Pat Harrison
|
|
PatHarrison.jpg
Pat Harrison
Bryon 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.
When the Senate majority leader’s job opened up in 1937, Harrison went after it. Nose counts put him in a tie with Kentucky’s Alben Barkley. Harrison’s campaign manager asked Bilbo to consider voting for his fellow Mississippian. Bilbo said he would if Harrison asked him to. That was a big if. Harrison loathed Bilbo and hadn’t spoken to him in years. The response was swift: “Tell the son of a bitch I wouldn’t speak to him even if it meant the presidency of the United States.”
When the ballots were in, Pat Harrison was a one-vote loser. But his reputation as the senator who wouldn’t speak to his home-state colleague remained intact.
Lewis Lord, U. S. News & World Report, June 17, 1996, p. 12.