by Evans C. Johnson
University of Alabama Press, 2006
Paper: 978-0-8173-5358-2
Library of Congress Classification E664.U5J63 2006
Dewey Decimal Classification 328.73092

ABOUT THIS BOOK | REVIEWS | TOC
ABOUT THIS BOOK


Although Oscar W. Underwood was considered a titan of his age, few American political figures have suffered such neglect as he. Except for his candidacy for the Democratic nomination in 1924, his political career is largely forgotten even in Alabama. The one place in which Underwood is well remembered is in the folklore of Congress, where he is widely regarded as a great party leader who had mastered the rules perhaps as thoroughly as any member of Congress. This mastery, together with steady work, personal magnetism, and a willingness to compromise, made him effective as chairman of the Ways and Means Committee in formulating a majority program after the Democrats seized control of the House in 1910. Pat Harrison, Underwood's lieutenant as minority leader, referred to Underwood as the "greatest natural parliamentarian, the greatest leader of a law-making body that I ever saw."


--from the Preface to Oscar W. Underwood: A Political Biography




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