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Syd Herlong

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Syd Herlong
Member of theU.S. House of Representatives
from Florida
In office
January 3, 1949 – January 3, 1969
Preceded byJoe Hendricks
Succeeded byBill Chappell
Constituency5th district(1949–1967)
4th district(1967–1969)
Personal details
Born
Albert Sydney Herlong Jr.

February 14, 1909
Manistee, Alabama
DiedDecember 27, 1995(1995-12-27)(aged 86)
Leesburg, Florida
Political partyDemocratic(1937–1985)
Other political
affiliations		Republican(1985–1995)
Alma materUniversity of Florida

Albert Sydney Herlong Jr.(February 14, 1909 – December 27, 1995) was an American lawyer and politician fromFloridawho served ten terms in theUnited States House of Representativesfrom 1949 to 1969. He was a member of theDemocratic Party.

Early life and education

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Herlong was born in the small community ofManistee, Alabamain 1909, and moved with his parents toMarion County, Floridain 1912. He attended the public schools ofSumterandLakecounties and graduated fromLeesburg High SchoolinLeesburg, Florida.Herlong attended theUniversity of FloridainGainesville, Florida,where he was a member ofPi Kappa PhiFraternity(Alpha EpsilonChapter), and graduated in 1930. He wasadmittedtoThe Florida Barin 1930 and started his law practice in Leesburg.

Career

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Early political career

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Herlong was elected county judge ofLake County, Florida,and served from 1937 to 1949. He served ascity attorneyof Leesburg from 1946 to 1948. He held a reserve commission ascaptainin theU.S. Armyand was called to active duty in theJudge Advocate General's Departmentin August 1941. He was discharged in 1942 due to physical disability. He served two enlistments in the Florida State Guard. He served as president of the Florida State Baseball League in 1947 and 1948.[1]

Career in Congress

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Herlong was elected as aDemocratto theEighty-firstand to the nine succeeding Congresses (January 3, 1949 – January 3, 1969).

In Congress, Herlong was noted for hisanti-communistadvocacy. In 1959, Herlong introduced a bill to establish a federally funded Freedom Academy that would counter-act foreign countries' Communist propaganda.[2][3][4]On January 10, 1963, at the request of constituent Patricia Nordman, Herlong read into theCongressional Recorda list of 45 goals of communism from the bookThe Naked CommunistbyW. Cleon Skousen.[5]

Herlong was a signatory to the 1956Southern Manifesto[6]that opposed the desegregation of public schools ordered by the Supreme Court inBrown v. Board of Education.Herlong voted against theCivil Rights Acts of 1957,[7]1960,[8]1964,[9]and1968[10]as well as the24th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution[11]and theVoting Rights Act of 1965.[12]

He was not a candidate for reelection in 1968 to theNinety-first Congress.He supported Nixon’s campaign for president in 1968.[13]

Post-Congressional career

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He resumed his practice of law. Appointed in 1969 by PresidentRichard Nixon,[14]Herlong served in theSecurities and Exchange Commissionuntil 1973.

In 1985, Herlong formally changed his party affiliation toRepublican.[13]

Personal life

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In 1967, while Herlong was still a Congressman, his portrait was painted by renowned portraitistEverett Raymond Kinstler.

Herlong died December 27, 1995, at his home inLeesburg, Florida.He was married and had four daughters, Sydney, Dorothy, Mary Alice, and Margaret.[13][15][16]

See also

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References

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  1. ^"Bill in Congress Proposes to Bar Anti-Trust Prosecution of Sports,"The New York Times,page S40 (April 5, 1949). Retrieved August 7, 2010.
  2. ^Hearings Before the Committee on Un-American Activities,Government Printing Office, February 19, 1964, p. 952
  3. ^El Paso Herald-Post,February 3, 1959
  4. ^"Freedom Academy Bill Reported to House",CQ Almanac 1965(21st ed.), Washington, D.C.: Congressional Quarterly, p. 720, 1966, archived fromthe originalon December 25, 2017
  5. ^Herlong, Albert S. Jr. (January 10, 1963),"Current Communist Goals"(PDF),Congressional Record,vol. 109, no. 22, pp. A34–A35
  6. ^"Senate – March 12, 1956"(PDF).Congressional Record.102(4).U.S. Government Printing Office:4459–4461.
  7. ^"HR 6127. CIVIL RIGHTS ACT OF 1957".GovTrack.us.
  8. ^"HR 8601. PASSAGE".
  9. ^"H.R. 7152. PASSAGE".
  10. ^"TO PASS H.R. 2516, A BILL TO ESTABLISH PENALTIES FOR… -- House Vote #113 -- Aug 16, 1967".GovTrack.us.Retrieved2024-01-11.
  11. ^"S.J. RES. 29. CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT TO BAN THE USE OF POLL TAX AS A REQUIREMENT FOR VOTING IN FEDERAL ELECTIONS".GovTrack.us.
  12. ^"TO PASS H.R. 6400, THE 1965 VOTING RIGHTS ACT".
  13. ^abcFernandez, Don (December 28, 1995)."Former Congressman Herlong Dies".Orlando Sentinel.Archived fromthe originalon January 4, 2024.RetrievedDecember 18,2017.
  14. ^Associated Press, "S.E.C. Member is Sworn,"The New York Times,p. 72 (October 30, 1969). Retrieved August 7, 2010.
  15. ^"A.S." Syd "Herlong dies".The Washington Post.December 29, 1995.RetrievedDecember 18,2017.
  16. ^Van Gelder, Lawrence (December 29, 1995)."A. Sydney Herlong Jr., 86, Florida Congressman".The New York Times.RetrievedDecember 19,2017.
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U.S. House of Representatives
Preceded by Member of theU.S. House of Representatives
fromFlorida's 5th congressional district
January 3, 1949 – January 3, 1967 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Member of theU.S. House of Representatives
fromFlorida's 4th congressional district
January 3, 1967 – January 3, 1969 		Succeeded by

Public DomainThis article incorporatespublic domain materialfrom theBiographical Directory of the United States Congress

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