John S. Battle
Encyclopedia
John Stewart Battle was an American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 politician and the 56th Governor
Governor of Virginia
The governor of Virginia serves as the chief executive of the Commonwealth of Virginia for a four-year term. The position is currently held by Republican Bob McDonnell, who was inaugurated on January 16, 2010, as the 71st governor of Virginia....

 of Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...

 from 1950 to 1954.

Battle was born in 1890 in New Bern, Craven County, North Carolina
Craven County, North Carolina
Craven County is a county located in the U.S. state of North Carolina. The estimated population in 2006 was 94,875. Its county seat is New Bern.Craven County is part of the New Bern, North Carolina, Micropolitan Statistical Area.-History:...

. He earned an associate's degree
Associate's degree
An associate degree is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by community colleges, junior colleges, technical colleges, and bachelor's degree-granting colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study usually lasting two years...

 from Mars Hill College
Mars Hill College
Mars Hill College is a private, coed, liberal-arts college affiliated with the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina and the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship. The college is located in the small town of Mars Hill, North Carolina, due north of Asheville, western North Carolina's largest city...

 (then a junior college), in North Carolina. He then earned a bachelor's degree
Bachelor's degree
A bachelor's degree is usually an academic degree awarded for an undergraduate course or major that generally lasts for three or four years, but can range anywhere from two to six years depending on the region of the world...

 from Wake Forest University
Wake Forest University
Wake Forest University is a private, coeducational university in the U.S. state of North Carolina, founded in 1834. The university received its name from its original location in Wake Forest, north of Raleigh, North Carolina, the state capital. The Reynolda Campus, the university's main campus, is...

 (then college) and a law degree from the University of Virginia
University of Virginia
The University of Virginia is a public research university located in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States, founded by Thomas Jefferson...

. Battle was elected to the Virginia House of Delegates
Virginia House of Delegates
The Virginia House of Delegates is the lower house of the Virginia General Assembly. It has 100 members elected for terms of two years; unlike most states, these elections take place during odd-numbered years. The House is presided over by the Speaker of the House, who is elected from among the...

 in 1929, and to the Virginia State Senate in 1934, where he served until 1949, when he resigned upon his election as governor.

Battle was a Delegate to the Democratic National Convention
Democratic National Convention
The Democratic National Convention is a series of presidential nominating conventions held every four years since 1832 by the United States Democratic Party. They have been administered by the Democratic National Committee since the 1852 national convention...

 in 1948, 1952, 1956, 1960, and 1968. In 1956, he was a candidate for the Presidential nomination, eventually losing in floor voting to former Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...

 Governor Adlai Stevenson. When the Virginia delegation was threatened with expulsion at the 1952 Democratic Party national convention for refusing to sign a loyalty oath to whomever the party nominated, Battle delivered a speech to the convention that forestalled expulsion and helped prevent a split like the Democrats experienced in 1948.

After his term ended, Battle went into semi retirement in Charlottesville, Virginia
Charlottesville, Virginia
Charlottesville is an independent city geographically surrounded by but separate from Albemarle County in the Commonwealth of Virginia, United States, and named after Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, the queen consort of King George III of the United Kingdom.The official population estimate for...

, although he did practice law. Battle did harbor political ambitions, and was prepared to run for the US Senate in 1958 if the incumbent Senator Harry F. Byrd Sr., chose not to run for reelection. Former Governor (and then Congressman) William Tuck had the same ambitions, and Byrd chose to run again to avoid the political infighting that would result from a Battle-Tuck primary fight.

In 1959, President Eisenhower
Dwight D. Eisenhower
Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower was the 34th President of the United States, from 1953 until 1961. He was a five-star general in the United States Army...

 called on Battle to serve on the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, citing his moderate history on racism
Racism
Racism is the belief that inherent different traits in human racial groups justify discrimination. In the modern English language, the term "racism" is used predominantly as a pejorative epithet. It is applied especially to the practice or advocacy of racial discrimination of a pernicious nature...

.

Battle died in 1972, at the age of 81, and was buried in Monticello Memorial Park in Charlottesville
Charlottesville, Virginia
Charlottesville is an independent city geographically surrounded by but separate from Albemarle County in the Commonwealth of Virginia, United States, and named after Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, the queen consort of King George III of the United Kingdom.The official population estimate for...

. Battle will be remembered for his moderate civil rights
Civil rights
Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from unwarranted infringement by governments and private organizations, and ensure one's ability to participate in the civil and political life of the state without discrimination or repression.Civil rights include...

 record and his willingness to help fund public schools.

Battle was the father of William C. Battle
William C. Battle
William Cullen Battle was a lawyer, businessman, United States Ambassador to Australia, and president of the United States Golf Association....

, (1920–2008), a lawyer, businessmen, United States Ambassador to Australia
United States Ambassador to Australia
The position of United States Ambassador to Australia has existed since 1940. U.S.-Australian relations have been close throughout the history of Australia...

, and president of the United States Golf Association
United States Golf Association
The United States Golf Association is the United States' national association of golf courses, clubs and facilities and the governing body of golf for the U.S. and Mexico. Together with The R&A, the USGA produces and interprets the Rules of Golf. The USGA also provides a national handicap system...

.

John S. Battle High School
John S. Battle High School
John S. Battle High School is a high school located in the Southwest portion of Virginia in Washington County. The school was named after the Governor John S. Battle. It was built in 1959. There have been many additions. The Mason building is in the Northwest quadrant of the school. In the 1970s,...

 in Washington County, Virginia
Washington County, Virginia
As of the census of 2000, there were 51,103 people, 21,056 households, and 14,949 families residing in the county. The population density was 91 people per square mile . There were 22,985 housing units at an average density of 41 per square mile...

, built in 1959, bears his name. Battle Hall at the Virginia School for the Deaf and the Blind is also named for him.

External links

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