1920s When
Senator Thomas E. Watson died on September 26, 1922, George resigned from the Supreme Court of Georgia to run for the vacant seat. George won
the resulting special election. He did not take his seat immediately when the Senate reconvened on November 21. Instead he waited one day. Thus
Rebecca Latimer Felton, who had been appointed by governor
Thomas W. Hardwick on October 3, could be sworn in and be the first woman seated in the Senate. Felton served one day, until George was sworn in on November 22. George was
re-elected to his first full six-year term in 1926. He served in the Senate from 1922 until 1957, declining to run for a sixth full term in
1956. In this period, the
Republican Party in Georgia was very weak, so the real re-election contests for George were in the Democratic primaries. During the 1920s, George, a Democrat, tended to vote
conservatively. George supported
prohibition, opposed
civil rights legislation, the
Rural Electrification Administration, and the
Agricultural Adjustment Act. and during Roosevelt's time in office, he supported 34 New Deal bills that went through the Senate, opposing only 10. From July 31, 1941 to August 2, 1946, Senator George was the chairman of the
United States Senate Committee on Finance, and one of Washington's most powerful legislative forces. As chairman of this powerful committee, George defeated many of Roosevelt's efforts to increase taxes and enact very progressive tax regimes. George and Roosevelt were in greater agreement on foreign affairs; That fall, after thirty-four years in the U.S. Senate, George approached what would be his seventh senatorial campaign. At the age of 78, he vacillated on whether to seek re-election since he faced a strong opponent,
Herman Talmadge He told President Eisenhower that "if I retire, I want to stay at home and rest. I am really tired." U.S. Senators from both political parties actively worked to encourage George’s reelection, including Minnesota's
Hubert Humphrey who offered George, "represented the finest of traditions of this great deliberative body ... a profound and effective statesman ... when some of us felt too timid to speak up, this brave man spoke up." While the President and other national politicians favored George’s reelection, Talmadge had the state political machinery built by his father,
Eugene, firmly behind him. Moreover, George's refusal to publicly denounce
Brown v. Board of Education harmed his reelection prospects, since segregation became a primary campaign focus. Balancing his age, re-election prospects, his seniority and leadership in the Senate, the support of Georgia's businesses, and other considerations, George declined to run, realizing that his health likely would not withstand the strenuous campaign. George was a member of twelve committees while he was in the Senate and the chairman of five, including the
United States Senate Committee on Foreign Relations from 1940 to 1941 and from 1955 to 1957 and the
United States Senate Committee on Finance from 1941 to 1947 and from 1949 to 1953. He was also President pro tempore of the Senate from 1955 to 1957. In the Senate, George became known for his polished oratory and was considered one of the Senate's best public speakers. Early in 1957, shortly after George retired from the Senate, President Eisenhower appointed him special ambassador to the
North Atlantic Treaty Organization. After about six months' service, George became seriously ill. He died in
Vienna, Georgia and is interred in the Vienna cemetery. George was a
Freemason, member of Vienna Lodge No. 324. ==Remembrances==