T. Coleman Andrews

T. Coleman Andrews
Name	Thomas Coleman Andrews
Birth date	July 20, 1899
Birth place	Richmond, Virginia, United States
Death date	December 15, 1983
Death place	Richmond, Virginia, United States
Occupation	Accountant, Lawyer, Businessman, Politician
Office	Commissioner of Internal Revenue
Term start	1953
Term end	1955
President	Dwight D. Eisenhower
Party	Democratic Party (earlier), Constitution Party (1956)

T. Coleman Andrews T. Coleman Andrews was an American accountant, lawyer, businessman, and politician who served as Commissioner of Internal Revenue under Dwight D. Eisenhower and was the Constitution Party candidate for President in 1956. A native of Richmond, Virginia, he combined practices in accounting and law with public service in federal appointments, state politics, and a national third-party campaign that emphasized states' rights, fiscal conservatism, and opposition to civil rights enforcement. Andrews's career intersected with leading figures and institutions of mid-20th-century United States fiscal and political life.

Early life and education

Born in Richmond, Virginia, Andrews was the son of Thomas Glenn Andrews and Mary Elizabeth Holmes Andrews and grew up during the Progressive Era amid the social changes of the Gilded Age and the aftermath of Reconstruction. He attended University of Richmond and later studied law and accounting, training in institutions and professional settings influenced by the American Institute of Accountants and the evolving standards promulgated by early 20th-century accounting educators. During his formative years he encountered legal curricula shaped by precedents from the United States Supreme Court and state judicial practice in Virginia.

Legal and business career

Andrews established himself as a certified public accountant and lawyer, founding or partnering in firms that served corporations and individuals in Richmond and beyond. His professional network included contemporaries from the American Bar Association, the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, and business leaders tied to firms operating in the New York Stock Exchange and regional commercial centers. He advised clients on tax matters drawing on legal doctrines from cases litigated before the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia and administrative rulings from the Internal Revenue Service. Andrews also served on corporate boards and worked with financial executives influenced by policies debated in the United States Congress.

Military service

During periods of national mobilization, Andrews's professional life intersected with service obligations and wartime administrative work tied to agencies like the Treasury Department and programs coordinated with War Production Board-era organizations. Although not primarily known as a wartime field commander, his contributions aligned with home-front efforts that supported World War II-era fiscal administration, involving collaboration with military and civilian institutions such as the Department of Defense budget offices and regional military logistics commands.

Political career

Andrews entered public service in tax administration and federal appointments, culminating in his nomination and confirmation as Commissioner of Internal Revenue by President Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1953. In that role he worked with cabinet-level officials including Secretary of the Treasury George M. Humphrey and engaged with legislators from the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives on revenue law enforcement, administrative procedures, and implementation of statutes like the Internal Revenue Code of 1954. His tenure intersected with policy debates involving figures such as Republican and Democratic lawmakers, tax reform advocates, and public-interest groups. Andrews later resigned amid policy disagreements and returned to private practice before launching an independent political movement in the mid-1950s that involved alliances with state-level politicians in Virginia, North Carolina, and other Southern states.

1956 presidential campaign

In 1956 Andrews became the presidential nominee of the movement often referred to as the Constitution Party, mounting a third-party campaign against incumbent Dwight D. Eisenhower and Democratic nominee Adlai Stevenson II. His platform emphasized opposition to federal civil rights enforcement measures being discussed in the United States Congress and affirmed positions championed by segregationist and states'-rights leaders from the Solid South such as former governors and congressional delegations who resisted decisions from the United States Supreme Court including Brown v. Board of Education. The campaign drew support from conservative activists, southern politicians, and business interests skeptical of federal taxation and regulatory policies associated with administrations from Franklin D. Roosevelt through Harry S. Truman and into the Eisenhower era. Although Andrews carried no states in the Electoral College, his candidacy reflected the tensions within the American conservative movement and the realignment pressures on the Democratic Party in the 1950s.

Later life and legacy

After the 1956 campaign Andrews returned to private life in Richmond, resuming work in accounting, law, and business, and remained a vocal critic of federal tax policy and civil rights enforcement. He published opinions and spoke at forums attended by conservative intellectuals, business groups, and state political organizations, engaging with figures from the Heritage Foundation-era conservative network antecedents and media outlets that shaped postwar discourse. Andrews died in December 1983 in Richmond, Virginia, leaving a legacy examined in studies of third-party movements, tax administration history, and the politics of southern resistance to Brown v. Board of Education. His career is referenced in scholarship on mid-century American politics alongside figures such as Strom Thurmond, Orval Faubus, Barry Goldwater, Richard Nixon, and others involved in the conservative realignment of the late 20th century.

Category:1899 births Category:1983 deaths Category:People from Richmond, Virginia