- Herbert S. Walters
Infobox Senator |name=Herbert Sanford Walters
nationality=American
jr/sr=United States Senator
state=Tennessee
party=Democratic
term_start=August 20 ,1963
term_end=November 3 ,1964
preceded=Estes Kefauver
succeeded=Ross Bass
date of birth=November 17 ,1881
place of birth=Leadvale, Tennessee
date of death=October 17 ,1973
place of death=Knoxville, Tennessee
spouse=
religion=Herbert Sanford Walters (
November 17 ,1881 –October 17 ,1973 ) was a Democratic United States Senator fromTennessee from 1963 to 1964.Walters was a native of
Jefferson County, Tennessee . He was a graduate of the former Castle Heights Military Academy inLebanon, Tennessee and attendedCarson-Newman College inJefferson City, Tennessee and theUniversity of Tennessee .Walters became a prominent
bank er inEast Tennessee . He served a term in theTennessee House of Representatives (1934 to 1936) prior to serving in the stateCabinet as Commissioner ofHighways .Walters was appointed to the Senate on
August 20 , 1963 by Tennesseegovernor Frank G. Clement , upon the death of SenatorEstes Kefauver . At age 81 when assuming office, Walters was immediately assumed to be a caretaker who would show no interest in being elected to the office in his own right, which proved to be correct. Political observers felt that Clement took this action in part because he intended to run for the office himself in the next election, which also proved to be correct, but was unwilling to face the consequences of appointing himself to the office in the interim, which would also led to his succession as governor bylieutenant governor Jared Maddux , an event which would have entailed additional consequences of its own. However, Clement failed to capture the Democratic nomination for the seat in the August, 1964 Democratic primary.Walters served his time in the Senate rather quietly, very much in the shadow of the state's senior senator,
Albert Gore, Sr. . He supported most of the initiatives of Democratic PresidentLyndon B. Johnson , who became President only three months after Walter's appointment to the Senate whenJohn F. Kennedy was assassinated.Like most senators from the Deep South at that time, Walters voted against civil rights legislations, including the
Civil Rights Act of 1964 .Walters' term of service in the Senate ended on
November 3 , 1964, immediately after the election of his successor,Ross Bass , which is traditional with appointed senators who do not seek election.Walters also served as a trustee of the University of Tennessee. A biography of Walters, "The Herbert Walters Story" by author Howard Hill, was published at about the time of his Senate service. Walters is buried at Jarrnagin Cemetery in
Morristown, Tennessee .Walters State Community College in Morristown is named in his honor.
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