Carl Vinson was a United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 Representative

United States House of Representatives

The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...

 from Georgia

Georgia (U.S. state)

Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...

. He was a Democrat and the first person to serve for more than 50 years in the United States House of Representatives

United States House of Representatives

The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...

. He was known as "The Father of the Two-Ocean Navy".
Vinson was born in Baldwin County, Georgia

Baldwin County, Georgia

Baldwin County is a county located in the U.S. state of Georgia. As of 2010, the population was 46,337. The county seat is Milledgeville.Baldwin County is part of the Milledgeville Micropolitan Statistical Area, which includes neighboring Hancock County....

, attended Georgia Military College

Georgia Military College

Georgia Military College is a United States Military Junior College, high school, and middle school in Milledgeville, Georgia. GMC is one of five military junior colleges that participates in the Army's Early Commissioning Program. Cadets who graduate from GMC's two-year, military science-oriented...

, and graduated with a law degree from Mercer University

Mercer University

Mercer University is an independent, private, coeducational university with a Baptist heritage located in the U.S. state of Georgia. Mercer is the only university of its size in the United States that offers programs in eleven diversified fields of study: liberal arts, business, education, music,...

 in 1902. He was elected to the Georgia House of Representatives

Georgia House of Representatives

The Georgia House of Representatives is the lower house of the Georgia General Assembly of the U.S. state of Georgia.-Composition:...

 in 1908. After losing a third term following redistricting, he was appointed judge of the Baldwin County

Baldwin County, Georgia

Baldwin County is a county located in the U.S. state of Georgia. As of 2010, the population was 46,337. The county seat is Milledgeville.Baldwin County is part of the Milledgeville Micropolitan Statistical Area, which includes neighboring Hancock County....

 court, but following the sudden death of Senator Augustus Bacon, Representative Thomas W. Hardwick

Thomas W. Hardwick

Thomas William Hardwick was an American politician from the U.S. state of Georgia.Hardwick was born in Thomasville, Georgia. He graduated from Mercer University with a bachelor of arts degree in 1892 and received a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Georgia in 1893...

 of Georgia's 10th Congressional District was nominated to fill Bacon's Senate seat and Vinson announced his candidacy for Hardwick's seat in Congress.