Thomas Burton Adams, Jr.

Infobox_Lt_Governor
name= Thomas Burton Adams, Jr.


caption=
order= 10^th
office= Lieutenant Governor of Florida
term_start= January 5, 1971
term_end= January 7, 1975
governor= Reubin O'Donovan Askew
predecessor= Ray C. Osborn
successor= J.H. Williams
birth_date= birth date|1917|3|11
birth_place= Jacksonville, Florida
death_date= death date and age|2006|5|22|1917|3|11
death_place= Live Oak, Florida
party= Democrat
profession= Real estate and insurance business
spouse= Helen Brown 1939-2006
footnotes=

Thomas Burton Adams, Jr., commonly known as Tom Adams (born March 11, 1917 – May 22, 2006) was an American politician, best known as Lieutenant Governor of Florida from 1971 to 1975. Adams was a member of the Democratic Party.

Born in Jacksonville to Thomas Burton Adams, Sr., and the former Carolyn Hamilton, Adams married Helen Brown on July 30, 1939. He was a real estate developer and an insurance businessman.

Adams began his political career when he was elected to the Florida State Senate, where he served from 1956 to 1960. Later he became the Florida Secretary of State, a position he held for a decade (1961-1971).

In 1970, Democratic gubernatorial nominee Reubin O'Donovan Askew selected Adams as his running-mate. Askew and Adams defeated incumbents, Republican Governor Claude Roy Kirk and Lieutenant Governor Ray C. Osborne.

Adams was the 2nd Lieutenant Governor of Florida following the position's re-instatement after over 80 years. He was the first Democrat to hold this position under the new Constitution.

Though Adams was relied upon as a seasoned Florida political veteran in the 1970 Gubernatorial race, he quickly became a liability over the course of his term. Appointed by Governor Askew as the State Commerce Secretary, Adams ran afoul of ethical standards in 1973 when it was discovered that, in debt, he was leasing a convert|1000|acre|km2|sing=on farm in Quincy, FL and using a department employee to manage it on government time. He was forced to repay $1,736 to the state and was censured by a legislative committee in lieu of impeachment. The scandal was a primary reason that he was dropped from the ticket by Askew in favor of J.H. Williams in Askew's successful 1974 re-election campaign.

Adams briefly tried to make a political comeback in 1984 when he ran for a state Senate seat, but he was trounced by Republican Tim Deratany by a margin of more than 2-1.

Adams, a Baptist, was a member of Newcomen Society, Rotary Club, Alpha Kappa Psi and Phi Delta Theta.

Death

Lt. Gov. Adams was killed in an Interstate 10 crash at the Suwannee County-Columbia County, Florida border. His son was also in the car at the time, and seriously injured. The accident occurred about convert|10|mi|km Northeast of Live Oak, the county seat of Suwannee County. Then-Governor Jeb Bush had asked that all government buildings be flown at half-staff in honor of the 10th Lt. Gov. of Florida.

External links

* [http://politicalgraveyard.com/bio/adams8.html#ROG0ZHC4I The Political Graveyard]
* [http://www.suwanneedemocrat.com/archivesearch/local_story_143155652.html I-10 crash kills former Lt. Gov. Tom Adams]