Frank M. Dixon - Early Life

Early Life

Dixon was born in Oakland, California to Reverend Frank Dixon and Laura Dixon. Dixon spent the majority of his youth in Virginia and attended public schools in both Virginia and Washington, DC. He graduated from Phillips Exeter Preparatory School (Phillips Exeter Academy) and then went on to graduate from Columbia University. In 1916 he obtained his law degree from the University of Virginia. He began his law career in Birmingham, Alabama in the law firm of Captain Francis S. White. Soon after he married Juliet Perry, with whom he had a son and a daughter.

His law practice was interrupted by World War I. Dixon enlisted in the Royal Canadian Air Corps as a volunteer. As a second lieutenant, Dixon was assigned to the French escadrille as an aerial observer and machine gunner. In July 1918 he was wounded when his plane was shot down over Soissons, France, which in turn required his leg to be amputated. Dixon was awarded the Croix de Guerre with Palm by the French government; the French government also named him chevalier of the French Legion of Honor and promoted him to major.

When he returned to Birmingham, he founded his own law partnership, Bowers and Dixon, and became a successful corporate lawyer. At that point he became a commander of the American Legion and was active in veterans’ causes. In 1934 Dixon made his first attempt at the governorship of Alabama, but lost the democratic primary to Bibb Graves. However, in 1938 he easily defeated his opponent and succeeded Graves as the Governor of Alabama.