Ernest Hollings
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| Ernest "Fritz" Hollings | |
 | |
| | |
| December 1966–January 2005 | |
| Political party: | Democratic |
|---|---|
| Preceded by: | Donald S. Russell |
| Succeeded by: | Jim DeMint |
| Born: | January 1, 1922 Charleston, South Carolina |
| Spouse: | Rita Louise Liddy |
| Religion: | Lutheran |
Ernest Frederick "Fritz" Hollings (born January 1 1922) was a Democratic United States Senator from South Carolina from 1966 to January 3 2005.
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. He was first elected to the South Carolina House of Representatives in 1948; he was subsequently elected lieutenant governor of the state in 1955 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.
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 B'Rith" on the floor. Metzenbaum, who was Jewish, raised a point of personal privilege and Hollings's remarks were stricken from the record.
He unsuccessfully sought the Democratic nomination for President of the United States in the presidential election of 1984.
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". 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'. 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. He was a staunch fiscal conservative, and was one of the namesakes for the Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act, an attempt to put limits on government spending.
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.
[edit] Trivia
Senator Hollings played a Southern senator, Senator Marquand, who Al Pacino attempts to woo in order to land the Democratic convention in the 1996 film City Hall.
[edit] 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
[edit] See also
| Preceded by: George Bell Timmerman | Lieutenant Governor of South Carolina 1955–1959 | Succeeded by: Burnet R. Maybank, Jr. |
| Preceded by: George Bell Timmerman | Governor of South Carolina 1959–1963 | Succeeded by: Donald S. Russell |
| Preceded by: Donald S. Russell | United States Senator from South Carolina 1966–2005 | Succeeded by: Jim DeMint |
Categories: United States Senators from South Carolina | Governors of South Carolina | Members of the South Carolina House of Representatives | United States Army officers | American World War II veterans | American Lutherans | Elks | American Freemasons | Pi Kappa Phi brothers | Shriners | 1922 births | Living people | University of South Carolina alumni
