‘Big Bill’ Thompson of Chicago By Ray Hill William Hale Thompson enjoyed a long political career in a city known for its corruption.  “Big Bill” Thompson was the last Republican to be elected mayor of Chicago.  A modern political showman without being burdened with...

Tennessee’s Modern Republican Party Dan Kuykendall, Part III By Ray Hill Since Tennessee began popularly electing United States senators in 1916, only two efforts by Republicans in the Volunteer state could be legitimately described as serious bids to win.  One such...

Senator McKellar vs the CIO-PAC By Ray Hill Tennessee’s senior member of its congressional delegation was Kenneth D. McKellar, who had been in Congress for a total of thirty-six years; thirty of those years in the Senate. McKellar had just been handily reelected to...

By Ray Hill Both of Tennessee’s seats in the United States Senate were up for election in 1964.  Oddly, that has been the case every thirty years since 1934.  Tennesseans went to the polls to elect both United States senators in 1934, 1964, and 1994.  The first...

The Last Civil War Veteran in Congress Charles Manly Stedman of North Carolina By Ray Hill Charles Manly Stedman had announced he would not run again to represent his people in Congress in 1930. The eighty-nine-year-old congressman had served for the past twenty...

Tennessee’s Modern Republican Party: Dan Kuykendall By Ray Hill There are a handful of folks who deserve the lion’s share of the credit for creating a true two-party system in Tennessee.  From 1900-1970, Tennesseans only elected three Republican governors. Howard...

John L. Lewis By Ray Hill Perhaps the most famous union leader in American history today is the late Jimmy Hoffa and that is most likely due to the circumstances surrounding his disappearance.  For decades, the most prominent labor leader in the United States was John...

Tennessee and Right-to-Work, Part 4: The Tennessee Congressional Delegation and the Taft-Hartley Bill By Ray Hill Both Houses of Congress had passed the Taft-Hartley Bill, as both chambers had a majority of Republicans. The 1946 elections had been a terrific success...

Georgia Lusk of New Mexico By Ray Hill Like anyone fascinated with history, I always take special note of “firsts”; for instance the first person ever to be popularly elected to the United States Senate from Tennessee was also our longest-serving senator, Kenneth D....

Tennessee and Right-to-Work Part 3 The Tennessee Congressional Delegation and the Taft-Hartley Bill   By Ray Hill Only two members of Tennessee’s congressional delegation in the House of Representatives had voted against the labor bill sponsored by Congressman...