Oscar Underwood

Underwood c. 1910-15

Oscar Wilder Underwood (May 6, 1862–January 25, 1929) was a United States Representative and Senator from Alabama. His term in the House was 1895–1915. He then served in the Senate from 1915 to 1927, when he retired from politics.

Underwood was born in Louisville, Kentucky and graduated from the Rugby School there before entering the University of Virginia to study law. He was admitted to the bar in 1884 and opened his practice in Birmingham before being elected to the Fifty-fourth Congress the following year, defeating incumbent Truman H. Aldrich.

Underwood was the first House minority whip from 1900 to 1901. He was then House majority leader between 1911 and 1915. Finally, he was Senate minority leader from 1920 to 1923. He was a candidate for the Democratic vice presidential nomination in 1912, but refused. He also refused a place on the Supreme Court after the retirement of Justice William R. Day in 1922. He was a Democratic presidential candidate in 1924.

Underwood opposed Prohibition and was the leader of the anti-Ku Klux Klan forces in the Democratic party in 1924. After leaving Congress he retired to his "Woodlawn Mansion" estate in Fairfax County, Virginia. He is interred at Elmwood Cemetery in Birmingham.

Preceded by: Louis Washington Turpin

Representative, 9th Congressional District of Alabama 1911 - 1915

Succeeded by: George Huddleston, Sr

References

• "Oscar Underwood." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. 21 Feb 2006, 00:04 UTC. 4 Apr 2006, 20:33 [1].
• Johnson, Evans C. (1980) Oscar W. Underwood: A Political Biography Baton Rouge, Louisiana: LSU Press.
• "Self-Removal" (July 13, 1925) Time magazine. - accessed December 14, 2006