After a brief career in radio, he found success in politics. “In a race for a seat in the Alabama Legislature,” writes the New York Times, “Mr. Connor won handily in the Democratic primary.”
“In 1934, Connor entered the Democratic primary race for a seat in the Alabama House of Representatives,” writes historian James Baggett, and “Connor served in the legislature from 1935 to 1937, and introduced and championed bills, such as poll tax reform.” His party’s majority in the legislature used the “poll tax” to deter African-Americans from voting.
His career proceeded as he was elected to be Birmingham’s commissioner of public safety, a position he held from 1936 to 1952, and again from 1956 to 1963. It was during his time in this office that he ordered the use of firehoses against peaceful demonstrators in May 1963. This iconic moment cemented Bull Connor’s name and reputation in the mind of the public. He also authorized the use of dogs against the demonstrators.
In addition to his role in the Birmingham city government, he was involved in national politics. He was a delegate to the Democratic National Convention several times: sources are unclear about exactly how many times he attended the convention, and which times he was a delegate, as compared to which times he served in other roles at the convention.
Given the conflicting sources, it is clear that he was elected as a delegate to the convention at least four times, and possibly as many as seven times. It is clear that he was a delegate at the convention in 1948 and 1956.
Records are not complete, but indicate his presence at the convention in 1940, 1944, 1960, 1964, and 1968, in addition to the 1948 and 1956 conventions, whether as a delegate or in some other capacity.
Between national conventions, Bull Connor was a member of the Democratic National Committee between 1960 and 1963. Evidence suggests that he was present at meetings as a non-member guest at times before and after his actual membership in the Democratic National Committee
“Connor served as a delegate to four Democratic National Conventions (1948, 1956, 1964, and 1968),” writes historian James Baggett. “At the 1948 convention, he helped lead a walkout by” a group of “delegates in protest of Pres. Harry S. Truman’s civil rights policies.”
Truman’s famous Executive Order 9981 ordered the desegregation of the military, although the order was carefully worded in a way such that it did not create the change it seemed to demand. Still, it was abhorrent to large numbers of Democrats, who refused to vote for Truman. Truman won the 1948 election anyway.
Bull Connor remained influential in the party, so much so that he outperformed nine other candidates in the primary election for governor. The eventual candidate outperformed him. “In 1950, Connor ran unsuccessfully for governor and then returned to his work as a commissioner.” He held the commissioner office and was reelected several times. After a brief hiatus, “he was voted back onto the commission in 1957. In 1960, Connor was elected Alabama’s Democratic National Committeeman, and” in “1962 he ran another unsuccessful campaign for governor.”
Historians will note the inaccuracies, ambiguities, and incompletenesses in the various source documents. It should not be so difficult to determine when and how often an individual was an official party delegate to a convention!
It is noteworthy that even after the iconic images of dogs and fire hoses being used without provocation against peaceful demonstrators, Bull Connor retained a powerful base of support within his party, being nominated for various elected public offices, and holding leadership roles inside the party.
By the mid 1960s, he had retired from politics, and died in 1973.
