William B. Bankhead

Politician

Male

Born Apr 12, 1874

Hometown Lamar County, Ala...

Died Sep 15, 1940

Death Place Washington, D.C.

William Brockman Bankhead was an American politician from Alabama who served as U.S. Representative and Speaker of the House. He was a Democrat. Bankhead was a prominent supporter of President Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal of pro-labor union legislation… Read More

Family

Discover the family history of William B. Bankhead.

William B. Bankhead

d.1940

children

Tallulah Bankhead
Daughter, d.1968

News + Updates

Browse recent news and stories about William B. Bankhead.

Coley Earns American Cancer Society Honor The News Herald
Google News - Aug 26, 2011

Funding cancer research through the William Bankhead and David Coley Cancer Research Program, a peer review selection program, ensures that our limited dollars fund the best research possible.”
read full article
A Short History Of Political Suicide Wall Street Journal
Google News - Jun 08, 2011

In 1940, Sumner Welles, undersecretary of state, joined FDR and a host of high government officials on a train to Alabama to the funeral of William Bankhead, who had been speaker of the House. On the way back to Washington, Welles got quite drunk and
read full article
Connecticut Guide
NYTimes - Aug 23, 1998

The Westport Playhouse Opening tomorrow night at the Westport Country Playhouse is a new, one-woman play about Eleanor Roosevelt with Maureen Stapleton as the former First Lady. The 90-minute script, ''Eleanor: Her Secret Journey,'' was written by Rhoda Lerman, based on her 1979 novel ''Eleanor.'' The play focuses in flashbacks on the period in
read full article
Spheres Of Influence
NYTimes - Jan 25, 1998

SUMNER WELLES FDR's Global Strategist. A Biography. By Benjamin Welles. Illustrated. 437 pp. New York: St. Martin's Press. $35. Sumner Welles (1892-1961) ranks among the half-dozen most influential American career diplomats of this century. And among high officials brought down by sexual scandal, he has no rivals. This long-awaited biography by his
read full article

Timeline

Learn about the memorable moments in the evolution of William B. Bankhead.

CHILDHOOD

1874 Birth Born on April 12, 1874.

TEENAGE

1892 18 Years Old William Bankhead attended the University of Alabama, where he was a member of Phi Delta Theta fraternity, and played on the university's first football team, organized in 1892. … Read More

TWENTIES

1898 24 Years Old In 1898, he became city attorney of Huntsville, serving until 1902.

1900 26 Years Old In 1900, he was elected to the Alabama House of Representatives for one term, serving through 1901.

THIRTIES

1905 31 Years Old In 1905, he moved to Jasper, Alabama.

1910 36 Years Old In 1910 he was appointed solicitor of the fourteenth judicial circuit of Alabama, serving until 1914.

FORTIES

1914 40 Years Old In 1914, he sought the Democratic nomination for U.S. Representative, but did not get it.

1916 42 Years Old In 1916, he was elected Representative from the newly created 10th Congressional District. (Alabama was apportioned a tenth Congressional seat after the 1910 Census, but the seat was filled by at-large election in 1912 and 1914.) Bankhead held the 10th District until it was abolished after the 1930 Census, when Alabama lost a seat. … Read More

FIFTIES

1930 56 Years Old After reapportionment and redistricting following the 1930 Census, Bankhead was re-elected Representative from the 7th District in 1932, and was re-elected three times, serving until his death in 1940.

LATE ADULTHOOD

1934 60 Years Old In 1934, he was chosen House Majority Leader by his fellow Democrats. … Read More

1940 66 Years Old Bankhead served as Speaker until his own death in office on September 15, 1940. … Read More

Original Authors of this text are noted on http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_B._Bankhead.
Text is made available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.