By Ray Hill The transformation of turning Tennessee from a solidly Democratic state to a two-party state belongs to the candidacies of three men: Howard Baker, Bill Brock and Winfield Dunn. Perhaps Bill Brock is less well remembered than either Howard Baker or Winfield Dunn because he never returned to Tennessee to live after establishing […]
By Ray Hill Austin Peay had won election as Tennessee’s governor in 1922 and had been reelected to another two-year term in 1924 with only nominal opposition. In seeking a third term in 1926, Peay faced a significant obstacle in State Treasurer Hill McAlister. McAlister had cobbled together a coalition of urban interests and enemies […]
By Ray Hill Austin Peay had been an exceedingly popular governor, first winning election in 1922. Although he had lost a bid to win the Democratic gubernatorial nomination in 1918, he had proved to be an effective vote-getter in 1922 when he had defeated former governor Benton McMillin inside the primary. Peay went on to […]
By Ray Hill Governor Albert H. Roberts, first elected in 1918, was having a difficult time winning reelection in 1920. Tennessee had traditionally given governors a second two-year term, save for the most controversial or incompetent. Roberts had been an able enough administrator, but had proven to be rather hapless when dealing with legislative matters. […]
By Ray Hill Republicans were nowhere near a majority in the state of Tennessee in 1920, although they were briefly a force to be reckoned with when the Democrats were torn asunder by strife. Ben W. Hooper had twice been elected governor in 1910 and 1912 following a period of especially fierce infighting amongst Tennessee […]
By Ray Hill To give one an idea of what life was like during the 1934 campaign, a lamb shoulder roast was 16 cents per pound; bran flakes were 10 cents a box; two pounds of trout fillet was 25 cents. One store advertised a sale of women’s dresses—seersucker, chiffons, linens, and voiles—for 98 cents […]
By Ray Hill By 1934, Republicans were not much of a factor in statewide elections in Tennessee. The political landscape in the Volunteer State had changed with the resignation of Senator Cordell Hull, who had agreed to serve as Secretary of State in the administration of President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1933. It fell to […]
By Ray Hill Clearly, one of the most important and powerful positions in the American system of government is Speaker of the U. S. House of Representatives. The last Tennessean to occupy this vital post was Joseph W. Byrns. Joseph Wellington Byrns was born July 20, 1869 in Cedar Hill, Tennessee. Byrns graduated from Vanderbilt […]
By Ray Hill From 1931 until 1947, the Republican Party had suffered shattering defeats largely brought on by the Great Depression. Following the 1936 election, where GOP presidential candidate Alf Landon only won the electoral votes of Vermont and Maine, Republicans in the House of Representatives constituted only 88 members. Throughout the decade of the […]
By Ray Hill Reed Smoot is a name long since forgotten by most, save for those few who remember the Smoot – Hawley tariff legislation. Yet, Reed Smoot was the first Mormon ever to be elected to the United States Senate, setting off a firestorm that consumed much of his first six-year term. Fear and […]
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