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

The story of a power struggle that dominated Florida politics for decadesThe 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 ca