Furnifold McLendel Simmons (January 20, 1854 April 30, 1940) was a Democratic member of 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...

 from 1887 to 1889 and U.S. senator

United States Senate

The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...

 from the state of North Carolina

North Carolina

North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...

 between 1901 and 1931. He served as chairman of the powerful Committee on Finance

United States Senate Committee on Finance

The U.S. Senate Committee on Finance is a standing committee of the United States Senate. The Committee concerns itself with matters relating to taxation and other revenue measures generally, and those relating to the insular possessions; bonded debt of the United States; customs, collection...

 from 1913 - 1919. In 1920 he was an unsuccessful contender for the Democratic Party nomination for president

President of the United States

The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....

.

As a leader of the state Democratic Party

North Carolina Democratic Party

The North Carolina Democratic Party is the North Carolina affiliate of the national Democratic Party in the United States. It is headquartered in Raleigh, North Carolina. They are located in the historic Goodwin house which is located in the downtown area of Raleigh at 220 Hillsborough Street...

, Simmons led the 1898-1900 White Supremacy

White supremacy

White supremacy is the belief, and promotion of the belief, that white people are superior to people of other racial backgrounds. The term is sometimes used specifically to describe a political ideology that advocates the social and political dominance by whites.White supremacy, as with racial...

 campaigns that effectively disfranchised black voters for a half-century. From his Senate seat, he then ran a powerful political machine, using A. D. Watts

A. D. Watts

A. D. "Aus" Watts was a North Carolina politician. A Democrat, Watts represented Iredell County, North Carolina in the North Carolina House of Representatives and in the North Carolina Senate....

 "to keep the machine oiled back home," in the words of one journalist.

Senator Simmons refused to endorse Al Smith

Al Smith

Alfred Emanuel Smith. , known in private and public life as Al Smith, was an American statesman who was elected the 42nd Governor of New York three times, and was the Democratic U.S. presidential candidate in 1928...

, the Democratic nominee for president in 1928. This, together with the Great Depression

Great Depression

The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...

, led to Simmons being defeated in the 1930 Democratic primary by Josiah W. Bailey, who was backed by Governor O. Max Gardner.