John Sparkman

John Sparkman
Sparkman in 1959
United States Senator from Alabama
In office November 6, 1946 – January 3, 1979
Preceded by	George R. Swift
Succeeded by	Howell Heflin
Chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee
In office January 3, 1975 – January 3, 1979
Preceded by	J. William Fulbright
Succeeded by	Frank Church
Chair of the Senate Banking Committee
In office January 3, 1967 – January 3, 1975
Preceded by	A. Willis Robertson
Succeeded by	William Proxmire
Chair of the Senate Small Business Committee
In office January 3, 1955 – January 3, 1967
Preceded by	Edward Thye
Succeeded by	George Smathers
In office February 20, 1950 – January 3, 1953
Preceded by	Committee formed
Succeeded by	Edward Thye
House Majority Whip
In office January 1, 1946 – November 6, 1946
Leader	John W. McCormack
Preceded by	Robert Ramspeck
Succeeded by	Leslie C. Arends
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Alabama's 8th district
In office January 3, 1937 – November 6, 1946
Preceded by	Archibald Hill Carmichael
Succeeded by	Robert E. Jones Jr.
Personal details
Born	John Jackson Sparkman (1899-12-20)December 20, 1899 Hartselle, Alabama, U.S.
Died	November 16, 1985(1985-11-16) (aged 85) Huntsville, Alabama, U.S.
Resting place	Maple Hill Cemetery
Political party	Democratic
Spouse	Chelsea Ivo Hall
Children	1
Education	University of Alabama (BA, LLB)
Military service
Allegiance	United States
Branch/service	United States Army
Unit	Student Army Training Corps
Battles/wars	World War I

John Jackson Sparkman (December 20, 1899 – November 16, 1985) was an American jurist and politician from the state of Alabama. A Southern Democrat, Sparkman served in the United States House of Representatives from 1937 to 1946 and the United States Senate from 1946 until 1979. He was the Democratic Party's nominee for vice president in the 1952 presidential election.

Born in Morgan County, Alabama, Sparkman established a legal practice in Huntsville, Alabama, after graduating from the University of Alabama School of Law. He won election to the House in 1936 and served as house majority whip in 1946. He left the House in 1946 after winning a special election to succeed Senator John H. Bankhead II. While in the Senate, he helped establish Marshall Space Flight Center and served as the chairman of several committees.

Sparkman served as Adlai Stevenson's running mate in the 1952 presidential election, but they were defeated by the Republican ticket of Dwight D. Eisenhower and Richard Nixon.

Known as a defender of segregation during the Civil Rights era, Sparkman voted regularly against civil rights legislation and condemned the "judicial usurpation" of the Supreme Court decision of Brown v. Board of Education, Sparkman signed the 1956 Southern Manifesto, which pledged opposition to racial integration and promised to use "all lawful means" to fight the ruling that put court power behind the integration of public institutions.

He became the longest-serving senator from Alabama in 1977, a record that was surpassed by Richard Shelby in 2019.^[1] Sparkman chose not to seek re-election in 1978 and retired from public office the following year.