View source for Bob Sikes

{{Short description|American politician}}
{{About|the congressman|the airport named after him|Bob Sikes Airport|other uses|Bob Sykes (disambiguation)|section=yes}}
{{Infobox officeholder
|name          = Bob Sikes
|image         = Robert L F Sikes.jpg
|state         = [[Florida]]
|term_start    = January 3, 1945
|term_end      = January 3, 1979
|predecessor   = Himself
|successor     = [[Earl Hutto]]
|constituency  = [[Florida's 3rd congressional district|3rd district]] (1945–1963)<br>[[Florida's 1st congressional district|1st district]] (1963–1979)
|term_start1   = January 3, 1941
|term_end1     = October 19, 1944
|predecessor1  = [[Millard Caldwell]]
|successor1    = Himself
|constituency1 = [[Florida's 3rd congressional district|3rd district]]
|office2       = Member of the [[Florida House of Representatives]]
|term_start2   = 1937
|term_end2     = 1941
|predecessor2  =
|successor2    =
|birth_name    = Robert Lee Fulton Sikes
|birth_date    = {{birth date|1906|6|3}}
|birth_place   = [[Sylvester, Georgia|Isabella Station]], [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]], U.S. (now Sylvester)
|death_date    = {{nowrap|{{death date and age|1994|9|28|1906|6|3}}}}
|death_place   = [[Crestview, Florida|Crestview]], [[Florida]], U.S.
|party         = [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democrat]]
|spouse        = {{plainlist|
* {{marriage|Mildred Tyner|1949|1983|end=div}}
* {{marriage|Joan Thomas Dunning|1983|1994}}
}}{{citation needed|date=February 2023}}
|children      = 2
|education     = [[University of Georgia]] ([[Bachelor of Science|BS]])<br>[[University of Florida]] ([[Master of Science|MS]])
|branch        = [[United States Army]]
|serviceyears  = 1944
|rank          = [[Major (United States)|Major]]
|unit          = [[U.S. Army Air Corps]]
|battles       = [[World War II]]
}}
'''Robert Lee Fulton Sikes''' (June 3, 1906{{snd}}September 28, 1994) was an American politician of the [[Democratic Party (United States)|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 War{{spaces}}II.
He served during a long period in which Florida was effectively a one-party state dominated by Democrats, as the [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican Party]] had been weakened by the [[Disfranchisement after Reconstruction era|disfranchisement]] of African Americans by racist policies and [[Jim Crow laws]]. The Republican Party began a resurgence in the 1970s.
In 1975 Sikes was accused by [[Common Cause]] of financial misconduct and was investigated and censured by the House in 1976. He did not seek re-election in 1978.
==Career==
{{more citations needed section|date=March 2019}}
Sikes entered the publishing business in [[Crestview, Florida|Crestview]], in the [[Florida Panhandle]] near [[Destin, Florida|Destin]] and [[Fort Walton Beach]], working in that field from 1933 to 1946.
He soon became active in politics, joining the [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic Party]], which was effectively the only party for whites in the state in the early part of his career. At the turn of the century, the Democratic-dominated legislature had passed a new constitution and laws that [[Disfranchisement after Reconstruction era|disenfranchised]] most African Americans, crippling the Republican Party, of which they had been the majority.<ref name="valelly146-147">[https://books.google.com/books?id=V4__EYITWk4C&dq=Effects+of+southern+black+disfranchisement+on+1912+presidential+election&pg=PA128 Richard M. Valelly, ''The Two Reconstructions: The Struggle for Black Enfranchisement'' University of Chicago Press, 2009, pp. 146-147]</ref> Sikes was elected in 1936 to the [[Florida House of Representatives]], during the [[Great Depression]] and a landslide year for the Democrats, aligned with the popular President [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]]. Sikes was re-elected, serving until 1940.
Sikes was elected in 1940 to the [[77th United States Congress|Seventy-seventh]] Congress from what was then the 3rd District, and was re-elected to a second term in the [[78th United States Congress|Seventy-eighth]] Congress. His victory followed a bitter Democratic primary campaign.<ref>Crestview, Florida, "Monticello Mudslinger Shows Desperation In Losing Campaign", ''Okaloosa News-Journal'', Friday 17 May 1940, Volume 26, Number 20, page 1.</ref><ref>Crestview, Florida, "The Public Wants To Know Where Mr. Mays Stands", ''Okaloosa News-Journal'', Friday 17 May 1940, Volume 26, Number 20, page 1.</ref><ref>Crestview, Florida, "Monticello Mudslinger Smears Countryside {{sic|Desperat}} Propaganda", ''Okaloosa News-Journal'', Friday 24 May 1940, Volume 26, Number 21, page 1.</ref><ref>Crestview, Florida, "Mays Loses Temper And Tries To Stop Bob Sikes' Speech", ''Okaloosa News-Journal'', Friday 24 May 1940, Volume 26, Number 21, page 1.</ref> As Florida was then essentially a one-party state, most races were effectively decided in the Democratic primary.
