Customer Reviews

Napoleon Bonaparte Broward: Florida's Fighting Democrat (Florida Sand Dollar Books)

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There are very few stars in the Florida political galaxy. There are many reasons for this. A lot of voters who live in Florida are not from Florida and the Sunshine State is very large and spread out. People in Miami have no idea who the political leaders in Jacksonville are. It is very tough for a politician to be able to remain popular in Florida for too long.

This solid biography by Samuel Proctor looks at one of the few exceptions in Florida's history. Napoleon B. Broward was colorful and controversial, a progressive Democrat who took on the remnants of the old Bourbon Democrats and the Flagler machine. Proctor offers a readable narrative of Broward's early years growing up in Jacksonville and his career working the tug boats on the St. Johns River. Broward would gain some fame as sheriff of Duval County when he would lead the fight against gambling in Jacksonville. Broward also worked as a filibuster, helping run guns and supplies to Cuban rebels. Broward won a close race to be governor and worked to drain the Everglades and reform higher education in Florida, placing the state university in Gainesville as opposed to Lake City. Despite failed bids for the US Senate and the Democratic nod for VP in 1908, Broward would be elected to the US Senate in 1910 but die before taking office at the age of 53.

The book is dated and Proctor is not the most dispassionate of scholars. This can often annoy. For example, Broward's support of the Florida divorce bill for grounds of insanity, specifically for Flagler to get a divorce, is glossed over and, for that matter, so is most of Broward's term in the state legislature. Proctor also cares a lot more for elections than actual governance. Despite these flaws, the book is very useful with a solid narrative and Proctor is able to take the reader through the often Byzantine factionalism of Florida politics of the 1890s and 1900s. One can see why Broward is one of the few giant figures in Florida political history in this very good biography. Any one looking to understand an important figure and era in Florida politics would do well to read this book.