View source for William B. Bankhead

{{short description|American politician (1874–1940)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2019}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| image               = William B. Bankhead LCCN2016859706 (cropped).jpg
| caption             = Bankhead, {{c.}} 1917–1940
| office              = 42nd [[Speaker of the United States House of Representatives]]
| term_start          = June 4, 1936
| term_end            = September 15, 1940
| predecessor         = [[Jo Byrns]]
| successor           = [[Sam Rayburn]]
| office1             = Leader of the [[House Democratic Caucus]]
| term_start1         = June 4, 1936
| term_end1           = September 15, 1940
| predecessor1        = Jo Byrns
| successor1          = Sam Rayburn
| office2             = [[Party leaders of the United States House of Representatives|House Majority Leader]]
| deputy2             = [[Patrick J. Boland]]
| term_start2         = January 3, 1935
| term_end2           = June 4, 1936
| predecessor2        = Jo Byrns
| successor2          = Sam Rayburn
| office3             = Chair of the [[House Rules Committee]]
| term_start3         = April 1, 1934
| term_end3           = January 3, 1935
| predecessor3        = [[Edward W. Pou]]
| successor3          = [[John J. O'Connor (New York representative)|John J. O'Connor]]
| office4             = Member of the <br> [[U.S. House of Representatives]] <br> from [[Alabama]]
| term_start4         = March 4, 1917
| term_end4           = September 15, 1940
| predecessor4        = ''Constituency established''
| successor4          = [[Zadoc L. Weatherford]]
| constituency4       = {{ushr|AL|10|10th district}} (1917–1933)<br/>{{ushr|AL|7|7th district}} (1933–1940)
| office5             = Member of the [[Alabama House of Representatives]]
| term_start5         = 1900
| term_end5           = 1901
| office6             = City Attorney of [[Huntsville, Alabama|Huntsville]]
| term_start6         = 1898
| term_end6           = 1902
| birth_name          = William Brockman Bankhead
| birth_date          = {{birth date|1874|4|12}}
| birth_place         = [[Sulligent, Alabama]], U.S.
| death_date          = {{death date and age|1940|9|15|1874|4|12}}
| death_place         = [[Washington, D.C.]], U.S.
| party               = [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]]
| spouse              = {{plainlist|
* {{marriage|Adalaide Eugenia Sledge|1900|1902|end=died}}
* {{marriage|Florence McGuire|1915}}
}}
| children            = 2, including [[Tallulah Bankhead|Tallulah]]
| father              = [[John H. Bankhead]]
| relatives           = {{plainlist|
* [[John H. Bankhead II]] {{small|(brother)}}
* [[Walter W. Bankhead]] {{small|(nephew)}}
}}
| education           = [[University of Alabama]] ([[Bachelor of Arts|BA]])<br/>[[Georgetown University]] ([[Bachelor of Laws|LLB]])
}}
'''William Brockman Bankhead''' (April 12, 1874 – September 15, 1940) was an American politician who served as the 42nd [[speaker of the United States House of Representatives]] from 1936 to 1940, representing [[Alabama's 10th congressional district|Alabama's 10th]] and later [[Alabama's 7th congressional district|7th congressional districts]] as a [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democrat]] from 1917 to 1940. Bankhead was a strong liberal and a prominent supporter of President [[Franklin D. Roosevelt|Franklin Roosevelt]]'s [[New Deal]] of pro-labor union legislation, thus clashing with most other Southern Democrats in Congress at the time.<ref>Robert E. Dewhirst, John David Rausch, ''Encyclopedia of the United States Congress'' (2007), p. 35.</ref> Bankhead described himself as proud to be a politician, by which he meant that he did not neglect matters that concerned his district or reelection.<ref>{{cite journal |first=Walter J. |last=Heacock |title=William B. Bankhead and the New Deal |journal=Journal of Southern History |volume=21 |issue=3 |year=1955 |pages=347–359 |doi=10.2307/2954955 |jstor=2954955 }}</ref> He was the father of actress [[Tallulah Bankhead]].

Bankhead died on September 15, 1940, from an [[abdominal hemorrhage]], while still in office.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.al.com/opinion/index.ssf/2015/07/alabamas_history_three_generat.html|title=Alabama's history: Three generations of Bankheads were the state's shining stars|work=AL.com|access-date=January 10, 2018|language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{cite encyclopedia |title=William B. Bankhead |encyclopedia=[[Encyclopedia of Alabama]] |url=https://encyclopediaofalabama.org/article/william-b-bankhead/ |access-date=2025-11-09 |last=Dowdy |first=G. Wayne |date=2023-07-07 |orig-date=Originally published 2007-10-08 |language=en-US |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250829082057/https://encyclopediaofalabama.org/web/20250829082057/https://encyclopediaofalabama.org/article/william-b-bankhead/ |archive-date=2025-08-29}}</ref>

==Early life==
[[File:1892 Alabama Football Team.jpg|left|thumb|180px|William Bankhead (#9) with the 1892 [[Alabama Crimson Tide football|Alabama football team]]]]
Bankhead was born at the [[James Greer Bankhead House|Bankhead plantation]] in [[Lamar County, Alabama]]. His father, [[John H. Bankhead]], was an active politician who had served in the Alabama legislature, and later as U.S. Representative and [[United States Senate|Senator]]. His mother was Tallulah James Brockman, granddaughter of [[South Carolina]] [[South Carolina Senate|state Senator]] [[Thomas Patterson Brockman]], and he was raised as a [[Methodist]]. Bankhead's brother, [[John H. Bankhead II]], also served in the Senate.

