By Ray Hill Congressman Joseph W. Byrns, Jr. had first been elected to the U. S. House of Representatives in 1938, toppling incumbent Richard M. Atkinson in a hard fought campaign inside the Democratic Primary. Tennessee’s “Hermitage District,” so named because the Fifth Congressional district contained the home of General Andrew Jackson, founder of the […]
By Ray Hill All things considered, thirty-six year-old Congressman Joseph W. Byrns, Jr. seemed to be a sure bet for reelection in 1940. Representing Tennessee’s famed “Hermitage District,” so named because it contained the home of General Andrew Jackson. As befitting the Hero of the Battle of New Orleans and the founder of the Democratic […]
By Ray Hill It was hardly surprising Joseph W. Byrns, Jr. had been elected to Congress from Tennessee’s “Hermitage District”, site of General Andrew Jackson’s plantation home. The district had been represented for twenty-eight years by Joseph W. Byrns, father of the current congressman in 1939. The elder Byrns had come up through the ranks […]
By Ray Hill Congressman Joseph W. Byrns, Jr. seemed to have everything going for him; the only child and namesake of long-time congressman and late Speaker of the House Joseph W. Byrns, had defeated a reasonably popular incumbent inside the Democratic primary in 1938. Young Joe Byrns seemed a favorite of the House leadership, all […]
By Ray Hill Joseph W. Byrns, Jr. had successfully managed to defeat freshman Congressman Richard Atkinson in a hard fought race. The Democratic nominee – – – and the general election in the Hermitage District was a mere formality, as it was as Democratic as had been the owner of the Hermitage, General Andrew Jackson. […]
By Ray Hill For twenty-eight years, the congressman from Tennessee’s “Hermitage District” had been Joseph W. Byrns. Congressman Byrns was a beloved figure inside the Fifth Congressional district and had been Speaker of the U. S. House of Representatives when he had died suddenly on June 4, 1936. Some urged Joseph W. Byrns, Jr., the […]
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 […]
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