By Ray Hill For decades, Democrats in Tennessee had enjoyed the luxury of sailing through general elections without having to worry about the results. Republicans in Tennessee talked a good game and usually had nominees for both the governorship and seats in the...
Military Appointments
By Ray Hill I noticed the other day Senator Bill Hagerty released a list of those he had nominated for the various military academies. Most senators now keep a person on staff to review the application of those wanting to attend military academies and it is still an...
The 1948 Election in Tennessee III
By Ray Hill The Democratic primary in Tennessee in the 1948 election had been particularly brutal. Tennessee’s senior United States senator, Kenneth D. McKellar, old and ailing, had tried to change the mind of Shelby County political boss Edward Hull Crump about his...
Tennessee’s Last Speaker: Joseph W. Byrns of Nashville
Tennessee has produced some remarkable leaders during the history of our country, as well as some rascals. Andrew Jackson, James K. Polk, and Andrew Johnson all served as presidents of our country; Howard Baker and Bill Frist served as Majority Leaders of the United...
The 1948 Election in Tennessee II
By Ray Hill Democrats in Tennessee had routinely won elections with but few exceptions since 1900; only three times had Republicans managed to win the governorship. No Republican had ever been popularly elected to the United States Senate from Tennessee. Following an...
Remembering Congressman Robin Beard
By Ray Hill Every so often I am reminded of my age by recalling those leaders of my youth; most of them are gone now. Howard Baker, Bill Brock, John Duncan, Sr., Jimmy Quillen and Robin Beard. Former governor Winfield Dunn is still very much with us, thank God. It...
The End of an Era: The Passing of Carroll Reece
By Ray Hill For forty years, Brazilla Carroll Reece had been the congressman from the highly Republican First Congressional District of Tennessee with a few interruptions. Carroll Reece had first gone to Congress in 1920 after beating an entrenched incumbent in a...
The Lawyer’s Lawyer: Attorney General Roy H. Beeler
Tennessee is the only state in the country where the Supreme Court selects the attorney general. In many states, the state attorney general is elected by the voters; some are appointed by the governor and some are elected by legislatures. Tennessee’s state attorney...
From Football Coach to Congressman: Hubert Fisher of Tennessee
Many of our fellow Tennesseans are positively football crazy; most of us remember University of Tennessee quarterback Heath Shuler was elected to Congress from North Carolina. Yet there is hardly any person in the State of Tennessee with better name recognition than...
Mitchell v. United States, et al.: Arthur W. Mitchell of Illinois
By Ray Hill The folks who read this column regularly are some of God’s gentlepeople and highly discerning. That is my opinion, yet I will be positively shocked if a single reader remembers Arthur Wergs Mitchell. One of the most interesting aspects of history to me...
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Edward Hull Crump: The Boss, Part VII
By Ray Hill Despite...
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The U.S. Senate In The Age of McKellar: 1917 – 1953
By Ray Hill Kenneth...
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The Senator’s Secretary: D. W. McKellar
By Ray Hill...
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A Feudin’ Son of Tennessee: Kenneth McKellar Chapter 1
By Ray Hill It will...
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A Feudin’ Son of Tennessee: Kenneth McKellar Chapter 2
By Ray Hill Kenneth McKellar...
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A Feudin’ Son of Tennessee: Kenneth McKellar, Chapter 3
By Ray Hill Even as a...