Ellison D. Smith - Election To U.S. Senate

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."