Election To U.S. Senate
Smith was elected to the United States Senate in 1908. He was re-elected five times, although from 1920 until 1944, Smith had four close elections, with three of them leading to run-off elections because he failed to captured a majority. Smith never won more than 61% in Democratic party primaries in this time. During his time in Congress, he had a goal to "keep the Negroes down and the price of cotton up." Known for being a reputed showman, Smith would publicly promote this goal by riding to Washington on a wagon-load of cotton waiving the banner of white supremacy. He also developed a reputation for having a violent temper while speaking in Congress and would at times stand on his feet and try to get the floor speaker's attention by repeatedly hacking his armchair with a penknife whenever the speaker angered him. Smith was not fond of his fellow Senators and often described the Senate Chamber as "the Cave of the Winds."
Read more about this topic: Ellison D. Smith
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