Background
Riddick, Floyd Millard was born on July 13, 1908 in Trotville, North Carolina, United States. Son of John Bembry and Helen Bembry (Blanchard) Riddick.
consultant United States Senate parliamentarian
Riddick, Floyd Millard was born on July 13, 1908 in Trotville, North Carolina, United States. Son of John Bembry and Helen Bembry (Blanchard) Riddick.
AB, Duke University, 1932. Master of Arts, Vanderbilt University, 1932. Doctor of Philosophy, Duke University, 1935.
Doctor of Humane Letters (honorary), Duke University, 1982. Doctor of Laws (honorary), Birmingham Southern University, 1985. Doctor of Laws (honorary), Stetson University, 1986.
Doctor of Laws (honorary), Goucher College, 1995.
He sat immediately below the presiding officer in the Senate chamber, providing information on precedents and advising other senators on parliamentary procedure. He is famous for discussions of the censures of Joseph McCarthy and Thomas Dodd, the contested election between John A. Durkin and Louis Wyman, and the preparations for a planned impeachment trial of Richard Nixon. He is also famous for advocating the change in the rules of cloture.
Floyd Riddick"s ancestor, Lemuel Riddick, was one of the signers of the Stamp Acting passed by the House of Burgesses of Virginia.
Riddick"s family lived on a village, Gatesville, North Carolina. After his father became ill, in 1928, Riddick moved to Suffolk, Virginia.
He was originally majoring in pre-law but then switched his major to political science after a talk with an influential professor, Robert Rankin. He then received a Masters Degree at Vanderbilt University in 1932, and returned to Duke to receive his Doctor of Philosophy in political science in 1935.
While researching his doctoral dissertation, he spent a year observing the workings of the United States House of Representatives, a study which he eventually expanded and published as Congressional Procedure in 1941.
After moving to Washington, District of Columbia, he first worked as a statistical analyst for the FERA, and then for the Resettlement Administration. He then continued his congressional research interests, as an instructor of political science at American University from 1936 to 1939. He then received a position as an editor of the Congressional Daily for Congressional Intelligence, Incorporated., from 1939 to 1943.
From 1943 to 1947, he edited the Legislative Daily for the United States. Chamber of Commerce.
He was then invited to establish a "Daily Digest," in the Congressional Record. From 1947 to 1951, he was Senate editor of "Daily Digest", a synopsis of Congressional events which continues as a handy guide to the daily Record.
He then joined the office of the parliamentarian, where he worked for 24 years. From 1951 to 1964, Riddick served as the Assistant Senate Parliamentarian.
Riddick succeeded Charles Watkins as the Senate Parliamentarian in 1964, and held that position until 1974.
As parliamentarian emeritus, he remained as a consultant to the United States Senate Committee on Rules and Administration. Riddick died in Santa Fe, New Mexico at age 91, on January 25, 2000.
(Historic document that would have paved the way for the i...)
His work has appeared in the American Political Science Review and Western Political Quarterly.
Old Monarch, Lions Club, Manassas, Virginia, 1960. Member American Institute Parliamentarians (advisory board 1976-1990, board directors 1978-1990, president 1982-1983), Cosmos Club (board management 1981-1986, president 1984, distinguished service citation 1975), Sigma Xi (parliamentarian 1973-1995).
Married Marguerite Louise Faerber, February 24, 1940. Children: Johanne Marjorie, John Lindsay, Carol Dianne (deceased).