Ross Bass

Ross Bass (March 17, 1918 – January 1, 1993) was an American florist, postmaster, Congressman and United States Senator from Tennessee.

Background

Bass was the son of a circuit-riding Methodist minister in rural Giles County, attended the local public schools, and graduated from Martin Methodist Junior College in Pulaski in 1938. He joined the Army Air Corps during World War II, becoming a bombardier and reaching the rank of captain. After his 1945 discharge Bass opened a flower shop in Pulaski, the county seat. He was named postmaster of Pulaski in 1946, serving until 1954.

Congressional service

In 1954, Bass was elected as a Democratic U.S. Congressman from Tennessee's 6th District, which included Pulaski. He was reelected four times. He was the only Representative from the rural South to vote for the Civil Rights Act of 1964, even though his hometown was Pulaski, which is where the Ku Klux Klan was founded in 1866. The only other Southern Representatives to vote for the bill were from large cities—Richard Fulton from Nashville, Tennessee, Charles Weltner from Atlanta, Georgia, Claude Pepper from Miami, Florida and four Representatives from Texas.