Sparkman, John Jackson (1899-1985), an Alabama Democrat, served in the United States House of Representatives from 1937 to 1947 and in the U.S. Senate from 1947 to 1979. He was the Democratic nominee for Vice President of the United States in 1952. Sparkman became chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in 1975. In Congress, Sparkman generally supported the policies of the Democratic Presidents except in civil rights policies. He usually backed Republican Presidents Dwight D. Eisenhower, Richard M. Nixon, and Gerald R. Ford on foreign policy. Sparkman was born on Dec. 20, 1899, near Hartselle, Alabama. He died on Nov. 16, 1985.
