Robert Rice Reynolds

Robert Rice Reynolds (June 18, 1884 – February 13, 1963) was a Democratic U.S. senator from the state of North Carolina between 1932 and 1945.

Originally from the town of Asheville, Reynolds practiced law there and was elected to serve as solicitor (prosecuting attorney) for the area (1910-1914). He ran for Lieutenant Governor of North Carolina in 1924, losing to J. Elmer Long in the Democratic primary. Reynolds first ran for the United States Senate in 1926, but was not successful. He ran again in 1932 and defeated interim Senator Cameron Morrison in the Democratic primary runoff by nearly two to one after running a particularly nasty, populist campaign, which accused Morrison of being a Communist sympathizer. During one campaign speech, he proclaimed, :"Cam likes fish eggs, and Red Russian fish eggs at that. Don't you want a Senator who likes North Carolina hen eggs?"

Reynolds had marked Fascist sympathies during his public career. He was in close contact and sympathy with William Dudley Pelley's pro-Nazi Silver Legion of America. As Senator, Reynolds sympathized with the Nazi government in Germany and fought for the America First organization. On the floor of the Senate, he said::"The dictators are doing what is best for their people. I say it is high time we found out how they are doing it, and why they are progressing so rapidly. Hitler has solved the unemployment problem. There is no unemployment in Italy. Hitler and Mussolini have a date with destiny. It is foolish to oppose them, so why not play ball with them?"

President Franklin Roosevelt recruited Franklin W. Hancock, Jr. to oppose Reynolds in the 1938 Democratic primary, but Reynolds won handily.

In April 1940, Reynolds provided a Nazi agent, Simon Emil Koedel, with detailed confidential information about France’s ports. He was not charged with treason. In 1941, Reynolds became chairman of the Senate Committee on Military Affairs.

By 1944, the Democratic Party had had enough of Reynolds and chose former governor Clyde R. Hoey to seek Reynolds's seat in the primary. As a result, Reynolds did not seek reelection. Hoey won the primary and went on to win the general election in a landslide victory over a Republican opponent. Reynolds did seek to return to the Senate in 1950, but was hopelessly discredited by this time and won only 10% in the Democratic primary, behind Frank Porter Graham and Willis Smith.

After leaving public life, he practiced law and real estate until his death, in Asheville.

External links

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* [http://www.newsobserver.com/politics/story/1027931.html Rob Christensen: From Buncombe Bob to 'the Tar Heel Fuhrer']