William M. Tuck

William M. Tuck
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Virginia's 5th district
In office
April 14, 1953  January 3, 1969
Preceded by Thomas B. Stanley
Succeeded by Dan Daniel
55th Governor of Virginia
In office
January 16, 1946  January 18, 1950
Lieutenant Lewis Preston Collins II
Preceded by Colgate Darden
Succeeded by John S. Battle
25th Lieutenant Governor of Virginia
In office
1942–1946
Governor Colgate Darden
Preceded by Saxon Winston Holt
Succeeded by Lewis Preston Collins II
Member of the Virginia Senate from Halifax County
In office
1932–1942
Preceded by James Stone Easley
Succeeded by James Hagood
Member of the Virginia House of Delegates from Halifax County
In office
1924  1932
Alongside John Glass, Samuel Adams and A. Owen King
Personal details
Born September 28, 1896
Halifax County, Virginia
Died June 9, 1983 (aged 86)
South Boston, Virginia
Resting place Oak Ridge Cemetery, South Boston, Virginia
Nationality United States
Political party Democratic
Spouse(s) Eva Ellis Lovelace Dillard Tuck
Alma mater College of William and Mary
Washington and Lee University
Profession Attorney
Military service
Service/branch United States Marine Corps
Years of service 1918–1919
Battles/wars World War I

William Munford Tuck (September 28, 1896 – June 9, 1983) served as the 55th Governor of Virginia from 1946 to 1950 as a Democrat.

Biography

He was the youngest son of Halifax County, Virginia tobacco warehouseman Robert James Tuck and Virginia Susan Fritts. Tuck graduated from the College of William and Mary, earning a teacher's certificate. He served in U.S. Marine Corps in 1917 in the Caribbean. He graduated from Washington and Lee University School of Law in 1921 and was admitted to Virginia bar then was a Halifax, Virginia attorney who also served in both houses of the Virginia General Assembly and as the 25th Lieutenant Governor of Virginia from 1942 to 1946. As governor, he reorganized state government, enacted a right-to-work law, and created a state water pollution control agency.

Tuck was elected as a Democrat to U.S. Congress seat in 1953 to assume vacancy created by Thomas Bahnson Stanley who had resigned to run for Governor of Virginia. There he opposed most major items of civil rights legislation during the 1950s and 1960s. He also promised "massive resistance" to the Supreme Court's 1954 decision banning segregation, Brown v. Board of Education, and helped draft the Stanley plan—a series of state laws designed to legally avoid Brown.

He is buried in Oak Ridge Cemetery, South Boston, Virginia.

He was a delegate to Democratic National Conventions of 1948 and 1952.

His personal papers, including papers from his time as congressman and governor, are held by the Special Collections Research Center at the College of William & Mary.[1] His executive papers from his time as governor are held by the Library of Virginia.

His birthplace and home Buckshoal Farm was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1987.[2][3]

Electoral history

References

  1. "William Munford Tuck Papers". Special Collections Research Center, Earl Gregg Swem Library, College of William and Mary. Retrieved February 1, 2011.
  2. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. 2010-07-09.
  3. Virginia Historic Landmarks Commission (June 1978). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory/Nomination: Buckshoal Farm" (PDF). Virginia Department of Historic Resources.

External links

Political offices
Preceded by
Colgate Darden
Governor of Virginia
1946–1950
Succeeded by
John S. Battle
Preceded by
Saxon Winston Holt
Lieutenant Governor of Virginia
1942–1946
Succeeded by
Lewis Preston Collins II
United States House of Representatives
Preceded by
Thomas B. Stanley
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Virginia's 5th congressional district

1953–1969
Succeeded by
W. C. "Dan" Daniel