Pat Harrison

Byron Patton "Pat" Harrison (August 29, 1881 – June 22, 1941) was a Mississippi politician who served as a Democrat in the United States House of Representatives from 1911 to 1919 and in the United States Senate from 1919 until his death.

Early life and education Pat Harrison was born at Crystal Springs, Mississippi. His father was a Confederate veteran of the Civil War and died in 1885. As a child, Harrison sold newspapers to supplement his family's income.

He dropped out after two years due to a lack of funds but was brought on to pitch for the Pickens, Mississippi, semi-professional baseball team in the 'Old Tomato League' summer circuit. He served as district attorney until being elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1910. Despite having received past help from Harrison, Bilbo actively supported Martin Sennett Conner for Harrison's Senate seat, presumably as a self-serving political maneuver.

President Roosevelt signs the Social Security Act into law, August 14, 1935. (Harrison second from right) As chairman of the powerful Senate Finance Committee, Harrison was one of the three or four key people behind the creation of the Social Security system in 1935. He also promoted low tariffs and reciprocal trade agreements. When the Senate majority leader's job opened up in 1937, Harrison was expected to win the position, Harrison's campaign manager asked Bilbo, the junior member from Mississippi, to consider voting for his fellow Mississippian. Bilbo, a race-baiting Democratic demagogue whose base was among tenant farmers, hated the upper-class Harrison, who represented the rich planters. The rivalry between the two had deepened over years of disagreement over aspects of the New Deal and how federal money should be distributed throughout Mississippi. Despite Harrison's support for Roosevelt and his policies, shortly before the vote, the president wrote a letter of support for Barkley. so Harrison's discussion of the Senate Journal was unable to be clotured until the sponsors withdrew the Bill.

Harrison served on the Senate Finance Committee and was chairman of that body from 1933 to 1941 (Seventy-third through Seventy-seventh Congresses), and served as President pro tempore of the Senate during the Seventy-seventh Congress, in 1941 until his death that year.

Political reputation Harrison was a highly effective politician and a brilliant orator. He listened to his district and provided information, services, and patronage. Due to his ability to maneuver through the political landscape and because he was well-liked by many of his fellow politicians, Harrison became rather influential in both legislation and political endorsement. In 1928, he supported New York Governor Al Smith for President and campaigned for him across the South, where there was opposition and superstition among white Southerners because of Smith’s Catholicism.

Harrison became known as the "Gadfly of the Senate" due to his oratory rebuking Republican policies.

At the 1932 Democratic National Convention, he swung the Mississippi delegation to Franklin D. Roosevelt on the crucial third ballot and became welcome at the White House.

Senator Tom Connally, who supported Harrison's unsuccessful bid to become Senate majority leader, described him in his autobiography as such:

Death On 16 June 1941, Harrison underwent surgery for an intestinal obstruction. He died from post-operative complications six days later.