Walter F. George (January 29, 1878 - August 4, 1957) was an American politician from the state of Georgia. He was a Democrat. George was born on a farm near Preston, Georgia. He attended public schools and was briefly a schoolteacher. He attended Mercer University in Macon, Georgia and graduated in 1901. Before entering politics he was a lawyer and judge in Georgia. He was an associate justice on the Georgia state Supreme Court from 1917 until 1922. He resigned from the court in 1922 to run for a seat in the United States Senate which became available due to the death of senator Thomas E. Watson. George won, and was elected to his first full term of six years in 1926. He served on the Senate from 1923 until 1957, declining to run for a sixth full term in 1956. At that time, the Republican Party in Georgia was very weak, so the real reelection contests for George were in the Democratic primaries. In 1938, George faced a particularly difficult primary fight after angering many Democrats by his opposition of certain aspects of President Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal programs. George defeated Lawrence Camp and Eugene Talmadge in the 1938 primary, though Camp was backed by Roosevelt.
When World War II began in Europe, George was at first a member of the isolationist faction in the United States Senate, but later supported the lend-lease program between the United States and Britain, and when the United States did become involved in the war, George helped guide legislation to finance it while he was chairman of the finance committee. George was known as a supporter of legislation to help farmers. He also supported racial segregation like most southern senators of the time.
George was a member of twelve committees while he was in the Senate, and chairman of five, including the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations from 1940 to 1941 and from 1955 to 1957, and the U.S. Senate Committee on Finance fom 1941 to 1947 and from 1949 to 1953. He was also President pro tempore of the Senate from 1955 until 1957.
Early in 1957, shortly after his retirment from the Senate, George was appointed special ambassador to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization by President Dwight Eisenhower. He served in this position for about six months before becoming seriously ill. He died in Vienna, Georgia and is interred in the Vienna cemetery.
The Walter F. George School of Law at Mercer University, the Walter F. George high school in Atlanta, Georgia and Walter F. George Lake in western Georgia are named after him.
Preceded by: Rebecca L. Felton U.S. Senator (Class 3) from Georgia 1922-1957 Succeeded by: Herman E. Talmadge Preceded by: Pat Harrison Chairman of the U.S. Senate Committee on Finance 1941-1947 Succeeded by: Eugene D. Millikin Preceded by: Eugene D. Millikin Chairman of the U.S. Senate Committee on Finance 1949-1953 Succeeded by: Eugene D. Millikin Preceded by: Styles Bridges President pro tempore of the United States Senate January 5, 1955-January 2, 1957 Succeeded by: Carl T. Hayden Presidents pro tempore of the United States Senate Langdon • Lee • Langdon • Izard • H Tazewell • Livermore • Bingham • Bradford • Read • Sedgwick • Laurance • Ross • Livermore • Tracy • Howard • Hillhouse • Baldwin • Bradley • Brown • Franklin • Anderson • Smith • Bradley • Milledge • Gregg • Gaillard • Pope • Crawford • Varnum • Gaillard • Barbour • Gaillard • Macon • Smith • L Tazewell • White • Poindexter • Tyler • W R King • Southard • Mangum • Sevier • Atchison • W R King • Atchison • Cass •
