Editing James Eastland (section)

==Senate career==
Eastland was appointed to the U.S. Senate in June 1941 by [[governor of Mississippi|Governor]] [[Paul B. Johnson Sr.]], following the death of Senator [[Pat Harrison]]. Johnson first offered the appointment to Woods Eastland, whom he had known since childhood; Woods Eastland declined and suggested his son. Johnson appointed James Eastland on the condition that he would not run later that year in the special election to complete the term, ensuring that no candidate would have the advantage of incumbency. Eastland kept his word, and served until November; the election was won by [[Mississippi's 2nd congressional district|2nd District]] Congressman [[Wall Doxey]].

In 1942, Eastland was one of three candidates who challenged Doxey for a full term. Doxey had the support of President [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]] and Mississippi's senior U.S. Senator, [[Theodore G. Bilbo]], but Eastland defeated him in the Democratic primary. At the time, Mississippi was effectively a one-party state, dominated by white Democrats since the [[Disfranchisement after Reconstruction era|disfranchisement of African Americans]] with the passage of the 1890 state constitution, which allowed [[poll tax (United States)|poll taxes]], [[literacy tests]] and [[white primaries]] to exclude them from the political system. This made winning the Democratic primary [[tantamount to election]], and Eastland returned to the Senate on January 3, 1943. Roosevelt and Eastland developed a working relationship that enabled Eastland to oppose [[New Deal]] programs that were unpopular in Mississippi, while he supported the President's agenda on other issues. Eastland was effective in developing that type of arrangement with presidents of both parties during his long tenure in the Senate. Also effective because of his seniority, he gained major federal investment in the state, such as infrastructure construction including the [[Tennessee–Tombigbee Waterway]] and federal relief after disasters such as [[Hurricane Camille]].

Early 1947 saw a renewed effort by the Truman administration to promote civil rights with activities such as President Truman addressing the [[National Association for the Advancement of Colored People]] (NAACP) and delivering an address to Congress entirely dedicated to the subject.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Asch |first=Chris Myers |title=The Senator and the Sharecropper: The Freedom Struggles of James O. Eastland and Fannie Lou Hamer |publisher=New Press |year=2008 |isbn=978-1595583321 |page=122 |ref={{sfnRef|Asch}}}}</ref> Eastland, among many other Southerners who saw the civil rights backing of the administration as an attack on their "[[Lifestyle (sociology)|way of life]]", addressed the Senate floor a week after Truman's speech on the matter, saying Southerners were expected to "remain docile" in light of their laws and culture being destroyed "under the false guise of another civil-rights bill."{{sfn|Asch|page=122}} Six weeks before the [[1948 United States presidential election]], Eastland predicted the defeat of the incumbent President [[Harry Truman]], telling an audience in [[Memphis, Tennessee]] that voting for him was a waste.{{sfn|Asch|page=124}} After Truman's surprise victory, Eastland "remained publicly undaunted".{{sfn|Asch|page=124}}

In 1956, Eastland was appointed chairman of the [[United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary|Senate Judiciary Committee]], and he served in this position until his retirement from the Senate. He was re-elected five times. He did not face substantive [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] opposition until 1966, as party politics were realigning after passage of the [[Civil Rights Act of 1964]] and the [[Voting Rights Act of 1965]]. In 1966, freshman Representative [[Prentiss Walker]], the first Republican to represent Mississippi at the federal level since [[Reconstruction era of the United States|Reconstruction]], ran against Eastland. The Walker campaign was an early Republican effort to attract white conservatives to its ranks, because recently passed civil rights legislation had enabled African Americans in the South to begin participating in the political process, and most of them became active as liberals in the Democratic Party.

Former Republican Party state chairman [[Wirt Yerger]] had considered running against Eastland but bowed out after Walker announced his candidacy. Walker ran well to Eastland's right, accusing him of not having done enough to keep integration-friendly judges from being confirmed by the Senate. As is often the case when a one-term representative runs against a popular incumbent senator or governor, Walker was soundly defeated. Years later, Yerger said that Walker's decision to relinquish his House seat after one term for the vagaries of a Senate race against Eastland was "very devastating" to the growth of the Mississippi Republicans.<ref>"Challenging the Status Quo: Rubel Lex Phillips and the Mississippi Republican Party (1963-1967)", ''The Journal of Mississippi History'', XLVII, No. 4 (November 1985), p. 256</ref>

