Howell Heflin

Biography

Howell Heflin was born on June 19, 1921 in Poulan, Georgia. He attended public school in Alabama, having graduated from Colbert County High School in Leighton. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in 1942 from Birmingham-Southern College in Birmingham. He was also the nephew of prominent white supremacist politician and U.S. Senator James Thomas Heflin and greatnephew of U.S. Representative Robert Stell Heflin.

During World War II, from 1942 to 1946, he served as an officer in the United States Marine Corps. He was awarded the Silver Star for valor in combat and recipient of two Purple Heart medals, having seen action on Bougainville and Guam.

After World War II, he attended the University of Alabama School of Law, from which he graduated in 1948. Prior to his election to the Alabama Supreme Court, he served as a law professor, while concurrently practicing law in Tuscumbia, Alabama.

Political career

In 1970, Heflin was elected to the post of Chief Justice of the Alabama Supreme Court, serving from 1971 to 1977.

In 1978, Heflin was elected to the United States Senate to succeed fellow Democrat John Sparkman, who had been Adlai E. Stevenson's running-mate in 1952, when slated against Richard Nixon, Dwight D. Eisenhower's running-mate, on the Republican ticket. Heflin won his party's nomination to succeed Sparkman by defeating U.S. Representative Walter Flowers of Tuscaloosa, a long-time George C. Wallace ally. The 1966 Republican gubernatorial nominee, former U.S. Representative James D. Martin of Gadsden, announced that he would challenge Heflin. In 1962, Martin had waged a strong but losing Republican campaign against then U.S. Senator J. Lister Hill of Montgomery. However, Martin switched to a second Senate race for a two-year term created by the sudden death of Senator James B. Allen. The change in races left Heflin without Republican opposition in 1978.

In 1984, Heflin won his second Senate term by handily defeating Republican former U.S. Representative Albert L. Smith Jr., of Birmingham, who had hoped to win by running on the coattails of U.S. President Ronald W. Reagan. Heflin was reelected to a third term in 1990, defeating State Senator William J. Cabaniss, who later served as United States Ambassador to the Czech Republic under George W. Bush. Heflin did not run for reelection in 1996, and was succeeded by State Attorney General Jeff Sessions.

Heflin became Chairman of the Select Committee on Ethics. While on the Ethics Committee, he led the prosecution against fellow Democratic Senator Howard Cannon of Nevada for violations of Senate rules.

He strongly opposed legal abortion and all gun control laws. Heflin supported prayer in public schools and opposed extending federal laws against discrimination to homosexuals. He supported the Gulf War of 1991 and opposed cuts in defense spending. With Fritz Hollings from South Carolina, he was one of only two Democrats in the Senate to vote against the Family and Medical Leave Act. He occasionally voted with Republicans on taxes. On other economic issues he was more in sync with the populist wing of his party. He voted against the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), and attempts to weaken enforcement of consumer protection measures. He strongly supported affirmative action laws. He memorably voted against the nomination of Clarence Thomas to the United States Supreme Court, having complained of the nominee's lack of experience.

During his tenure, Heflin was considered to have bipartisan support if he were nominated by President Reagan for a vacancy on the Supreme Court. Nevertheless, Heflin did not wish to serve on the highest court in the United States.

Senator Heflin lived at his long-time residence in Tuscumbia until his death on March 29, 2005 of a heart attack. He is survived by his wife, Elizabeth Ann, his son H. Thomas Jr., known as Tom, and two grandchildren. Heflin, as of November 2016, is the last Democrat to serve as Senator of Alabama.

Honors

The University of Alabama School of Law has honored Heflin with the "Howell Heflin Conference Room" in the Bounds Law Library. There is a street named "Howell Heflin Lane" in Tuscumbia. The Howell Heflin Lock and Dam in Alabama is named in his honor. The Howell T. Heflin Seminar room in the Birmingham-Southern College Library is also named in his honor.

The New York Times characterized him as the "conscience of the Senate."

In popular culture

Heflin was portrayed by Chris Farley on Saturday Night Live (Season 17).