Robert King High - Early Years

Early Years

Robert King High was born in Flat Creek, Tennessee, where his father was a carpenter and farmer. With the coming of the Great Depression, the High family moved to Chattanooga. High began delivering newspapers when he was five years old. When he was ten he bought a lawn mower on credit and paid for it by mowing lawns and delivering groceries and milk. He later worked as a soda jerk and organized a band in which the members played in their ROTC uniforms until they could afford to buy tuxedos.

After graduating from high school, High attended vocational school where he trained to be a welder. He then moved to New Orleans, Louisiana to work in a shipyard. With the United States entry into World War II, he lost his job at the shipyard and went to work in a women's shoe store, and soon was promoted to assistant manager of the chain's store in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. At the end of 1942, he left Baton Rouge to enter the University of Chattanooga. He left school soon after, however, to enlist in the Army Air Corps. High seriously injured his back during basic training, and a steel plate was placed to reinforce his back. He spent nearly a year in a military hospital after the operation.

When High was discharged from the Army in 1944, he moved to Miami. He attended the University of Miami and then the Law School of Stetson University. With his law degree, High began practicing law in Miami. He soon was doing well enough to purchase a Cadillac, a speed boat and a house.

In 1957, Abe Aronovitz, who had been Mayor of Miami in 1953–55, asked High to run for mayor. With Aronovitz's backing, High ran on a platform of promising nothing but honest government. He did not accept any campaign contributions of more than US$250.00. Unable to afford the billboards and television advertising that other candidates were using, High supporters would stand outside the Orange Bowl with home-made campaign banners on every Friday night that the University of Miami football team played a home game. High placed second out of five candidates in the primary, and beat the incumbent mayor, Randy Christmas, in the runoff.