29 Facts About LeRoy Collins

Thomas LeRoy Collins was an American politician who served as the 33rd governor of Florida from 1955 to 1961.

LeRoy Collins was the first governor from the South to promote ending segregation.

LeRoy Collins, "an example of the poor boy made good," was born and raised in Tallahassee, Florida, son of a "neighborhood grocer".

LeRoy Collins went on to attend Eastman Business College in Poughkeepsie, New York, and then the Cumberland School of Law, at that time in Lebanon, Tennessee, where he earned a law degree.

LeRoy Collins was first elected to public office in 1934, as Leon County's representative to the Florida House of Representatives.

LeRoy Collins continued to serve in the House until 1940, when he was elected to the Florida Senate to fill an unexpired term of the late William Hodges.

Re-elected to the Senate in 1942, LeRoy Collins resigned to join the military for World War II.

LeRoy Collins attempted to enlist in 1943, but was rejected by the United States Navy because of his age.

LeRoy Collins attended officer training first in Hollywood, Florida, and then in Princeton, New Jersey.

LeRoy Collins was posted to the 13th Naval District headquarters in Seattle, Washington, where he was assigned as an attorney for Navy boards and courts.

LeRoy Collins was discharged from active duty as a lieutenant in March 1946, and returned to Florida to resume his legal and political career.

LeRoy Collins twice received the title of "Most Valuable Senator".

LeRoy Collins challenged Johns in the 1954 Democratic primary election and won the nomination.

LeRoy Collins was sworn in as governor on January 4,1955.

In 1956, he was reelected to serve a regular four-year term, LeRoy Collins was the first governor of Florida to serve two consecutive terms.

LeRoy Collins prevented passage of the resolution the first time by using his power under Section 10 of Article Four of the state constitution to unilaterally adjourn the legislature.

In 1955, LeRoy Collins personally reviewed the case of the Groveland Four, a case that had been unjust to four black men.

LeRoy Collins became Chairman of the Southern Governors' Association in 1957.

LeRoy Collins fell just a few votes short of persuading the first Constitution Revision Commission to send an amendment to voters to abolish capital punishment in the state.

LeRoy Collins later recalled that he worked for the amendment because every time an execution was carried out under his order, it left him feeling nearly as guilty as the murderers.

LeRoy Collins's speech generated hundreds of responses, mostly positive, from citizens across the state.

LeRoy Collins was acceptable to Northern liberals because of his support for civil rights.

LeRoy Collins resigned this at the request of President Lyndon B Johnson to become the first Director of the Community Relations Service under the 1964 Civil Rights Act.

LeRoy Collins resigned this position effective October 1,1966 to return to Florida to become a partner in a Tampa law firm.

Gurney partisans distributed a photograph of LeRoy Collins walking alongside the Reverend Martin Luther King Jr.

The photograph contained no caption or other explanation of why LeRoy Collins was in Selma.

LeRoy Collins conducted these negotiations as a part of his job as head of the Community Relations Service, at the behest of President Lyndon B Johnson.

LeRoy Collins was called "the greatest Governor of Florida" by former governors Reubin Askew, Bob Graham, and Jeb Bush.

LeRoy Collins was defeated by Bill Nelson, the Democratic incumbent.