The Life of JOSIAH WILLIAM BAILEY
JOSIAH WILLIAM BAILEY 1873-1946
EDITOR, BIBLICAL RECORDER
US SENATOR 1930-1946
MAGNOLIA HILL SECTION, LOT F-45
Josiah William Bailey was born in Warrenton, North Carolina, on September 14, 1873, the son of Christopher Thomas and Annie Sarah Bailey; his father, a Baptist clergyman, was editor of the Biblical Recorder, voice of the Baptist State Convention. The Bailey family moved to Raleigh, and Josiah received his early education in city schools and Raleigh Male Academy; he graduated from Wake Forest College in 1893 and went to work with his father. Assuming the Biblical Recorder editorship upon his father's death in 1895, Bailey used the publication as something of a "bully pulpit," taking stands on a variety of issues that were progressive for the day, including "local option" for alcoholic beverages, ballot reform and state financial support of public schools. It is not surprising that Bailey would later break from the conservative Furnifold Simmons political organization with which he was initially aligned.
In 1907 Bailey left the Biblical Recorder - his brother Christopher, Jr., assumed the editorship -- and returned to Wake Forest to study law, receiving his license in 1908 and opening a practice in Raleigh. In 1913 Woodrow Wilson appointed him the regional Collector of Internal Revenue, a position that he kept until 1921 and which eventually covered the entire state. He again displayed his progressive political instincts as a member of the state Constitutional Commission and in recommendations developed in concert with Progressive Farmer editor Clarence Poe for the 1914 Democratic Party platform. Although most of his proposals were not adopted, Bailey established a reputation as a forward-looking progressive Democrat, ran for and lost the party's nomination for governor in 1924, and supported Catholic Al Smith for President in 1928 when many conservative Democrats backed Republican Herbert Hoover.
In the early years of the Great Depression Bailey triumphed over his conservative Democratic rivals and won election as US Senator from the powerful Furnifold Simmons, a position he would retain for 16 years. Ironically, this "progressive"at the state level joined with conservatives to oppose much of the New Deal legislation proposed by the Roosevelt Administration, arguing that it violated the Constitution, gave too much power to Washington, promoted special interests such as labor unions, and reflected unsound fiscal practices. "The Party is divided hopelessly," he wrote in 1937. However, in foreign affairs Bailey became a staunch supporter of "preparedness" advocated by FDR, arguing for Lend Lease, increased defense spending, and the Selective Service Act of 1940. He lived to see victory in World War II, but illness kept him away from the Senate after 1945.
During much of his political journey Bailey was accompanied by his wife, Edith Walker Pou (1890-1966), daughter of influential attorney and Democrat James Hinton Pou; married in 1916, the Baileys had five children; it is said Bailey read legal briefs to at least some of his young ones to influence their later career choice. Senator Josiah William Bailey died in office on December 15, 1946, replaced by State Democratic Chair William B. Umstead, later Governor