George Peddy

George Peddy (August 22, 1892 – June 13, 1951) was an American attorney, military officer, and political figure from Texas. A 1920 graduate of the University of Texas School of Law, he practiced law in Houston with the prominent firm of Vinson, Elkins, Weems, and Francis. A Democrat, He served in the Texas House of Representatives in 1917 and ran two high-profile but unsuccessful campaigns for the United States Senate (1922, 1948). A United States Army veteran of World War I and World War II, he attained the rank of lieutenant colonel while serving with the 5th Infantry Division in France during the Second World War, and received the Bronze Star Medal and Croix de Guerre.

Early life George Edwin Bailey Peddy was born on a farm near Tenaha, Texas, on August 22, 1892, the youngest of seven sons born to William Henry Peddy and Laura Gertrude (Chambers) Peddy. His father died two months before Peddy's birth, and from a young age he helped support the family by working on the farm, which grew cotton, corn, sugarcane, and peanuts.

Start of career After graduating from high school and teaching school in Timpson to earn tuition, in 1913 Peddy began attendance at the University of Texas at Austin. He remained for a year and afterwards resumed working on the family farm.

Peddy also returned to the University of Texas, and in 1917 he was elected as student body president. Peddy was assigned to the 163rd Infantry Regiment, a unit of the 41st Division. He served in France throughout the war, and later commanded Company K, 360th Infantry Regiment, a unit of the 90th Division. He remained with the Army during its post-war occupation of Germany and returned to the United States in the spring of 1919. He practiced law in Houston in partnership with David Andrew Simmons and Dan Jackson.

Later career In 1925, Peddy joined the Houston law firm of Vinson, Elkins, Weems, and Francis (now Vinson & Elkins).

Peddy later served on the staff of the 5th Infantry Division, a unit of Third U.S. Army. He landed in Normandy in July 1944 and served in Europe until the end of the war. He declined the firm's offer of a salaried position and established a solo practice in Houston. Peddy endorsed Stevenson, who was also a conservative, and most observers assumed that adding Peddy's supporters to Stevenson's would enable Stevenson to defeat the more liberal Johnson. In a runoff that was rife with allegations of fraud, Johnson obtained endorsements from two of Peddy's brothers and made enough gains among former Peddy voters to make the runoff closer than expected. In a controversial result, Johnson was declared the winner by 87 votes. He went on to win the general election, defeating Republican Homa J. Porter.

Later life After his second Senate campaign, Peddy resumed practicing law in Houston. The Peddy Papers are part of the Dolph Briscoe Center for American History and are available to the public.