James B. Frazier - Senator and Later Life

Senator and Later Life

On March 9, 1905, a few weeks after the beginning of Frazier's second term, Senator William B. Bate died, prompting a scramble to fill his vacant seat. Former Governor Robert Love Taylor had for years campaigned unsuccessfully for a Senate seat, and believed himself next in line should one become vacant. Frazier, however, also wanted the Senate seat, and while Taylor was still out of state on a speaking tour, quickly convened the General Assembly to have himself elected to the seat. After this election, Frazier resigned to take his seat in the Senate, and the Speaker of the Tennessee Senate, John I. Cox (who had helped engineer Frazier's election), became governor.

Taylor was outraged by Frazier's actions, and suggested that Frazier, Cox, and Senator Edward W. Carmack were conspiring to control the state Democratic Party. To appease Taylor's supporters, the party allowed Taylor to face Carmack in a primary in 1906 (the first Senate primary in state history), which Taylor won. That same year, the party refused to nominate Cox for reelection.

As a senator, Frazier championed states' rights, and opposed most protective tariffs. He also supported a federal income tax amendment and funding for highway construction. He campaigned for a second term in 1911, but state Democrats, irritated by the intraparty divisions created by his first election, refused to nominate him.

After leaving the Senate, Frazier returned to Chattanooga, where he practiced law with his son, James B. Frazier, Jr. (1890–1978), in the firm, Frazier and Frazier. He died on March 28, 1937, and is buried in the city's Forest Hills Cemetery.