This is a study of the political career of George Armistead Smathers Smathers was a United States senator from Florida from 1951 through 1968. Prior to his election to the senate, Smathers served Dade, Collier, and Monroe counties in the House of Representatives from 1947 through 1951. / The focus of this work is Smathers's political career within the framework of the Cold War. His election victories in 1946 and 1950 mirrored, in some aspects foreshadowed, political events throughout the nation during this era. In defeating both Congressman Pat Cannon in 1946 and Senator Claude Pepper in 1950, Smathers victories turned on his ability to change the political landscape. / During both his two terms as congressman and three terms as senator, George Smathers played the role of a quintessential Cold Warrior. An early supporter of the Truman Doctrine, he subscribed fully to the necessity of containment, the domino theory, and assumptions regarding the monolithic nature of communism. These beliefs were most fully played out through his interest in Latin America and his avid backing of the Vietnam War. While his activity in foreign policy alone is of importance, Smathers also had an impact domestically. He was counted among the few southern moderates on civil rights, aiding in the passage of the 1957 Civil Rights Act, though he consistently opposed federal intervention to promote and ensure social or economic equality. / Smathers was part of Senator Lyndon Johnson's "inner circle," which led to powerful posts on the Interstate and Foreign Commerce committee and Finance committee, as well as chairmanship of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. His coordination of the Kennedy-Johnson campaign in the South and his long friendship with John F. Kennedy afforded Smathers uncommon access to the White House beginning in 1961. Long devotion to Lyndon Johnson, and commitment to Johnson's wars both domestically and overseas, ensured Smathers a continued "insider" role up to his retirement in 1969. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 57-04, Section: A, page: 1807. / Major Professor: C. Peter Ripley. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1996.

Senor: The Life of Al Lopez, details Lopez's life growing up in the Ybor City section of Tampa, his career as a player and manager in professional baseball, his role as a pioneer opening organized baseball to Floridians and Latins. Accusations made by Larry Doby, the first black player in American League history and one who played both with and for Lopez, regarding the manner in which Lopez treated black baseball players, particularly Doby, during his tenure in the game are also examined. / Lopez was the first major league player born and raised in Tampa. The thirteenth Floridian overall to ascend to the big leagues, he was also among the initial wave of big leaguers of Latin descent. In a nineteen year playing career, Lopez, a catcher, gained a notable reputation for durability establishing a then record of 1,918 games caught. As a manager his teams finished first or second in eleven of his first sixteen seasons, capturing pennants in 1954 and 1959. In 1977 Lopez was enshrined in Baseball's Hall of Fame as a manager. / Senor: The Life of Al Lopez, depends much on the recollections of Lopez and former players, colleagues, etc., as told to the author and others. As with most studies of sport figures, the use of oral history, authenticated thru periodical literature, is relied upon heavily. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 57-04, Section: A, page: 1812. / Major Professor: James P. Jones, Jr. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1996.

Cotton was the United States' most important export in the antebellum period. In the American South cotton was the essence of the economy. The businessmen who marketed the Apalachicola/Chattahoochee River valley's cotton overcame many handicaps. Transportation of the cotton to market relied on the waterway. This river system was the largest in the Southeast, but like the other southern river systems, it was usually not boatable in the dry summer months. Thus, the conduct of the cotton trade depended on the water level. / The most serious hindrance to the cotton entrepreneurs was the lack of adequate banking facilities. What few banks that operated there were woefully overextended and undercapitalized. Since the region lacked sufficient capital to finance the cotton trade, it depended on the money markets of London and New York. The laborious trail of credit that followed each cotton transaction extended from Europe via New York to the Apalachicola cotton factor and eventually to his planter client upriver. The financing of the cotton trade was further complicated by an uneven currency composed of a myriad of state bank notes of varying worth. / The advent of the railroad into the valley forever altered trade and transportation patterns. When the cotton producers no longer relied exclusively on river transportation, the economic entity that had centered on the river was broken up, and the port of Apalachicola declined. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 50-03, Section: A, page: 0782. / Major Professor: John Hebron Moore. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1989.

Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 36-04, Section: A, page: 2395. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1975.

Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 37-07, Section: A, page: 4561. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1976.

Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 38-05, Section: A, page: 3003. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1977.

Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 36-08, Section: A, page: 5490. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1975.

Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 37-07, Section: A, page: 4575. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1976.

Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 37-12, Section: A, page: 7927. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1977.

Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 38-12, Section: A, page: 7512. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1977.