21 Facts About Bob Sikes

Robert Lee Fulton Sikes was an American politician of the Democratic Party who represented the Florida Panhandle in the United States House of Representatives from 1941 to 1979, with a brief break in 1944 and 1945 for service during World WarII.

Bob Sikes served during a long period in which Florida was effectively a one-party state dominated by Democrats, due to disfranchisement of African Americans by racist policies and Jim Crow laws.

In 1975, Bob Sikes was accused by Common Cause of financial misconduct and was investigated and censured by the House in 1976.

Bob Sikes entered the publishing business in Crestview, in the Florida Panhandle near Destin and Fort Walton Beach, working in that field from 1933 to 1946.

Bob Sikes soon became active in politics, joining the Democratic Party, which was effectively the only party for whites in the state in the early part of his career.

Bob Sikes was elected in 1940 to the Seventy-seventh Congress from what was then the 3rd District, and was re-elected to a second term in the Seventy-eighth Congress.

Bob Sikes served from January 3,1941, until his resignation on October 19,1944, to enter the United States Army during World WarII.

When President Franklin D Roosevelt ordered all legislators on active duty to return to Washington, Sikes ran for his old seat in 1944 and won.

Bob Sikes served in the 79th and sixteen succeeding Congresses.

Bob Sikes voted against the Civil Rights Acts of 1957,1960,1964, and 1968 as well as the 24th Amendment to the US Constitution and the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

Bob Sikes never won less than 80 percent of the vote, and usually faced "sacrificial lamb" Republican challengers on the occasions he faced any opposition at all.

In 1964, for instance, Bob Sikes was reelected unopposed even as Barry Goldwater won the district by such a large margin it almost pushed Florida into the Republican column.

In Congress, Bob Sikes became one of the most powerful men in Washington; he was often called "Florida's third Senator".

Bob Sikes used his seniority to help build fourteen military bases in the Panhandle.

Bob Sikes had a reputation for strong constituent service, which garnered him the nickname "the He-Coon".

Bob Sikes said the nickname was derived from a Panhandle legend about a male raccoon that not only knew where food and water were, but fended off his enemies and looked after his territory.

Bob Sikes left the program in 1979 upon his retirement.

In 1975, Common Cause, a public-affairs lobbying group, accused Bob Sikes of using his office for personal gain.

Bob Sikes owned stock in First Navy Bank at Naval Air Station Pensacola, a bank that had been established by government officials at his urging, as well as in military contractor Fairchild Industries, which benefited from government contracts.

Bob Sikes failed to disclose his interest in both these companies in the requisite financial reports.

Bob Sikes did not seek reelection in 1978 to Congress, having never lost an election in 45 years as an elected official.