Umstead was chairman of the North Carolina Democratic Party for several years until he was appointed to fill a vacant United States Senate seat in 1946.

[citation needed] After President Harry Truman proposed civil rights legislation in 1948, Umstead suggested he not seek reelection and told a state Democrat official that he would not support his candidacy.

[4] Umstead was exhausted by the days' ceremonies and was feeling ill, but he stood to greet visitors at the Executive Mansion for four hours and attended a ball in the evening.

[6] Umstead spent most of the following day getting his office in order, and on January 10 he went to work in his Durham law firm before retiring to his home near Bahama in the evening.

Leaders in the North Carolina General Assembly were unsure if they should proceed with their session while Umstead was hospitalized, but he insisted they begin their work while at the same time giving no instructions to the presiding officer of the Senate, Lieutenant Governor Luther H.

[9] Umstead remained in the hospital for 27 days and returned to the Executive Mansion under the condition that he stay in bed and work limited hours.

North Carolina's other senator, Clyde Hoey, hailed from the western portion of the state, so it was assumed that Umstead would nominate an easterner.

[13] Hoey died on May 12, 1954, thus presenting Umstead with the chance to fill a second U.S. Senate vacancy, an opportunity not afforded to a governor in the United States since 1936.

[14] Shortly thereafter the Supreme Court of the United States issued its decision in Brown v. Board of Education, ruling that the racial segregation of public schools was unconstitutional.

His doctor ordered him to be taken to Watts Hospital, while the governor's office released a statement saying a severe cold had disturbed Umstead's heart.