Charles Edward Bennett

Democrat Representative of Florida's 3rd district

  • Representative

    Florida, district 3

    January 3, 1991 - January 3, 1993

22

Congresses Served

22

House Terms

December 2, 1910 (92 years old)

Birthday

September 6, 2003

Death

  • Served as a member of the United States House of Representatives for 44 years, from 1949 to 1993.
  • Longest-serving member of Congress in Florida’s history.
  • Moved to Florida in his childhood and was an Eagle Scout.
  • Graduated and earned a Juris Doctor from the University of Florida, where he was also the editor of the student newspaper and president of the student body.
  • Served in the Florida state legislature before joining the U.S. Army during World War II, where he contracted polio, resulting in paralysis of his legs.
  • Married Dorothy Jean in 1953 and had four children.
  • Rarely faced serious opposition in elections, even as his district became more Republican.
  • Proposed the first code of ethics for government employees in 1951, which was adopted in 1958.
  • Sponsored the bill that added “In God We Trust” to the nation’s currency.
  • Signed the 1956 Southern Manifesto and voted against several Civil Rights Acts but in favor of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
  • Held a record for the longest unbroken string of recorded roll call votes.
  • Returned his veteran’s disability pension and Social Security checks to the U.S. Treasury to reduce the national debt.
  • Was not named to the first formal ethics committee despite his ethical stance and efforts.
  • Was hawkish on defense policy but was defeated for the chairmanship of the House Armed Services Committee in 1985.
  • Retired in 1992 when his wife became ill.
  • Authored nine books on the history of north Florida.
  • Contributed to the creation of the Fort Caroline National Memorial and the Timucuan Ecological and Historic Preserve.
  • Received the Jacksonville Historical Society’s Lifetime Achievement Award.
  • Died in 2003 and was interred at Arlington National Cemetery.
  • Has a federal building, an elementary school, and a bridge named in his honor in Jacksonville, Florida.