By Ray Hill to 1915, United States senators from Tennessee had been elected by the state legislature. That same year Democrats were anticipating a primary, a year in advance of the 1916 general election. The primary would include a run-off election between the two top vote getters, something that has never happened since. The incumbent […]
By Ray Hill Disappointed by his failure to be appointed to the Board of Directors of the Tennessee Valley Authority, Dr. John R. Neal continued to be the Volunteer State’s political gadfly extraordinaire. John R. Neal ran for the United States Senate eighteen times, governor nine times and the U. S. House of Representatives once. […]
By Ray Hill Dr. John Randolph Neal had some solid achievements under his belt, both as a state legislator and educator, yet there was growing dissatisfaction at the University of Tennessee. That dissatisfaction seemed to be confined largely to administrators, as Dr. Neal was apparently quite popular with his students. By 1923, those same administrators […]
By Ray Hill Dr. John R. Neal was an American original; an educator, lawyer, state legislator, and perennial candidate for public office. Neal could have been the blueprint for the absentminded professor. Dr. Neal is frequently remembered for his many eccentricities, which included paying virtually no attention to his personal appearance, bathing infrequently, if at […]
By Ray Hill Jake Lindsey epitomized much about how Americans saw themselves when he joined the army in February of 1940. Lindsay, a resident of the tiny hamlet of Lucedale, Mississippi, joined the armed forces well before the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. The nineteen year-old Mississippian would go on to become one of World War […]
By Ray Hill Cordell Hull, remembered as the longest serving Secretary of State in the country’s history, almost abbreviated his service due to his unhappiness inside President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Cabinet. Frequently feeling ignored, if not actually humiliated by a president who preferred guiding U. S. foreign policy himself, Hull began thinking of returning home […]
By Ray Hill “Keep your eyes on the stars, and your feet on the ground.” – Theodore Roosevelt – Ruth Bryan Owen lived a truly remarkable life; at various times she was an author, filmmaker, lecturer, diplomat and congresswoman. She was also the daughter of one of the most famous men of the age: […]
By Ray Hill The Tennessee Congressional delegation was lending strong support to the neutrality bill proposed by Secretary of State Cordell Hull and President Franklin Roosevelt. Congressman Wirt Courtney, who had been elected after the sudden death of Clarence W. Turner, had made his maiden speech in Congress on the neutrality legislation. Courtney made a […]
The United States Senate had begun the final debate on revising the Neutrality Act. Senators contemplated amendments being offered by colleagues who were opposed to repealing the arms embargo and allowing the United States to sell weapons, munitions and goods to belligerent countries. With Germany at war with Great Britain and France after having […]
Tennessee’s senior United States senator, Kenneth D. McKellar, had moved strongly behind the neutrality program of President Franklin Roosevelt and Secretary of State Cordell Hull. McKellar was unquestionably the longest serving and most powerful member of Tennessee’s Congressional delegation and his support for Hull’s program was shared by most members of Congress representing the Volunteer […]
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