"Arkansas Senator" J. William Fulbright Signed FDC Dated 1964 JG Autographs COA

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"Arkansas Senator" J. William Fulbright Signed First Day Cover Dated 1964.
This item is certified authentic by JG Autographs and comes with their Certificate of Authenticity.
ES-1841B
James William Fulbright
(April 9, 1905 – February 9, 1995) was a
United States Senator
representing
Arkansas
from January 1945 until his resignation in December 1974. Fulbright is the longest serving chairman in the history of the
Senate Foreign Relations Committee
. A
Southern Democrat
and a staunch
multilateralist
who supported the creation of the
United Nations
, he was also a
segregationist
who signed the
Southern Manifesto
. Fulbright opposed
McCarthyism
and the
House Un-American Activities Committee
and later became known for his opposition to American involvement in the
Vietnam War
. His efforts to establish an international exchange program eventually resulted in the creation of a
fellowship
program which bears his name, the
Fulbright Program
. Fulbright was born in
Sumner
,
Missouri
, the son of
Roberta Fulbright
(née Waugh) and Jay Fulbright.
In 1906 the Fulbright family moved to
Fayetteville, Arkansas
. His mother was a businesswoman who consolidated her husband's business enterprises, and became an influential newspaper publisher, editor and journalist. Fulbright's parents enrolled him in the
University of Arkansas
's
College of Education
's experimental grammar and secondary school.
Fulbright earned a
history
degree from the University of Arkansas in 1925, where he became a member of the
Sigma Chi
fraternity. He was elected president of the student body and a star four-year player for the
Razorback
football
team
from 1921 to 1924.
Fulbright later studied at
Oxford University
, where he was a
Rhodes Scholar
at
Pembroke College
, graduating in 1928. Fulbright's time at Oxford made him into a lifelong Anglophile and he always had warm memories of Oxford.
Fulbright credited his time at Oxford with broadening his horizons as he learned much about the world beyond America, and in particular credited one of his professors and friends,
R. B. McCallum
with encouraging him to think about the world as an interlinked entity, where developments in one part of the world would always impact on the other parts.
McCallum was a great admirer of Woodrow Wilson, a supporter of the League of Nations, and a man who believed that multinational organizations were the best way to keep the peace.
Fulbright remained close to McCallum for the rest of his life, regularly exchanging letters with his mentor until his death in 1973.
[8]
At Oxford, he played on the rugby and lacrosse teams, and every summer, Fulbright decamped for France, ostensibly to improve his French, but in reality just to enjoy life in France.
Fulbright's "one world" philosophy encouraged by McCallum made him skeptical of isolationism. He received his law degree from
The George Washington University Law School
in 1934, was admitted to the bar in
Washington, D.C.
and became an attorney in the
Antitrust Division
of the
U.S. Department of Justice
. Fulbright was a lecturer in law at the
University of Arkansas
from 1936 until 1939. He was appointed president of the school in 1939, making him the youngest university president in the country. He held this post until 1941. The School of Arts and Sciences at the
University of Arkansas
is named in his honor, and he was elected there into
Phi Beta Kappa
. He was a member of the Founding Council of the
Rothermere American Institute
,
University of Oxford
. In September 1939, Fulbright as president of the University of Arkansas issued a public declaration declaring his sympathy with the Allied cause and urged the United States to maintain a pro-Allied neutrality. In the summer of 1940, the Anglophile Fulbright went a step further and declared it was in America's "vital interest" to enter the war on the Allied side, warning that a victory by Nazi Germany would take the world in a much darker direction. The same year, Fulbright joined the
Committee to Defend America by Aiding the Allies
.
Fulbright's sister, Roberta, married Gilbert C. Swanson, the head of the
Swanson
frozen-foods conglomerate, and was the maternal grandmother of media figure
Tucker Carlson
. In June 1941, Fulbright was suddenly fired from the University of Arkansas by the Governor,
Homer Martin Adkins
. He learned that the reason for his sacking was because Adkins was offended that a newspaper owned by Fulbright's mother had supported the governor's opponent in the 1940 Democratic primary, and this was the governor's revenge.
[16]
Upset at the way in which the governor's caprice had ended his academic career, Fulbright became interested in politics.