By Ray Hill Joseph Wellington Byrns was almost surely the most popular political figure inside Tennessee’s “Hermitage District.” That was the Congressional district in Tennessee which encompassed Nashville and the “Hermitage”, home of General Andrew Jackson. For nearly twenty-eight years, that same district had been represented by Jo Byrns. Tall and lean with white hair […]
By Ray Hill Kenneth D. McKellar, Tennessee’s senior United States senator, had won a thumping renomination inside the Democratic primary, beating Congressman Finis Garrett, the Minority Leader of the U. S. House of Representatives. Tennessee Republicans had nominated James A. Fowler, the mayor of Knoxville, to run in the general election. One of the […]
By Ray Hill Tennessee politics was in flux in 1928 due to the nomination of New York governor Alfred E. Smith as the Democratic nominee for president. Smith, a cigar-chomping, derby hat wearing product of New York’s Hell’s Kitchen was a pronounced wet who openly favored abolishing the prohibition laws. Even worse, at least to […]
By Ray Hill Former governor Prentice Cooper was running hard for the Democratic nomination for the United States Senate against incumbent Albert Gore, who was seeking a second term. The sixty-two year old Cooper toured the state accompanied by his much younger and attractive wife and three small sons. Some Tennesseans certainly got a […]
By Ray Hill Prentice Cooper, former three-time governor of Tennessee, had been on the comeback trail in a crowded primary election to win the Democratic nomination to claim his residency in the governor’s mansion. While some might have discounted the wealthy former governor’s chances of winning the nomination, nobody really knew just how the race […]
By Ray Hill Prentice Cooper of Shelbyville, three times governor of Tennessee, had announced he would once again seek to become the Volunteer State’s chief executive on New Year’s day in 1958. The sixty-two year old Cooper was one of many prospective candidates all of whom were warily circling one another. Prentice Cooper’s own announcement […]
By Ray Hill Walter Chandler enjoyed a long and productive political career, serving as a state legislator, congressman and mayor of Memphis. Chandler was also a highly successful attorney and was responsible for the Baker vs. Carr lawsuit that guaranteed Americans the right of one man, one vote. A native of Jackson, Tennessee, Walter Chandler […]
By Ray Hill After Congress had adjourned in 1933, Edward Hull Crump, congressman from Tennessee’s Tenth District, took his wife on a three-month tour of Europe. The Crumps returned on September 26, 1933 and the Congressman stopped off in his Washington office to clear off his desk. Crump had a talk with James A. Farley, […]
By Ray Hill President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, coming off his greatest reelection campaign, had announced he was submitting legislation to Congress to expand the United State Supreme Court. Roosevelt’s proposal was widely and bitterly attacked in much of the press and despite huge Democratic majorities in both Houses of Congress, many Democrats were openly opposed […]
By Ray Hill February 5, 1937 was a Friday and President Franklin D. Roosevelt publicly announced his intention to ask Congress to enlarge the United States Supreme Court. Roosevelt was fresh from a smashing reelection campaign in 1936, which saw the president carry every state in the union, save for Maine and Vermont. The Democratic […]