By Ray Hill Lyndon Johnson once called Estes Kefauver, “The greatest campaigner of them all.” Kefauver was no silver-tongued orator; in fact, he was oftentimes tongue-tied and frequently mangled names and phrases. Yet Estes Kefauver likely had no peer as a retail politician in meeting folks one-on-one. Estes Kefauver also generated strong feelings in […]
By Ray Hill Carroll Reece had first been elected to Congress to represent Tennessee’s First District in 1920 when he had defeated incumbent congressman Sam R. Sells in the Republican primary. 1920 had been a banner year for Republicans in Tennessee with the GOP winning the governorship, electing a member of the state Railroad and […]
By Ray Hill To get to Congress, Carroll Reece had to defeat an entrenched incumbent, who had served for a decade. After taking the oath of office on March 4, 1921, Carroll Reece became one of the most enduring political figures in Tennessee’s political history. Reece remains to this day one of the longest serving […]
By Ray Hill Carroll Reece, thirty years old and a veteran of the First World War, had defeated Congressman Sam R. Sells for the right to carry the Republican Party banner in the general election of 1920. Sells had not taken his defeat lightly and had tried to challenge the election results without success. 1920 […]
“Live so that when you die, even the undertaker will be sorry.” Sign that hung in the business office of Jim Cummings. By Ray Hill 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 Joseph W. Martin Jr. is probably a name unfamiliar to most folks today as he has slipped into the pages of political history, yet for decades he was a national figure of great significance, especially inside the Republican Party. Joe Martin served in Congress for an astonishing forty-two years and was twice […]
By Ray Hill Congressman Sam R. Sells, a veteran of ten years in the U. S. House of Representatives, was being hard-pressed for the Republican nomination in 1920. Carroll Reece had been a farm boy who had fought with distinction during the First World War and taught economics at New York University. Sells, a cigar-smoking, […]
By Ray Hill The late Howard H. Baker Jr., the first Republican ever to be popularly elected to the United States Senate from Tennessee, has a great claim to being labeled “Mr. Republican” for the modern era. Yet Brazilla Carroll Reece of Johnson City may have a better claim to being “Mr. Republican” for Tennessee […]
By Ray Hill William Gannaway Brownlow was one of the most controversial figures in Tennessee history. “Parson” Brownlow was highly controversial during his own time and few figures ever relished the political battles he waged more than the man who was a pastor, editor, governor and United States senator. Brownlow was born in Virginia in […]
By Ray Hill An imposing statue dominates the State Capitol in Nashville, yet few recognize the figure staring off into the distance, overlooking the street where he was murdered in downtown Nashville. Edward Ward Carmack was by profession a newspaperman, but he was also a successful politician, serving as a Congressman and U. S. […]