Ernest Hollings

 

Ernest Frederick Hollings
United States Senator from South Carolina
In office November 8, 1966 – January 3, 2005
Preceded by	Donald S. Russell
Succeeded by	Jim DeMint
106th Governor of South Carolina
In office January 20, 1959 – January 15, 1963
Deputy	Burnet R. Maybank, Jr.
Preceded by	George Bell Timmerman
Succeeded by	Donald S. Russell
77th Lieutenant Governor of South Carolina
In office January 18, 1955 – January 20, 1959
Preceded by	George Bell Timmerman, Jr.
Succeeded by	Burnet R. Maybank, Jr.
Chairman of the United States Senate Committee on the Budget
In office May 8, 1980 – January 3, 1981
Preceded by	Edmund Muskie
Succeeded by	Pete Domenici
Born	January 1 1922 (1922--) (age 85) Charleston, South Carolina
Political party	Democratic
Spouse	Rita Louise Liddy
Religion	Lutheran

Ernest Frederick "Fritz" Hollings (born January 1 1922) served as a Democratic United States Senator from South Carolina from 1966 to 2005.

Early life

Hollings was born in Charleston, South Carolina. He went to The Citadel and received a B.A. in 1942; he later attended the University of South Carolina and received a LL.B. in 1947 and is a brother of the Pi Kappa Phi Fraternity. He is married to Rita "Peatsy" Liddy and has four children. He is a Lutheran.

Hollings served as an officer in the U.S. Army's 323rd and 457th Artillery units from 1942 to 1945, during World War II, and was awarded the Bronze Star.

Political career

He was first elected to the South Carolina House of Representatives in 1948; he was subsequently elected lieutenant governor of the state in 1954 and Governor in 1958. He was governor from 1959 until 1963. During his governorship he signed legislation ordering the Confederate Flag to be raised over the state capital to commemorate the 100th anniversary of South Carolina's secession from the union, and to protest the growing civil rights movement. He sought the Democratic nomination for a seat in the U.S. Senate in 1962, but lost to Olin D. Johnston.

While Governor, Hollings supported racial segregation and opposes federal intervention in this case on the ground of the "state's rights. However later he took much more liberal positions. In 1983 he said about his early policy I know it was wrong^[1]

Johnston died on April 18 1965, however. Hollings' successor as Governor, Donald S. Russell resigned in order to accept appointment to the Senate seat, and Hollings defeated Russell in the Democratic primary for the remaining two years of the term. He then won the November 1966 special election. He was subsequently elected to a full six-year term in 1968 and served for six full terms. For 36 years (until January 2003), he served alongside Republican Strom Thurmond, making them the longest-serving Senate duo ever. The two generally had a good relationship despite their sharp philosophical differences, and frequently collaborated on legislation and projects to benefit South Carolina. Only Thurmond, Robert Byrd, Ted Kennedy, Daniel Inouye, Carl Hayden and John Stennis served longer in the Senate.

In 1981, Hollings had to apologize to fellow Democrat Howard Metzenbaum after Hollings referred to him as the "senator from B'nai Brith" on the floor. Metzenbaum, who was Jewish, raised a point of personal privilege and Hollings's remarks were stricken from the record.

Hollings unsuccessfully sought the Democratic nomination for President of the United States in the presidential election of 1984. Hollings wit and experience, as well as call for a budget freeze, won him some positive attention, but his relatively conservative record alienated liberal Democrats, and he was never really noticed in a field dominated by Walter Mondale and John Glenn (and Gary Hart, who surged ahead as Glenn faded.) Hollings dropped out two days after losing badly in New Hampshire, and endorsed Hart a week later. His disdain for his competitors sometimes showed. He notably referred to Mondale as a "lapdog" and to former Astronaut Glenn as a "Sky King" who was "confused in his capsule."

Hollings would become popular for the wrong reasons among fans of Beavis and Butt-Head after he said to Janet Reno; "We've got this...what is it...Buffcoat and Beaver or Beaver and something else. I haven't seen it, I don't watch it, but whatever it is, it was at 7, Buffcoat, and they put it on now at 10:30".^[2] Since the quote was made, the act of mispronouncing Beavis and Butt-Head's names became a running gag on the show.

On January 7, 2003, Hollings introduced the controversial Universal National Service Act of 2006, which would require all men and women aged 18–26 (with some exceptions) to perform a year of military service.

On August 4, 2003, he announced that he would not run for re-election in November 2004. Republican Jim DeMint succeeded him.

As a senator, Hollings was noted for his support for legislation that was in the interests of the established media distribution industry (such as the proposed "Consumer Broadband and Digital Television Promotion Act") and was described by opponents as 'Hollywood Hollings' or the 'senator from Disney'. His hard-line support of various client-side computer restrictions such as DRM and Trusted computing led the Fritz chip (a microchip that enforces such restrictions) to be nicknamed after him. Hollings also sponsored the Online Personal Privacy Act (S. 2201).

