By Ray Hill There was a time when members of the United States Senate were not only considered some of the most talented and extraordinary people in their respective states, but the entire country. Daniel Webster, Henry Clay, and John C. Calhoun all occupied seats in the U. S. Senate at the same time and […]
By Ray Hill There is likely no other career that affords fewer opportunities for revival than politics. Even more rare in a political career is redemption. Claude Pepper’s political career spanned a remarkable sixty years, from 1928 until his death in 1989. By the time he died, Pepper was something of an iconic figure, especially […]
By Ray Hill There are several stories told about Tennessee’s Senator Kenneth D. McKellar, some of which have become legend. Perhaps the most frequently told story is that of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt asking McKellar if the Tennessean could hide $2 billion in the budget, which was the origin of the Oak Ridge National Laboratory. […]
By Ray Hill For twenty-four years, Thetus W. Sims served West Tennessee as a member of Congress. Now almost entirely forgotten, he is a figure from a distant past. In fact, before his career was over, Sims was already becoming an antiquated figure, which helped to usher him out of office. Sims had been superintendent […]
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 to […]
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 […]
By Ray Hill Senator Kenneth D. McKellar turned seventy-seven years old in January of 1946. He had been in Congress since 1911 and in the Senate since 1917. It was clear McKellar was aging and there had been some thought the old Tennessean would retire. President Franklin D. Roosevelt had summoned E. H. Crump, leader […]
By Ray Hill The relationship between any two people is usually at least somewhat complicated; between two personalities like Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Alben Barkley of Kentucky, it was especially so. Barkley, despite not being one of the more senior members of the United States Senate, became one of the most reliable warhorses of the […]
By Ray Hill The first real media marketing campaign began in December of 1954 when Walt Disney aired Davy Crockett, Indian Fighter. It was the first of three episodes planned by Disney based on the life of the Tennessee frontiersman. The Disney movie starring Fess Parker inspired a genuine craze with youngsters demanding […]
By Ray Hill Eleanor Medill Patterson was the first woman to successfully run a major metropolitan newspaper. Known as “Cissy” due to the nickname given to her in childhood by her brother, she was volatile, unpredictable, frequently gleefully malevolent and unquestionably gifted. Eleanor Patterson was born into a wealthy and prominent family on November 7, […]