[[File:CAC CC 001 18 30 0000 2995.jpg|thumb|Sikes and [[Carl Albert]].]]
Sikes served from January 3, 1941, until his resignation on October 19, 1944, to enter the [[United States Army]] during World War{{spaces}}II. He was commissioned as a major.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=VxUyAAAAIBAJ&pg=2773,3925839&dq=sikes+resigned+congress+army&hl=en|title=Florida prosperous in war year|access-date=4 December 2017}}</ref> As a Congressman, Sikes had pressed for development in the state, including of [[Eglin Field]] as a test facility of the [[United States Army Air Forces]], and later, the [[U.S. Air Force]].
When [[President of the United States|President]] [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]] ordered all legislators on active duty to return to Washington, Sikes ran for his old seat in 1944 and won. He served in the [[79th United States Congress|79th]] and sixteen succeeding Congresses. After the war, Sikes was selected as a delegate to the Interparliamentary Conference in [[Warsaw]], [[Poland]], in 1959.
Sikes was a signatory to the 1956 [[Southern Manifesto]]<ref>{{cite journal |title=Southern Manifesto |url=https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GPO-CRECB-1956-pt4/pdf/GPO-CRECB-1956-pt4-3-1.pdf |journal=Congressional Record - Senate |pages=4459–4461}}</ref> that opposed the desegregation of public schools ordered by the Supreme Court in ''[[Brown v. Board of Education]]''. Sikes voted against the [[Civil Rights Act of 1957|Civil Rights Acts of 1957]],<ref>{{Cite web |title=HR 6127. CIVIL RIGHTS ACT OF 1957. -- House Vote #42 -- Jun 18, 1957 |url=https://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/85-1957/h42 |access-date=2024-01-12 |website=GovTrack.us |language=en}}</ref> [[Civil Rights Act of 1960|1960]],<ref>{{Cite web |title=HR 8601. CIVIL RIGHTS ACT OF 1960. APPROVAL BY THE … -- House Vote #106 -- Apr 21, 1960 |url=https://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/86-1960/h106 |access-date=2024-01-12 |website=GovTrack.us |language=en}}</ref> [[Civil Rights Act of 1964|1964]],<ref>{{Cite web |title=H.R. 7152. CIVIL RIGHTS ACT OF 1964. ADOPTION OF A … -- House Vote #182 -- Jul 2, 1964 |url=https://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/88-1964/h182 |access-date=2024-01-12 |website=GovTrack.us |language=en}}</ref> and [[Civil Rights Act of 1968|1968]]<ref>{{Cite web |title=TO PASS H.R. 2516, A BILL TO ESTABLISH PENALTIES FOR … -- House Vote #113 -- Aug 16, 1967 |url=https://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/90-1967/h113 |access-date=2024-01-12 |website=GovTrack.us |language=en}}</ref> as well as the [[Twenty-fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution|24th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution]]<ref>{{Cite web |title=S.J. RES. 29. CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT TO BAN THE USE OF … -- House Vote #193 -- Aug 27, 1962 |url=https://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/87-1962/h193 |access-date=2024-01-12 |website=GovTrack.us |language=en}}</ref> and the [[Voting Rights Act of 1965]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=TO AGREE TO CONFERENCE REPORT ON S. 1564, THE VOTING … -- House Vote #107 -- Aug 3, 1965 |url=https://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/89-1965/h107 |access-date=2024-01-12 |website=GovTrack.us |language=en}}</ref>
Sikes was a colleague of representatives [[Courtney W. Campbell]], a fellow Democrat, and [[William C. Cramer]] of [[St. Petersburg, Florida|St. Petersburg]], who defeated Campbell in 1954 to become the first [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] elected in Florida to the House delegation since 1880 after Reconstruction.