Hollings was generally considered to be a liberal supportive of many civil rights bills. He voted for re-authorizing the Voting Rights Act in 1982. However, in 1967 he was one of the 11 senators that voted against the confirmation of Thurgood Marshall, the first African-American Supreme Court justice.[1]

On fiscal issues, he was leaning conservative, and was one of the namesakes for the Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act, an attempt to put limits on government spending.

With his fellow Southern Democrat Howell Heflin from Alabama, Hollings were one of the two Democratic senators to vote against Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 [2].

Hollings penned a controversial editorial in the May 6 2004 Charleston Post and Courier, where he argued that Bush invaded Iraq possibly because "spreading democracy in the Mideast to secure Israel would take the Jewish vote from the Democrats."

Hollings started the Hollings Scholarship in 2005. This scholarship gives over 100 undergraduates from around the country a 10 week internship with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and a monetary scholarship for the school year.

He will be the speaker at the Charleston School of Law's first graduating class ceremony.

Trivia

Senator Hollings played a Southern senator, Senator Marquand, whom Al Pacino attempts to woo in order to land the Democratic convention in the 1996 film City Hall.

Because of Strom Thurmond's longevity and length of service, Senator Hollings spent 36 years as the junior senator from South Carolina, despite having seniority over the vast majority of his peers. He was the senior senator from South Carolina for only the last 2 years of his Senate service.

References

1. ^ http://www.slate.com/id/2075662/
2. ^ Dude... This Sucks — We mourn the loss of fresh Beavis and Butt-Head episodes. EW.com Television News (August 15, 1997).

External links

• Center for Responsive Politics figures on Hollings' funding
• Salon article on the Online Personal Privacy Act
• LawMeme article about the Online Personal Privacy Act
• "Hollings's Harangue" NY Sun Article about the Howard Metzenbaum incident
• SCIway Biography of Ernest Frederick Hollings
• NGA Biography of Ernest Frederick Hollings

See also

Preceded by George Bell Timmerman	Governor of South Carolina 1959–1963	Succeeded by Donald S. Russell
Preceded by Donald S. Russell	United States Senator (Class 3) from South Carolina 1966–2005 Served alongside: J. Strom Thurmond, Lindsey Graham	Succeeded by Jim DeMint
Preceded by Edmund S. Muskie Maine	Chairman of Senate Budget Committee 1979–1981	Succeeded by Pete Domenici New Mexico
Preceded by John Danforth Missouri	Chairman of Senate Commerce Committee 1987–1995	Succeeded by Larry Pressler South Dakota
Preceded by John McCain Arizona	Chairman of Senate Commerce Committee 2001–2003	Succeeded by John McCain Arizona

Governors of South Carolina

J. Rutledge • Lowndes • J. Rutledge • Mathews • Guerard • Moultrie • T. Pinckney • C. Pinckney • Moultrie • Vanderhorst • C. Pinckney • E. Rutledge • Drayton • J. Richardson • P. Hamilton • C. Pinckney • Drayton • Middleton • Alston • D. Williams • A. Pickens • Geddes • Bennett • Wilson • Manning I • Taylor • Miller • J. Hamilton • Hayne • McDuffie • Butler • Noble • Henagan • Richardson II • Hammond • Aiken • Johnson • Seabrook • Means • J. Manning • Adams • Allston • Gist • F. Pickens • Bonham • Magrath • Perry • Orr • Scott • Moses • Chamberlain • Hampton • Simpson • Jeter • Hagood • Thompson • Sheppard • Richardson III • Tillman • Evans • Ellerbe • McSweeney • Heyward • Ansel • Blease • Smith • Manning III • Cooper • Harvey • McLeod • Richards • Blackwood • Johnston • Maybank • Harley • Jefferies • Johnston • R. Williams • Thurmond • Byrnes • Timmerman • Hollings • Russell • McNair • West • Edwards • Riley • Campbell • Beasley • Hodges • Sanford

United States Senators from South Carolina

Class 2: P. Butler • Hunter • Pinckney • Sumter • Taylor • W. Smith • R. Hayne • Calhoun • Huger • Calhoun • Elmore • Barnwell • Rhett • De Saussure • Evans • A. Hayne • Chesnut • Robertson • M. Butler • Tillman • Benet • Pollock • Dial • Blease • Byrnes • Lumpkin • Peace • Maybank • Daniel • Thurmond • Wofford • Thurmond • Graham Class 3: Izard • Read • Colhoun • P. Butler • Gaillard • Harper • W. Smith • Miller • Preston • McDuffie • A. Butler • Hammond • Sawyer • Patterson • Hampton • Irby • Earle • McLaurin • Latimer • Gary • E. Smith • Hall • Johnston • Russell • Hollings • DeMint

Donate to Wikimedia