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Higher Office(s) Served: Representative

Military Service: Army

War(s) Served:  World War I

MILLARD FILLMORE CALDWELL JR., Florida's 29th Governor, was born in Knoxville, Tennessee, on February 6, 1897. He attended the University of Mississippi, Carson Newman College, and the University of Virginia. He later studied law and established a private practice in Milton, Florida, in 1925. He served during World War I, as a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army's Field Artillery. After his military service, Caldwell entered into politics. He served as Santa Rosa County's prosecuting attorney from 1929 to 1933, was a member of the Florida House of Representatives from 1929 to 1932, and was a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from 1933 to 1941. Caldwell won the 1944 Democratic gubernatorial nomination and was elected Governor of Florida. During his tenure, the minimum foundation program was created, the method of educational funding was amended, the capitol center was formed, and state government increased state services. Caldwell also chaired the National Governors' Conference from 1946 to 1947, and was president of the Council of State Governments from 1947 to 1948. After finishing his term on January 4, 1949, Caldwell continued to stay active in public service. He served as chairman of the Board of Control and of the Southern Regional Education Board from 1948 to 1951. He was appointed administrator of the Federal Civil Defense from 1950 to 1952, and was a justice of the Florida Supreme Court from 1962 to 1969, serving as chief justice from 1967 to 1969. Governor Millard F. Caldwell died on October 23, 1984, at his home in Tallahassee.

Sources:

Biographical Directory of the U.S. Congress

Florida State Archives holds the official papers of Governor Millard Fillmore Caldwell.

• S. 576 Governor Millard F. Caldwell, Correspondence, 1945-1949
• MSS 82-9 Millard Fillmore Caldwell Papers, 1933-1975.
• MS 10 Millard Fillmore Caldwell Papers, University of Florida Smathers Libraries - Special and Area Studies Collections.

Museum of Florida History: Florida Governors' Portraits

Sobel, Robert and John Raimo, eds. Biographical Directory of the Governors of the United States, 1789-1978, Vol. 1, Westport, Conn.; Meckler Books, 1978. 4 vols.