In February 1960, Senator [[Kenneth B. Keating]] made a motion to report an Eisenhower administration-backed civil rights bill out of the Senate Judiciary Committee.  [[Olin D. Johnston]] objected on the grounds that the committee did not have permission to sit while the full Senate was meeting. Eastland upheld the objection. Keating later stated that Eastland intentionally refused to recognize him earlier, which prevented him from making his motion before the full Senate convened.  Eastland disputed Keating's claim, stated that he had recognized Keating in an appropriate manner, and advised Keating not to repeat his claim to the full Senate.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Toledo Blade - Google News Archive Search |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=8_tS2Vw13FcC&dat=19600216&printsec=frontpage&hl=en |website=news.google.com}}</ref> In September 1960, Eastland and [[Thomas J. Dodd|Thomas Dodd]] said officials in the State Department cleared the way for the regime of [[Fidel Castro]] to reign in [[Cuba]] and that lower-ranking officials had misinformed Americans about the political climate of Cuba with assistance from the media. Incumbent Secretary of State [[Christian Herter]] responded to the claims by saying they were incorrect or misleading.<ref>{{Cite news |date=September 11, 1960 |title=Demos Charge U.S. Aided Castro Regime |work=Eugene Register-Guard |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=4pF9x-cDGsoC&dat=19600911&printsec=frontpage&hl=en}}</ref>

Eastland announced his support for [[United States Deputy Attorney General]] [[Byron White]] to replace the retiring [[Charles Evans Whittaker]] as Associate Justice on March 30, 1962, Eastland stating that White would be an able justice.<ref>{{Cite news |date=March 31, 1962 |title=Eastland Backs Choice; Says White Will Make 'Able Supreme Court Justice' |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1962/03/31/archives/eastland-backs-choice-says-white-will-make-able-supreme-court.html}}</ref> White took office the following month. Eastland introduced an amendment that he stated would nullify the Supreme Court prayer decision on June 29, 1962.<ref>{{Cite news |date=June 30, 1962 |title=Eastland Offers Amendment |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1962/06/30/archives/eastland-offers-amendment.html}}</ref> In September 1963, Eastland, fellow Mississippi Senator [[John C. Stennis|John Stennis]], and Georgia Senator [[Richard Russell Jr.|Richard Russell]] jointly announced their opposition to the ratification of the nuclear test ban treaty.<ref>{{Cite news |date=September 7, 1963 |title=3 Senators Join Foes of Test Ban; View Affirmed by Russell, Stennis and Eastland General Objects |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1963/09/07/archives/3-senators-join-foes-of-test-ban-view-affirmed-by-russell-stennis.html}}</ref> The opposition was viewed as denting hopes of the Kennedy administration to be met with minimal disagreement during the treaty's appearance before the Senate.<ref>{{Cite news |date=September 7, 1963 |title=Senates Oppose N-Treaty |work=Sarasota Herald-Tribune |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=A7-hzOuI2KQC&dat=19630907&printsec=frontpage&hl=en}}</ref>

In 1972, Eastland was reelected with 58 percent of the vote in his closest contest ever. His Republican opponent, [[Gil Carmichael]], an automobile dealer from [[Meridian, Mississippi|Meridian]], was likely aided by President [[Richard Nixon]]'s landslide reelection in 49 states, including taking 78 percent of Mississippi's popular vote. However, Nixon had worked "under the table" to support Eastland, a long-time personal friend. Nixon and other Republicans provided little support for Carmichael to avoid alienating [[Conservative Democrat|conservative]] [[Southern Democrat]]s, who increasingly supported Republican positions on many national issues. The Republicans worked to elect two House candidates, [[Trent Lott]] and [[Thad Cochran]], both of whom later became influential U.S. senators. Recognizing that Nixon would handily carry Mississippi, Eastland did not endorse the Democratic presidential candidate, [[George McGovern]] of [[South Dakota]], who was considered a liberal. Four years later, Eastland supported the candidacy of fellow Southern Democrat [[Jimmy Carter]] of [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]], rather than Nixon's successor, President [[Gerald R. Ford]].  Eastland's former press secretary, [[Larry Speakes]], a Mississippi native, served as a press spokesman for Gerald Ford and Ford's running mate, US Senator [[Robert J. Dole]].