William Bankhead attended the [[University of Alabama]], where he was a member of [[Phi Delta Theta]] [[Fraternities and sororities|fraternity]], and played on the university's first [[1892 Alabama Cadets football team|football team]], organized in 1892. He studied law at [[Georgetown University Law Center]] in [[Washington, D.C.]], graduating in 1895.

He was immediately admitted to the bar in Alabama, and practiced law in [[Huntsville, Alabama|Huntsville]].

==Political career==
In 1898, he became city attorney of Huntsville, serving until 1902. In 1900, he was elected to the [[Alabama House of Representatives]] for one term, serving through 1901.

In 1905, he moved to [[Jasper, Alabama]]. In 1910 he was appointed solicitor of the fourteenth judicial circuit of Alabama, serving until 1914.

In 1914, he sought the Democratic nomination for US Representative, but failed. In 1916 he was elected Representative from the newly created [[Alabama's 10th congressional district|10th Congressional District]]. (Alabama was apportioned a tenth Congressional seat after the 1910 census, but the seat was filled by at-large election in 1912 and 1914.) Bankhead held the 10th District until it was abolished after the 1930 census, when Alabama lost a seat. He was the only person ever elected from the 10th District.

After [[reapportionment]] and [[redistricting]] following the 1930 census, Bankhead was re-elected Representative from the [[Alabama's 7th congressional district|7th District]] in 1932, and was re-elected three times, serving until his death in 1940. Bankhead served as chairman of the [[United States House Committee on Rules|House Rules Committee]] from April 1934 until January 1935, taking over for [[Edward W. Pou]] who died in office. In 1934, he was chosen [[House Majority Leader]] by his fellow Democrats. On June 4, 1936, he was chosen Speaker of the House to succeed [[Joseph W. Byrns, Sr.|Jo Byrns]], who had died that morning. Bankhead served as Speaker until his death on September 15, 1940.<ref>{{cite web |title=Grey House Publishing: Speakers of the House of Representatives |url=http://www.greyhouse.com/speakers.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090617072650/http://greyhouse.com/speakers.htm |archive-date=2009-06-17 |website=greyhouse.com}}</ref> His cause of death was a stomach hemorrhage.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://knoxfocus.com/2014/11/mr-speaker-william-bankhead-alabama/ |title='Mr. Speaker': William Bankhead of Alabama - the Knoxville Focus |website=knoxfocus.com |access-date=December 24, 2018}}</ref>

As Speaker, Bankhead held the second-highest political office ever attained by any Alabamian, after only [[Vice President of the United States|Vice President]] [[William R. King]].

At the [[1940 Democratic National Convention]] (three months before his death), he finished second to [[Henry A. Wallace]] on the vice presidential ticket, losing the delegate count 626–329.

==Bankhead family==
Bankhead's father, [[John H. Bankhead]], was a U.S. Representative and Senator. His elder brother [[John H. Bankhead II]] was also a U.S. Senator, and his nephew [[Walter W. Bankhead|Walter Will Bankhead]] was a U.S. Representative. His daughter, [[Tallulah Bankhead]], was the acclaimed theatrical, radio and motion-picture actress.<ref>[http://home.hiwaay.net/~oliver/tbtaz.htm#adelaide Tallulah Bankhead - A passionate life], on Hiwaay.net</ref>

The [[William B. Bankhead National Forest]] and sections of old [[U.S. Route 78|U.S. Highway 78]] in northern Alabama are named in his honor. His home in Jasper has been renovated to house the Walker Area Community Foundation's "Bankhead House and Heritage Center", a history museum and arts venue.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |title=Bankhead House and Heritage Center |encyclopedia=[[Encyclopedia of Alabama]] |url=https://encyclopediaofalabama.org/article/bankhead-house-and-heritage-center/ |access-date=2025-11-09 |last=Thomas Jr. |first=Peter R. |date=2024-05-31 |orig-date=Originally published 2018-08-30 |language=en-US |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250828231659/https://encyclopediaofalabama.org/web/20250828231659/https://encyclopediaofalabama.org/article/bankhead-house-and-heritage-center/ |archive-date=2025-08-28}}</ref>

==See also==
{{Portal|Biography}}
* [[List of members of the United States Congress who died in office (1900–1949)]]

==References==
Grossman, Mark, "Speakers of the House of Representatives 1789-2009" (New York: Grey House Publishing, 2009).

{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|William B. Bankhead}}
*{{CongBio|B000113}}
*{{Find a Grave|11739}}
*[https://www.bhandhc.org/ Bankhead House & Heritage Center home page]

{{s-start}}
{{s-par|us-hs}}
{{s-new|constituency}}
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{{Democratic Party (United States)}}
{{SpeakerUSHouse}}
{{USHouseMajLead}}
{{USHouseDemLead}}
{{US House Rules chairs}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Bankhead, William B.}}
[[Category:1874 births]]
[[Category:1940 deaths]]
[[Category:Alabama Crimson Tide football players]]
[[Category:Methodists from Alabama]]
[[Category:American people of Scotch-Irish descent]]
[[Category:Bankhead family|William B.]]
[[Category:Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Alabama]]
[[Category:Georgetown University Law Center alumni]]
[[Category:Majority leaders of the United States House of Representatives]]
[[Category:Politicians from Huntsville, Alabama]]
[[Category:People from Lamar County, Alabama]]
[[Category:Speakers of the United States House of Representatives]]
[[Category:1940 United States vice-presidential candidates]]
[[Category:Lawyers from Huntsville, Alabama]]
[[Category:Phi Delta Theta members]]
[[Category:20th-century United States representatives]]
[[Category:19th-century members of the Alabama Legislature]]