The Tuscaloosa News
In only 21 short months, at the close of 2022, Alabama will lose the greatest senator in our state’s history. Those of us who are political historians will acknowledge Richard Shelby as Alabama’s most pronounced political emissary in Washington.
In my 2015 book, Six Decades of Alabama Political History, I have a chapter, “Alabama’s Three Greatest Senators,” which features Lister Hill, John Sparkman and Shelby. Hill and Sparkman were icons but, if were writing that chapter today, Shelby would be alone as the premier “Giant of Alabama.”
Hill served in the Senate for 30 years and Sparkman for 32 years. Shelby eclipsed Sparkman’s record two years ago and at the end of his term will set the bar at 36 years. It should also be noted that Sens. Shelby, Hill and Sparkman all also served nearly a decade or more in the U.S. House of Representatives. Shelby is now in his 43rd year in Washington.