Fellow Calhoun County resident and Gov...who once said when dedicating the Bridge from Btown to Bristol over the Apalachicola..."Finally the folks from Calhoun County can have a better way to go visit their relatives in Chattahoochee (State Mental Hosp.) and Starke (State Prison)....good stuff. I knew some family members and I wish I had a chance to meet him, but I was 6 when he died.
Yours in the Bond.
Fuller Warren (October 3, 1905 – September 23, 1973) was the 30th governor of the U.S. state of Florida.
Born in Blountstown, Florida, he attended the University of Florida in Gainesville and was a member of the Tau Chapter of Theta Chi Fraternity. While attending the university, he was elected to the Florida House of Representatives at the age of 21 in 1927. Following graduation, he moved to Jacksonville, Florida and began practicing law. He served on the city council from 1931 until 1937 and returned to the Florida House in 1939. During World War II, he was a gunnery officer in the U.S. Navy. During the election for governor in 1948, the debate over whether Florida would become a "dry state" heated up. Warren has been held to have delivered a speech more often attributed to Noah S. Sweat, the famous "if-by-whiskey" remark:
"If you mean the demon drink that poisons the mind, pollutes the body, desecrates family life, and inflames sinners, then I'm against it. But if you mean the elixir of Christmas cheer, the shield against winter chill, the taxable potion that puts needed funds into public coffers to comfort little crippled children, then I'm for it. This is my position, and I will not compromise."
Fuller Warren won the election and assumed the office of governor on January 4, 1949. During his term, he set the foundations for the state's turnpike system, began the Florida reforestation program, quality control programs on Florida's citrus crops were instituted and new laws were established that forbade cattle to wander freely. After he left office on January 6, 1953 he moved to Miami, Florida and practiced law. He ran for governor again in 1956, but lost the election to LeRoy Collins. He died in Miami in 1973.
The Fuller Warren Bridge in Jacksonville, Florida is named for him.
