By Ray Hill Governor Andrew Johnson easily overcame the powerful opposition of the Whig Party in Tennessee, as well as the more conservative elements in his own Democratic Party to win election to the United States Senate in 1857. Nor was Andrew Johnson satisfied to merely remain in the Senate. At the 1860 Democratic presidential […]
By Ray Hill Only nine men have made the transition from governor of Tennessee to United States senator. One of those nine was one of the most successful politicians to take part in Tennessee’s turbulent politics: Andrew Johnson. In fact, Andrew Johnson prospered politically during the Civil War, the most tempestuous time in Tennessee’s history. […]
By Ray Hill All across the nation governors or former governors frequently attempt to make the transition to the United States Senate. Former governor Phil Bredesen, who is running for the Senate this year, is just one such an example. Nor is it particularly odd, at least in Tennessee, for a governor to wait some […]
By Ray Hill Dan Kuykendall (pronounced Kirk-en-dall) was the first Republican to be elected to Congress from West Tennessee since 1882. Kuykendall was also the first Republican to represent E. H. Crump’s former domain of Memphis in the House of Representatives; Kuykendall was also the last Republican to represent the area in Congress. Kuykendall was […]
By Ray Hill “Live so that when you die, even the undertaker will be sorry.” Sign that hung in the business office of Jim Cummings. James H. Cummings is likely a name unfamiliar to most readers, but during his time he was a power and a man to be reckoned with. When he died in […]
By Ray Hill After Congressman J. Will Taylor died suddenly on November 14, 1939, there was not unexpectedly, a fight inside the Republican Party to succeed him. The nominee was to be named in a convention by the counties comprising Tennessee’s Second Congressional district and would go on to compete in a special election. There […]
By Ray Hill When Congressman J. Will Taylor died on November 14, 1939, it sent shock waves through Tennessee’s political community. Taylor had long been enormously popular inside Tennessee’s Second Congressional district and “Hillbilly Bill” had exercised considerable influence throughout the state, especially when the GOP dominated the White House. Taylor’s influence lessened somewhat with […]
By Ray Hill Following Congressman J. Will Taylor’s death from an unexpected heart attack on November 14, 1939 there was an outpouring of grief on the part of the people of Tennessee’s Second Congressional district. Taylor had long been a power in Tennessee and during the administrations of Presidents Warren G. Harding, Calvin Coolidge, and […]
By Ray Hill Former three-term Prentice Cooper, consigned to the political sidelines following his defeat for the Democratic nomination for the United States Senate by Albert Gore in 1958, lived in the beautiful red brick mansion built by his father in 1904. Cooper shared his home with his wife and three young sons. Evidently Cooper […]
By Ray Hill Prentice Cooper had served as governor of Tennessee for six years, the only man ever to be elected to three consecutive two-year terms in modern history. Cooper’s tenure covered the entire period when the United States was fighting a bloody war all across the globe. Diminutive, less than five and a half […]
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