Sikes's district, which was renumbered as the 1st District in 1963, began moving away from its [[Yellow Dog Democrat]]ic roots after World War{{spaces}}II. The district's voters began splitting their tickets as early as the 1950s, and voted for the Republican presidential candidate in every election from 1964 onward, except when the segregationist third-party candidacy of [[George Wallace]] won a majority [[1968 United States presidential election in Florida|in 1968]]. However, Sikes remained very popular at home. He 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, 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, Sikes became one of the most powerful men in Washington; he was often called "Florida's third Senator". He used his seniority to help build fourteen military bases in the Panhandle. He also had a reputation for strong constituent service, which garnered him the nickname "the He-Coon". Sikes said the nickname was derived from a Panhandle legend about a male [[raccoon]] that not only knew where food and water were, but also fended off his enemies and looked after his territory. As Sikes put it, a he-coon was expected to "look after those around him."<ref name="obit"/>
Along with Republican congressmen [[Jack Edwards (American politician)|Jack Edwards]] of [[Alabama]] and [[Trent Lott]] of [[Mississippi]], Sikes helped originate the ''[[Gulf Coast Congressional Report]]'' on [[WKRG-TV]] in [[Mobile, Alabama]] (the CBS affiliate for most of his district) in 1973. He left the program in 1979 upon his retirement.
==Reprimand==
In 1975, [[Common Cause]], a public-affairs lobbying group, accused Sikes of using his office for personal gain. He 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. He failed to disclose his interest in both these companies in the requisite financial reports. Sikes was reprimanded by a 381-3 vote of the House of Representatives on July 26, 1976, for the financial misconduct. Sikes, a strong [[Conservative (politics)|conservative]], believed "flaming liberals" had conspired against him.<ref name="obit">{{cite web|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=tCFUAAAAIBAJ&pg=6556,7273655&dq=flaming+liberals+sikes+dies&hl=en|title=Bob Sikes, He-coon of politics, dead at 88|website=news.google.com|access-date=4 December 2017}}</ref>
==Later years, death and legacy==
Sikes did not seek reelection in 1978 to Congress, having never lost an election in 45 years as an elected official. Upon his political retirement, Sikes returned to Crestview and devoted himself to his business interests. He died on September 28, 1994.<ref>[https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/1994/09/30/rep-robert-sikes-dies-at-88/1caee51d-7ecd-4bcf-81ce-944623fea6b8/?noredirect=on REP. Robert Sikes dies at 88]</ref>
*The Bob Sikes Bridge, connecting Gulf Breeze to Santa Rosa Island, is named after him.
*[[Bob Sikes Airport]] near the city of Crestview, in [[Okaloosa County]], is named for him.
*Bob Sikes Elementary School, located in Crestview, Florida
*The Robert LF Sikes Center, located in Crestview, Florida is named for him (part of [[Northwest Florida State College]]).
*[[County Road 280 (Walton County, Florida)|County Road 280]], known as "Bob Sikes Road", connects [[U.S. Route 331]] in [[DeFuniak Springs, Florida|DeFuniak Springs, FL]] to [[Florida State Road 285]] in the west.
==See also==
{{Portal|Georgia (U.S. state)|Florida|Politics|Conservatism}}
*[[List of federal political scandals in the United States]]
*[[List of United States representatives expelled, censured, or reprimanded]]
==References==
{{reflist}}
==External links==
{{CongBio|S000406}}
* {{Find a Grave|16445488}}
{{s-start}}
{{s-par|us-hs}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Millard F. Caldwell]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=Member of the [[List of United States Representatives from Florida|U.S. House of Representatives]]<br>from [[Florida's 3rd congressional district]]|years=1941–1944}}
{{s-aft|after=Himself}}
|-
{{s-bef|before=Himself}}
{{s-ttl|title=Member of the [[List of United States Representatives from Florida|U.S. House of Representatives]]<br>from [[Florida's 3rd congressional district]]|years=1945–1963}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Claude Pepper]]}}
|-
{{s-bef|before=[[William C. Cramer]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=Member of the [[List of United States Representatives from Florida|U.S. House of Representatives]]<br>from [[Florida's 1st congressional district]]|years=1963–1979}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Earl Dewitt Hutto]]}}
{{s-end}}
{{U.S. Florida Representatives}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sikes, Bob}}
[[Category:1906 births]]
[[Category:1994 deaths]]
[[Category:Censured or reprimanded members of the United States House of Representatives]]
[[Category:Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Florida]]
[[Category:People from Crestview, Florida]]
[[Category:People from Worth County, Georgia]]
[[Category:United States Army officers]]
[[Category:United States Army personnel of World War II]]
[[Category:University of Florida alumni]]
[[Category:University of Georgia alumni]]
[[Category:Signatories of the Southern Manifesto]]