By Ray Hill By the last week of June, it was obvious to virtually everyone Senator John Knight Shields was in deep political trouble. Shields had been the last man elected by the Tennessee General Assembly to serve in the United States Senate after having served for a decade on the state Supreme Court. Shields […]
By Ray Hill General Lawrence D. Tyson of Knoxville had officially kicked off his campaign for the Democratic nomination for the United States Senate in Trenton, Tennessee. The General spoke before a crowd estimated at 5,000 persons. Tyson flayed the incumbent, Senator John Knight Shields, as well as criticizing the record of the third candidate […]
By Ray Hill Tennessee’s senior United States senator, John Knight Shields, was a candidate for a third term in 1924. Shields faced two formidable opponents inside the Democratic primary: General Lawrence D. Tyson of Knoxville and former state Supreme Court Justice Nathan L. Bachman of Chattanooga. All three candidates hailed from East Tennessee and Shields […]
By Ray Hill John Knight Shields, Tennessee’s senior United States senator, had first been elected in 1913. Shields had served for a decade on the Tennessee Supreme Court before becoming the last man to be elected to the U. S. Senate by the state legislature. Shields had been reelected in 1918, defeating Tom C. Rye, […]
By Ray Hill Samuel Watkins Overton, Jr. came from one of Tennessee’s most prominent families; Overton was the great-great grandson of Judge John Overton, a contemporary of General Andrew Jackson and the founder of Memphis. Overton joined the law firm founded by Senator Kenneth D. McKellar in 1922. An aristocrat by Tennessee standards, Watkins Overton […]
By Ray Hill Lawrence Davis Tyson was Tennessee’s junior United States senator and while not a professional politician, the senator continued to demonstrate he had learned quite a lot in the short time he had served in the Senate. Possessing a gentlemanly nature, Tyson apparently also possessed a very good memory. Senator L. D. Tyson […]
By Ray Hill Lawrence Davis Tyson, Tennessee’s junior United States senator, was a wealthy former general, industrialist and newspaper publisher. Tyson and his wife, the former Bettie McGhee, lived in a beautiful home in Knoxville. Senator Tyson, tall, with a full head of white hair and neatly trimmed moustache, was especially interested in matters relating […]
By Ray Hill July of 1966 was hot and humid in Tennessee that year. Two veteran campaigners, Governor Frank Clement and Senator Ross Bass, were stumping the state for the Democratic nomination for the United States Senate. Both campaigned at a furious pace. The Nashville Tennessean reported one painter busy at work was so startled […]
By Ray Hill Pulaski Congressman Ross Bass had defeated Governor Frank Clement for the Democratic nomination to succeed the late Senator Estes Kefauver. Bass faced Republican Howard Baker in the general election. It was the first time Frank Clement had lost an election and his defeat had been sweeping. Congressman Bass confidently approached the general […]
By Ray Hill Frank Clement was the first incumbent governor in Tennessee to bid for the United States Senate since Tom C. Rye in 1918. The unexpected death of Senator Estes Kefauver on August 10, 1963 necessitated a special election in 1964. For the second time in thirty years, both of Tennessee’s seats in the […]