-1980, 2d ed. (Charleston: Charleston Newspapers, 1980). 201. Politics: Underwoodto Rockefeller 279 who seemed to many Americans to embody the old-fashioned virtues of the country, was easily reelected. In West Virginia, where he had lost to Stevenson four years earlier, he won 449,297 popular votes to 381,534 for Stevenson. In state congressionalraces, Revercomb defeated Marland, and two Republicans, Will E. Neal and Arch A. Moore, Jr., dislodged Democrats. The most dramatic Republican victory of 1956 was achieved by Cecil H. Underwood, who became the first Republican governor since 1929, defeating Democrat Robert H. Mollohan by a vote of 440,502 to 377,121. Republicans also made gains in the legislature,but without attainingmajorities. Republican R. Virgil Rohrbough was elected statesuperintendentof free schoolsoverW.W. Trent, who had held the position since 1933. GovernorCedlHadandUndemood.The youngest man everelectedgovernor of West Virginia, Cecil H. Underwood (b. November 5, 1922) had a background in history and political scienceand from 1950to 1956served as vice presidentof Salem College. In 1944,when he was twenty-two years old, he was electedto the House of Delegatesand represented his native TylerCountyforsix terms.From 1949until he becamegovernorhe was the minority floorleader.The thirty-four-year-old Underwood was therefore not without a considerable amount of needed political seasoning. Despite its Democraticcomplexion,Underwood generallyworked harmoniously with the legislaturein 1957.At the end of the session he could point to the creationof a Mental Health Department, establishmentof the Department of Finance and Adminstration, reorganization of the State Road Commission, creationof abipartisancommissionon equalizationand revaluationof property, and authorizationfor counties to levy a special school tax to a maximum of ten dollars per adult annually. In the 1958 budget session of the legislature Underwood stressed schools and roads. He urged adoptionof an incentiveplan, proposed by Rohrbough, that limited state aid and rewarded initiative and planning at the county level. With respect to roads, he boldly called for a $500 million system of backbone highways, featuringexpresswaysand aggregatingsome 970 miles, to interconnect with the interstate routes, with costs to be spread over ten years and met through increases in consumers sales, gross sales, racing, and highway user taxes. The state, however, was in a depressed condition, and the legislature, closely attuned to its implications in the approaching elections, rejected the plan. The followingyear the legislaturegave approvalforan EconomicDevelopment Agency, a State Temporary EconomicProgram, or STEP, and various tax increases, with $9 million earmarked for roads. Political differences between the executive and legislative branches of government impeded action in several areas. The...