Charles Edward Bennett - Political Career

Political Career

After the war, he was elected to Congress from what was then the 2nd District. He was re-elected 21 more times from this Jacksonville-based district, which was renumbered as the 3rd District in 1967. He rarely faced serious opposition, even as Jacksonville fell under increasing Republican influence. For instance, in 1972 he won 82 percent of the vote against a nominal Republican challenger (one of only six times the Republicans even put up a challenger against him) even as Richard Nixon carried the district by over 70 percent of the vote.

In 1951, he began proposing a code of ethics for government employees, nicknamed The Ten Commandments. After the Sherman Adams affair, the document was adopted as the first Code of ethics for Government Service in 1958. In 1955, he sponsored the bill that added the words In God We Trust to both the nation's coins and currency. He signed the Southern Manifesto, but later sought and received strong support in Jacksonville's growing black community.

To prove to his constituents that his handicap did not interfere with his serving in Congress, he amassed the record for the longest unbroken string of recorded roll call votes without being absent when the roll was called. Each year, he returned his veteran's disability pension and Social Security checks to the U. S. Treasury to reduce the national debt. Leftover campaign funds were given to the National Park Service. According to the Almanac of American Politics 1980, "He opposes unofficial office accounts, outside income for members and congressional pay raises, which led one colleague to call him 'a bit too pious.' "

However, his staunch ethical stance appeared to be too much for his colleagues in the House of Representatives, who nicknamed him, "Mr. Clean". Although he was responsible for the establishment of the first temporary committee on ethics in the House, he was not named to the first formal ethics committee when it was formed.

Based on seniority, he was in line to become chairman of the House Armed Services Committee in 1985, one of the most powerful panels in the body. However, he was defeated for the post by Les Aspin.

Bennett was set to run for a 23rd term in 1992 in the newly renumbered 4th District against Jacksonville City Council president Tillie Fowler--his strongest Republican opponent in decades. However, he abruptly ended his bid for reelection when his wife became ill in the spring of 1992. Fowler went on to win in November. At the time of his retirement, he was the second longest-serving member of the House (behind only fellow Democrat Jamie Whitten). He is still the longest-serving member of either house of Congress in Florida's history.