A Brief History
On September 20, 1947, Fiorello La Guardia, the most famous as the Mayor of New York City (1934-1945), died at the age of 64 of pancreatic cancer. Also serving as a Representative to Congress from New York (1923-1933), La Guardia was distinguished enough to serve as the second 2nd Director General of the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration in 1946, an organization created to assist the victims of World War II. A highly respected politician, La Guardia stands in stark contrast to some of the not so respectable politicians of today and the past. Today we take a look at 3 of the worst US Senators in the history of the US Senate.
Digging Deeper
Our first member of the Senate’s rogues’ gallery is James Murray Mason (1798-1871) of Virginia, who served in Congress from 1837 to 1839 in the House of Representatives, and then in the US Senate, representing Virginia, from 1847 to 1861. Mason, the grandson of a man that served on the Constitutional Convention that refused to sign the US Constitution, was a slaveholder and ardent supporter of the secession of Virginia from the United States. Mason even attempted to travel to England to enlist Great Britain in recognizing the Confederate States of America, although he and another Confederate envoy were captured by a US Navy ship that stopped and searched the British ship Mason was travelling on (called the Trent Affair). Released by the US government only 2 months later, Mason went on to England to politic on behalf of the Confederacy and make purchases to help the Confederacy continue the war against the United States. Mason was a strident proponent of slavery and used his office as a senator to fight against the abolition of slavery and to defend the “peculiar institution,” including personally writing the much detested Fugitive Slave Law of 1850. When Mason returned to Virginia in 1868 after exile in Canada after the Civil War, he refused to hire any African Americans as employees or servants, insisting that only White people deserved to be paid for labor. In fact, he referred to Black people as “worse than worthless”. Well, perhaps Mr. Mason was “worse than worthless!”
Another not so good guy that served as a US Senator was Jesse Helms of North Carolina (1973-2003). Nick-named “Senator NO!” Helms was a major impediment to progress in the United States Congress, and consistently opposed legislation designed to help Americans live safely and prosper. Some of the legislation he opposed included such landmark bills as the National Endowment for the Arts, the Food Stamp Program, the Voting Rights Act, the Civil Rights Act, and the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, as well as attempts to ensure homosexual rights, the rights of people with disabilities, women’s rights, access to safe abortions, affirmative action, workers’ rights, drug rehabilitation, and all sorts of civil rights related legislation. His policies regarding taxes and economics were beneficial to the rich and detrimental to the working class, and he was accused of being a racist throughout his career, an accusation not helped when he purposely sang “Dixie” in the presence of the first African American female Senator. Helms also personally filibustered discussion of creating the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday and blocked the confirmation of many African American judges and other appointees. His reputation was as a hateful racial segregationist and a homophobe.
Our last entry in our rogues’ gallery of bad senators is John Smith of Ohio (1735-1824). Smith represented Ohio in the US Senate from 1803 to 1808, during which he was sure to continue profitable business dealings while enriching himself during his time in office. Smith became entangled in Aaron Burr’s plot to seize Spanish territory adjacent to the United States, and when called out on his support of Burr, Smith quickly changed sides and began a campaign to defeat Burr’s plot. Unfortunately, Smith was so busy in taking it upon himself to oppose Burr, that Smith missed so much time in the Senate that he was accused of dereliction of duty. He was then indicted for being part of Burr’s illegal plot, although when Burr was acquitted (on a technicality) the charges against Smith were dropped. In 1807, Smith suffered the indignity of being tried by the Senate for expulsion, an effort led by John Adams. Defended by Francis Scott Key, Smith once again narrowly avoided censure by being acquitted by a single vote. Smith resigned from the Senate and eventually went bankrupt, turning to the pulpit as a preacher in order to make a living. Smith whined about having been betrayed by President Thomas Jefferson.
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Historical Evidence
For more information, please see…
Cockburn, Alexander. A Colossal Wreck: A Road Trip Through Political Scandal, Corruption and American Culture. Verso, 2014.
Marion, Nancy. The Politics of Disgrace: The Role of Political Scandal in American Politics. Carolina Academic Press, 2015.
The featured image in this article, a November 1999 photograph of Senator Joe Biden and Sen. Jesse Helms (R-NC) at a press conference to discuss their deal that will pay the United Nations almost one billion dollars owed by the U.S., is in the public domain. This may be because it was taken by an employee of the Congress as part of that person’s official duties, or because it has been released into the public domain and posted on the official websites of a member of Congress. As a work of the U.S. federal government, the image is in the public domain.
You can also watch a video including Dr. Zar reading some of the text from this article on YouTube.
