Claude Pepper and Ed Ball: Politics, Purpose, and Power (The Florida History and Culture Series) - Softcover

Danese, Tracy E.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0813081661 ISBN 13: 9780813081663

Publisher: University Press of Florida, 2026

Synopsis

The story of a power struggle that dominated Florida politics for decades

The power struggle between Claude Pepper and Ed Ball in the mid-twentieth century impacted the future of Florida. This lively account of their interlocking careers—both dominated by a personal quest for power, money, and purpose—illuminates the historical role of these two forceful personalities.

Ed Ball, brother-in-law of Alfred I. duPont and trustee of the duPont empire, was at one time the single most powerful businessman in the state. Claude Pepper, a senior U.S. senator, was the state’s heir to the liberal legacy of New Deal politics. By mid-century, the duPont-Ball empire controlled a major part of the Florida business and political establishment—but not Claude Pepper.

Tracy Danese, whose law career often brought him into close contact with Florida's political scene, describes the economic setting in Florida when Ball and Pepper arrived in the twenties and the prelude to their conflicts, and shows how their careers developed in tandem throughout the depression era and World War II and its aftermath. He discusses milestones in this story: Pepper’s unopposed election in 1936, influenced by corruption in Hillsborough County politics in the 1934 senate election; conflict between Pepper and Ball over the presidential veto of a 1944 war funding measure; their acrimonious struggle over ownership of the Florida East Coast Railway; the famous railroad strike that led to measures that forced the duPont trust to divest itself of the largest banking chain in Florida; and their final titanic clash over the senatorial election of 1950.

With a strange blend of principled behavior and personal ambition, the men personified the ambiguous nature of politics. Ed Ball adamantly upheld what he viewed as his property rights; Pepper unabashedly sought political power. This story will be welcomed by historians, political scientists, and general readers alike.

About this title

About the Author

Tracy E. Danese is former chief public affairs officer at the Jacksonville Electric Authority. He has been a practicing attorney, utility executive, and lobbyist in Florida for over thirty-five years and has worked in federal, state, and local political settings.

From the Back Cover

In Claude Pepper and Ed Ball, Tracy E. Danese examines two of Florida's most fascinating and compelling characters. Alternately deft and deaf, far-sighted and myopic, Pepper and Ball framed policy and set a vision for Florida between the 1920s and 1980s. In a finely crafted study, the author traces the careers of Florida's two most powerful and influential figures and their tumultuous relationship.

Pepper and Ball both migrated to Florida at the climax of the fabled land boom of the 1920s. Bitterly divided later by philosophical and personal differences, Pepper and Ball were attracted to the Sunshine State for strikingly similar reasons: self-improvement and profit....

In a series of titanic clashes, Pepper and Ball battled across the state, climaxing with the senatorial election of 1950.... The author is even-handed and judicious, allowing the reader to select heroes and villains: Pepper was no saint -- he trimmed his ethical sails in dealing with sectional racial issues -- and Ball was no unredeemed rogue -- he left behind generously endowed charities and parks. Readers will enjoy this modern Florida drama. -- Raymond Arsenault and Gary R. Mormino, Series Editors

From the Inside Flap

The power struggle between Claude Pepper and Ed Ball in the mid-twentieth century in large part determined the future of Florida. This lively account of their interlocking careers -- both dominated by a personal quest for power, money, and purpose -- illuminates the historical role of these two forceful personalities.

Ed Ball, brother-in-law of Alfred I. duPont and trustee of the duPont empire, was at one time the single most powerful businessman in the state. Claude Pepper, a senior U.S. senator, was the state's heir to the liberal legacy of New Deal politics. By mid-century, the duPont-Ball empire controlled a major part of the Florida business and political establishment -- but not Claude Pepper.

Tracy Danese, whose law career has often brought him into close contact with Florida's political scene, describes the economic setting in Florida when Ball and Pepper arrived in the twenties and the prelude to their conflicts, and shows how their careers developed in tandem throughout the depression era and World War II and its aftermath. He discusses milestones in this story: Pepper's unopposed election in 1936, influenced by corruption in Hillsborough County politics in the 1934 senate election; conflict between Pepper and Ball over the presidential veto of a 1944 war funding measure; their acrimonious struggle over ownership of the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad; the famous Florida East Coast Railway strike that led to measures that forced the duPont trust to divest itself of the largest banking chain in Florida; and their final titanic clash over the senatorial election of 1950.

With a strange blend of principled behavior and personal ambition, the men personified the ambiguousnature of politics. Ed Ball adamantly upheld what he viewed as his property rights; Pepper unabashedly sought political power. Until now, only bits and pieces of their dynamic clash have been told. The two figures still are fresh in the minds of many Floridians, and this story will be welcomed by historians, political scientists, and general readers alike.

Edition details

• Publisher: University Press of Florida
• Publication date: 2026
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0813081661
• ISBN 13: 9780813081663
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 320