In January 1970, after [[G. Harrold Carswell]] was accused of harboring both sexist and racist beliefs, Eastland told reporters that he believed this was the first instance of a Supreme Court nominee being challenged on his views on the legal rights of women.<ref>{{Cite news |date=January 30, 1970 |title=Carswell Called Foe of Women's Rights |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1970/01/30/archives/carswell-called-foe-of-womens-rights.html}}</ref> In April, the Senate Judiciary Committee scheduled a vote for a plan that if enacted would give each state one electoral vote for each congressional district. During a meeting with reporters, Eastland espoused his view that the Senate would not approve any constitutional amendment reforming the presidential election system that year.<ref>{{Cite news |date=April 22, 1970 |title=Eastland Doubts Passage Of a New Electoral Plan |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1970/04/22/archives/eastland-doubts-passage-of-a-new-electoral-plan.html}}</ref> In November, along with fellow Southerners [[Strom Thurmond]] and [[Sam J. Ervin Jr.]], Eastland was one of three senators to vote against an occupational safety bill that would establish federal supervision to oversee working conditions.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Finney |first=John W. |date=November 18, 1970 |title=Senate Approves Compromise Bill on Safety in Jobs |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1970/11/18/archives/senate-approves-compromise-bill-on-safety-in-jobs-823-vote-sends-to.html}}</ref> Later that month, after President Nixon vetoed a curb on spending for political broadcasts, Republican leader [[Hugh Scott]] announced that he would offer comprehensive campaign reforms the following year and called for senators to join him in sustaining the veto. It was agreed by members of both parties that Eastland was one of eight senators who were essential to supporting Democratic opposition to the veto and thereby make the difference in overriding it.<ref>{{Cite news |date=November 22, 1970 |title=Scott Seeks Votes To Back Nixon Veto Limiting TV Funds |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1970/11/22/archives/scott-seeks-votes-to-back-nixon-veto-limiting-tv-funds.html}}</ref>

In April 1971, Eastland introduced a six‐bill package intended to adjust the [[Internal Security Act of 1950]] in addition to plugging loopholes noted by various decisions made by the Supreme Court, Eastland noting that his proposed version of the Internal Security Act would give the [[Subversive Activities Control Board]] more efficiency.<ref>{{Cite news |date=April 6, 1971 |title=Eastland Urges Bolstering Of Internal Security Laws |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1971/04/06/archives/eastland-urges-bolstering-of-internal-security-laws.html}}</ref> In October 1971, after President [[Richard Nixon]] nominated [[Lewis F. Powell]] and [[William Rehnquist]] to the Supreme Court,<ref>{{Cite web |last=Nixon |first=Richard |date=October 21, 1971 |title=Address to the Nation Announcing Intention To Nominate Lewis F. Powell Jr. and William H. Rehnquist To Be Associate Justices of the Supreme Court of the United States |url=http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=3196 |access-date=March 1, 2016 |website=The American Presidency Project. [[University of California, Santa Barbara|UCSB]] |archive-date=March 10, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160310164624/http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=3196 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Eastland announced his intent to hasten the hearings of Rehnquist and Powell while admitting his doubts that hearings would begin the following week given the Senate being in recess.<ref>{{Cite news |date=October 22, 1971 |title=2 Nominees Given Cautious Backing |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1971/10/22/archives/2-nominees-given-cautious-backing-eastland-plans-to-expedite.html}}</ref> In October 1974, Eastland was one of five senators to sponsor legislation authored by [[Jesse Helms]] permitting prayer in public schools and taking the issue away from the Supreme Court which had previously ruled in 1963 that school prayer violated the [[First Amendment to the United States Constitution]] through the establishment of a religion.<ref>{{Cite news |date=October 18, 1974 |title=School Prayers Bill's Objective |publisher=Jewish Post |url=https://newspapers.library.in.gov/cgi-bin/indiana?a=d&d=JPOST19741018-01.1.12&srpos=13&e=------197-en-20--1--txt-txIN-thurmond------}}</ref> In June 1976, Eastland joined a coalition of Democratic politicians who endorsed Georgia Governor [[Jimmy Carter]] for the presidency.<ref>{{Cite news |date=June 11, 1976 |title=Democrats Stampede To Rally Behind Carter |work=The Milwaukee Sentinel |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1368&dat=19760611&id=oYtRAAAAIBAJ&pg=6970,1558340 }}{{Dead link|date=November 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> ''[[The New York Times]]'' assessed Stennis and Eastland as jointly "trying to pull Mississippi out for Mr. Carter" in their first campaign for a national Democrat in decades.<ref>{{Cite news |date=November 1, 1976 |title=Presidential Race Called Very Close on Eve of the Vote |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1976/11/01/archives/presidential-race-called-very-close-on-eve-of-the-vote-50state.html}}</ref>

