Charley Eugene Johns

Charley Eugene Johns
32nd Governor of Florida
In office
September 28, 1953 – January 4, 1955
Preceded by Daniel T. McCarty
Succeeded by LeRoy Collins
Member of the Florida Senate
In office
1947
Personal details
Born February 27, 1905
Starke, Florida
Died January 23, 1990(1990-01-23) (aged 84)
Gainesville, Florida
Political party Democratic
Spouse(s) Thelma Brinson
Profession insurance agent, railroad conductor

Charley Eugene Johns (February 27, 1905 – January 23, 1990) was an American politician. Johns, a Baptist, served as the 32nd Governor of Florida from 1953 to 1955.

Johns was born in Starke, Florida. He worked as a railroad conductor and insurance agent before being elected to the State Senate as a Democrat in 1947. Johns became the Senate President in April 1953, a position Markley Johns, his brother, had been elected to. Johns was a member of the "Pork Chop Gang", a group of 20 conservative legislators from North Florida who favored racial segregation and consolidated political power and money in the northern, more rural parts of the state. One of the Johns most remembered initiatives during his early state Senate years was to build a new, portable electric chair to be transported by truck with an electric generator and set up in a jail or a courthouse where the convicted was sentenced.[1]

After the death of Governor Dan McCarty on September 28, 1953, Johns became the Acting Governor under the provisions of the state constitution at that time, which provided for the state Senate President to become the Acting Governor upon the death, incapacitation, or resignation of the Governor. During his term as Acting Governor, Johns promoted highway construction, eliminating tolls on the Overseas Highway between Miami and Key West. He was also an advocate for prison reform. In 1954, Johns ran for election to a term as governor in his own right, but was defeated by LeRoy Collins. After leaving office on January 4, 1955, he returned to the Florida Senate, serving until 1966.

Johns is most remembered for his support and chairmanship of the infamous Florida Legislative Investigation Committee, nicknamed the "Johns Committee" because of Johns' chairmanship. This committee participated in the Red Scare and Lavender scare by investigating communists, homosexuals, and civil rights advocates among the students and faculty of Florida's university system. They were responsible for revoking teachers' certificates and firing university professors. By 1963, the committee had forced the dismissal or resignation of over 100 professors and deans at the University of Florida, Florida State University and the University of South Florida. One professor, Sigismond Diettrich, chair of the geography department of the University of Florida, attempted suicide after being investigated by the committee. The state legislature ended funding for the committee in 1964 after it released a report called Homosexuality and Citizenship in Florida, which infamously became known as the "Purple Pamphlet".[2] Its many photographs depicting homosexual acts outraged legislators and reportedly copies of the report were being sold as pornography in New York City.

In 2005, UF Today, an alumni publication of the University of Florida, included Johns in a list of 81 "outstanding" UF alumni. Johns attended UF only for a few months and did not graduate. The editor apologized for the error, and the alumni association said that including him was a mistake.

References

  1. ↑ http://www.sptimes.com/News/92599/news_pf/State/The_story_of_Old_Spar.shtml
  2. ↑ Full text: http://ufdc.ufl.edu/UF00004805/00001, retrieved July 20, 2015.
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Political offices
Preceded by
Daniel T. McCarty		 Governor of Florida
September 28, 1953 – January 4, 1955 		Succeeded by
LeRoy Collins
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