Robert King High (April 9, 1924 – August 30, 1967) was an attorney and politician, a reform mayor of Miami, Florida, serving for over a decade from January 1957 until his death in August 1967. From eastern Tennessee, High moved to Florida after his service in World War II. He became active in the Democratic Party.
In 1966, High was the Democratic Party nominee for governor of Florida, but he was defeated by Republican Claude Kirk in an upset election at a time when the Democratic Party generally still dominated state politics.
Early years
Robert King High was born in 1924 in Flat Creek, Tennessee, where his father was a carpenter and farmer. With the coming of the Great Depression, the High family moved to the city of Chattanooga. High began working early, delivering newspapers at the age of five, and buying a lawn mower on credit at age ten; he paid for it by mowing lawns and delivering groceries and milk. He later worked as a soda jerk. He organized a band; the members played in their ROTC uniforms until they could afford to buy tuxedos.
After graduation from high school, High attended vocational school where he trained to be a welder. He moved to New Orleans, Louisiana to work in a shipyard. With the United States entry into World War II, he lost his job at the shipyard as projects were diverted to the war effort. He went to work in a women's shoe store, and soon was promoted to assistant manager of the chain's store in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
At the end of 1942, High left Baton Rouge to enter the University of Chattanooga. He left school soon after, however, to enlist in the Army Air Corps. High seriously injured his back during basic training, and doctors inserted a steel plate to reinforce his back. He spent nearly a year in a military hospital after the operation.
Miami, law school, and politics
When High was discharged from the Army in 1944, he moved to Miami. Attending college with the help of the GI Bill, he graduated from the University of Miami and the Law School of Stetson University. With his law degree, High began practicing law in Miami. He soon was doing well enough to purchase a Cadillac, a speed boat, and a house.
In 1957, Abe Aronovitz, who had been Mayor of Miami in 1953–55, invited High to run for mayor. With Aronovitz's backing, High ran on a platform of promising nothing but honest government. He did not accept any campaign contributions of more than US$250.00. With his campaign unable to afford the billboards and television advertising that other candidates were using, High supporters stood outside the Orange Bowl with home-made campaign banners on every Friday night that the University of Miami football team played a home game.
High placed second out of five candidates in the primary, and beat the incumbent mayor, Randy Christmas, in the runoff.
Mayor
Once in office, High began tackling corruption. With most of the city commissioners opposing him, he could do little as mayor, but he began pushing to publicize problems. He visited strip clubs in the company of a reporter, leading to a series of reports of how the bars were cheating customers. He dressed in old clothes and, again accompanied by a reporter, bought bolita (an illegal lottery) tickets on the street.
High won re-election in 1959, and was joined by a slate of newly elected, reform-minded city commissioners. High's reform efforts drew national attention, and he was named one of a hundred outstanding young Americans by Life magazine. With a new majority on the city commission, High worked with them to reform the way the city bought insurance. Previous practice had been for each commissioner to give a share of the city's insurance to whomever they chose as a form of patronage. In order to ensure that each commissioner could disburse an equal share of the insurance business, buildings were divided into "parts" insured by different companies.
High and the new commissioners put all the city's insurance out to competitive bid. High also led a statewide campaign to force Florida Power & Light to lower its rates. After the city of Miami started a study of Southern Bell telephone rates, the Florida Public Service Commission ordered major reductions in those rates. High also led a fight to force the Florida East Coast Railway to pay the arrears in its assessed property taxes. While High was mayor, Miami adopted a $10,000 spending limit for city elections.