Representative Walter Will Bankhead

Walter Will Bankhead (July 21, 1897 – November 24, 1988) was an American politician and attorney who served as a Democratic Representative from Alabama in the United States Congress from 1941 to 1943, completing one term of service during a pivotal period in American history on the eve of and early involvement in World War II. A member of a prominent Alabama political family, he was the son of United States Senator John Hollis Bankhead II and the grandson of United States Senator John H. Bankhead. He was also the nephew of William Brockman Bankhead, Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, and a cousin of the actress Tallulah Bankhead.

Bankhead was born on July 21, 1897, in Jasper, Walker County, Alabama, where he attended the local public schools. Raised in a family deeply involved in public service and Democratic Party politics, he grew up in an environment that emphasized civic engagement and political life. His early years in Jasper, a coal-mining and commercial center in northwestern Alabama, helped shape his later interests in both law and business, particularly in industries central to the region’s economy.

Pursuing a formal military and academic education, Bankhead graduated from Marion Military Institute in Marion, Alabama, in 1916. He then attended the University of Alabama at Tuscaloosa, receiving his undergraduate degree in 1919. Continuing at the same institution, he enrolled in the law department of the University of Alabama School of Law and completed his legal studies in 1920. That same year he was admitted to the bar and commenced the practice of law in his hometown of Jasper, establishing himself as an attorney while maintaining close ties to the political and economic life of Walker County.

Bankhead’s political activity within the Democratic Party preceded his brief tenure in Congress. He served as a delegate to the 1940 Democratic National Convention in Chicago, participating in the nomination process that returned President Franklin D. Roosevelt to the party’s ticket for an unprecedented third term. His role at the convention reflected both his family’s standing in the party and his own growing involvement in Democratic politics at the state and national levels.

His entry into the U.S. House of Representatives came under unusual circumstances. In September 1940, his uncle, William B. Bankhead, the sitting Speaker of the House and longtime Representative from Alabama, died less than two months before the general election. A local physician, Zadoc L. Weatherford, was elected to complete the remainder of the late Speaker’s term but chose not to seek election to the full succeeding term. Walter Will Bankhead agreed to run for that full term with the explicit understanding that he would serve only briefly, thereby allowing time for a special election to select a long-term successor to his uncle. Elected as a Democrat to the Seventy-seventh Congress, he took office on January 3, 1941, and served until his resignation on February 1, 1941. During this short period in the House of Representatives, he participated in the legislative process and represented the interests of his Alabama constituents at a moment when the United States was intensifying its preparations for possible entry into World War II.

After leaving Congress, Bankhead resumed the practice of law in Jasper and expanded his activities into business and finance. He became chairman of the board of Bankhead Mining Co., Inc., and Bankhead Development Co., Inc., reflecting his involvement in the coal and development interests that were central to the regional economy. He also served as president of Mammoth Packing Co. and Bankhead Broadcasting Co., Inc., demonstrating a diversified engagement in agricultural processing and media enterprises. In addition, he held the position of vice chairman of the board of directors of the First National Bank of Jasper, further solidifying his role as a leading figure in the commercial and financial life of his community.

In his personal life, Walter Will Bankhead was the father of three children: two daughters, Blossom and Barbara, and one son, John Hollis Bankhead III, who would himself go on to a career in public service in Alabama. Bankhead remained a resident of Jasper throughout his life, maintaining close connections to the town where he was born, educated, and professionally established.

Walter Will Bankhead died at his home in Jasper, Alabama, on November 24, 1988. He was interred at Oak Hill Cemetery in Jasper, closing a life that linked three generations of a family prominent in Alabama’s political history and that combined service in Congress, a substantial legal career, and leadership in multiple business enterprises.