A Native Son In The Governor’s Mansion- Daniel Thomas McCarty, Jr. Jan. 18, 1912 – Sept. 28, 1953
As the first governor raised in southeast Florida, Daniel Thomas McCarty Jr. represented the dramatic power shift of the 1950s as the state became bottom heavy in population. But his tenure was brief.
The Fort Pierce citrus grower and cattleman from a family that had been in the area 65 years “rose like a meteor,” former Gov. LeRoy Collins said in a 1985 tribute.
Calm but gregarious, confident but more comfortable riding his cattle range than in crowds, McCarty got elected to the Florida House of Representatives at 24 and became the youngest-ever speaker at 29.
He landed at Normandy on D-Day and by war’s end was an army colonel at 33. In 1948, still in his 30s, he had a failed run for governor. Four years later, only 40, he won – the youngest governor in a half century.
The avid athlete, sportsman and horseman seemed the perfect specimen to lead a burgeoning state.
He planned to block tax hikes and push for a turnpike, better mosquito control, more tourism advertising and benefits for the elderly. His top platform: Restoring trust in a state where gambling was rampant and top officials were linked to corruption.
“I want us to have a good government housecleaning,” he said at his inauguration.
But on Feb. 25, 1953, only seven weeks in office, McCarty suffered a heart attack. He recovered enough to briefly return to work and rode in a Shriners parade in September, but he caught cold that turned into a pneumonia that overtook his weakened heart. He died in September; he had been governor only seven months.
McCarty is only the fourth governor to die in office and was the first since Ossian Hart (March 10, 1874). Ironically, Hart was the first Florida native governor and a brief resident of McCarty’s native Fort Pierce.
- ELIOT KLEINBERG
