On this day in Alabama history: Sparkman named Adlai Stevenson’s running mate

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July 26, 2019

Alabama delegation. Seated (L-R): Sen. John Bankhead; Speaker Bankhead; Sen. Lister Hill. Standing (L-R) Pete Jarman; Frank William Boykin; Henry Bascom Steagall; Joe Starnes; John J. Sparkman; Sam Hobbs; Luther Patrick, c. 1937. (Harris & Ewing, Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division)

July 26, 1952

On this day, U.S. Sen. John Sparkman of Alabama was named the Democratic vice presidential running mate of Adlai Stevenson. The Democratic Convention ratified the choice of Sparkman, even though he had supported Georgia U.S. Sen. Richard Russell for president. Stevenson and Sparkman lost the election that fall to Dwight Eisenhower and Richard Nixon. Sparkman, born on a farm in Hartselle in Morgan County, graduated from the University of Alabama and its law school. He was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1936, serving until 1946 when he was elected to the U.S. Senate, where he served until 1979. During his 42 years in Congress, he became known as one of the nation’s most skilled legislators.

Read more at Encyclopedia of Alabama.

Sparkman and his running mate, Adlai Stevenson, meet with President Harry Truman during Stevenson’s presidential campaign in August 1952. (From Encyclopedia of Alabama, Courtesy of National Archives)

For more on Alabama’s Bicentennial, visit Alabama 200.

(Courtesy Alabama NewsCenter)

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