On May 18, 1977, Eastland made a joint appearance with President [[Jimmy Carter]] in the Rose Garden in support of proposed foreign intelligence surveillance legislation. Eastland said the legislation was "vitally needed in this country" and that he was satisfied with its bipartisan support.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Carter |first=Jimmy |author-link=Jimmy Carter |date=May 18, 1977 |title=Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Remarks of the President, Attorney General Bell, and Several Members of Congress on Proposed Legislation. |url=http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=7526 |publisher=American Presidency Project}}</ref> Over the summer of 1977, the Justice Department enlisted the aid of Eastland as part of its effort to thwart "balkanization" of litigation authority, Eastland and Attorney General [[Griffin Bell]] moving to block six measures that if enacted would have permitted the independent agencies to go to court under certain circumstances in the event the Justice Department did not act on a case 45 days after it was referred to the department.<ref>{{Cite news |date=December 28, 1977 |title=Agency Control of Lawsuits Urged |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1977/12/28/archives/agency-control-of-lawsuits-urged.html}}</ref> By August 1977, the Carter administration reached a compromise plan to stem the flow of illegal aliens into the United States, Eastland, Attorney General Bell, and [[United States Secretary of Labor]] [[F. Ray Marshall]] agreeing to civil penalties up to $1,000 (~${{Format price|{{Inflation|index=US-GDP|value=1000|start_year=1977}}}} in {{Inflation/year|US-GDP}}) for offending employers.<ref>{{Cite news |date=August 5, 1977 |title=The Illegal Alien Tangle |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1977/08/05/archives/the-illegal-alien-tangle.html}}</ref> By September 1977, the seventy-three-year-old Eastland was considering retirement, with discussions of [[Ted Kennedy]] assuming his position as Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee.<ref name="Ties">{{Cite news |date=September 22, 1977 |title=Burger Moves to Aid Court-Congress Ties |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1977/09/22/archives/burger-moves-to-aid-courtcongress-ties-judicial-congress-hears.html}}</ref> In October 1977, Eastland was one of several influential senators invited to meet with President Carter as the latter tried gaining support in the Senate for the [[Panama Canal Treaties|Panama Canal treaties]].<ref>{{Cite news |date=October 12, 1977 |title=Carter in New Bid for Canal Backing |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1977/10/12/archives/carter-in-new-bid-for-canal-backing-he-calls-senators-to-white.html}}</ref>

=== Nixon resignation ===
On February 14, 1974, Special Prosecutor for the U.S. Department of Justice [[Leon Jaworski]] wrote to Eastland complaining that President Nixon had refused to give him material that he needed for his [[Watergate]] investigation including 27 tapes relating to the Watergate cover‐up in addition to political donations of milk producers and the activities of the plumbers unit of the White House. The contents of the letter to Eastland were disclosed to the public by Jaworski the following month.<ref>{{Cite news |date=March 22, 1974 |title=A Subpoena Seeks More Nixon Files |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1974/03/22/archives/a-subpoena-seeks-more-nixon-files-jaworski-reports-writ-was-served.html}}</ref> In May, the House Judiciary Committee opened impeachment hearings against President Nixon after the release of 1,200 pages of transcripts of White House conversations between him and his aides and the administration. That month, the Senate Judiciary Committee passed a resolution supporting Jaworski observing that he was "acting within the scope of the authority conferred upon him". Eastland's support for the resolution was seen by observers as part of a pattern of Nixon backers turning against him in light of the Watergate scandal.<ref>{{Cite news |date=May 22, 1974 |title=Senators Back Jaworski On Interference by Nixon |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1974/05/22/archives/senators-back-jaworski-on-interference-by-nixon-senate-panel-backs.html}}</ref> In August, ''[[Newsweek]]'' magazine released Eastland's name as one of thirty-six senators who the White House believed would support President Nixon remaining in office in the event of impeachment. The article mentioned the White House believing some of the supporters were shaky and that thirty-four of them would need to remain firm to override a potential conviction.<ref>{{Cite news |date=August 5, 1974 |title=36 Senators Seen as Nixon Backers |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1974/08/05/archives/36-senators-seen-as-nixon-backers-magazine-says-7-democrats-may.html}}</ref> Within days of the article's release, President Nixon announced his resignation in the face of near-certain impeachment.<ref>{{Cite news |title=Nixon Resigns |newspaper=The Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/special/watergate/part3.html |access-date=July 16, 2011 |series=The Watergate Story}}</ref>

===Senate President pro tempore===
During his last Senate term, Eastland was the longest-serving member of the majority party and was elected [[President pro tempore of the United States Senate|President pro tempore]]. Eastland is the most recent President pro tempore to have served during a vacancy in the Vice Presidency. He did so twice during the tumultuous 1970s, first from October to December 1973, following [[Spiro Agnew]]'s resignation until the swearing-in of [[Gerald Ford]] as Vice President, and then from August to December 1974, from the time that Ford became President until [[Nelson Rockefeller]] was sworn in as Vice President. Then, Eastland was second in the [[United States presidential line of succession|presidential line of succession]], behind only [[Speaker of the United States House of Representatives|Speaker of the House]] [[Carl Albert]].