By Ray Hill W. “Ned” Carmack’s campaign for the United States Senate ended on a dusty road in rural West Tennessee under circumstances never resolved. Carmack’s wife Charlotte arrived to whisk him home to Murfreesboro, where Carmack spent some time in a hospital....

By Ray Hill Edward Ward Carmack, Jr. possessed a name made famous by his father.  E. W. Carmack had been a congressman, United States senator and only just barely missed having been elected governor; the elder Carmack had also been a newspaper editor who deftly used...

By Ray Hill Henry Hollis Horton had once been one of the luckiest men in Tennessee politics.  Horton had little political experience after beginning a law practice in Marshall County.  Horton served a single term in the Tennessee House of Representatives and had been...

By Ray Hill For decades, Clyde Roark Hoey was one of North Carolina’s most personally popular politicians.  Even well before his death, Clyde R. Hoey was something of a caricature.  Always immaculately dressed, Hoey favored a frock coat and bat-wing collar long after...

By Ray Hill Congressman Clifford Davis of Memphis had served in the House of Representatives since 1940 and in 1959 was the chairman of the House Public Works Committee.  A relatively obscure committee to most folks, it became of prime importance to Tennessee.  Davis...

By Ray Hill Jake Lindsey epitomized much about how Americans saw themselves when he joined the army in February of 1940.  Lindsay, a resident of the tiny hamlet of Lucedale, Mississippi, joined the armed forces well before the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor.  The...

By Ray Hill Ray Blanton had achieved his long sought after goal of winning statewide office in Tennessee with his victory in the 1974 general election. Blanton had defeated Republican Lamar Alexander decisively in winning the governorship. Ray Blanton had always...

Ray Blanton emerged from the 1974 primary as the Democratic nominee for governor of Tennessee. It had been a contentious primary in with twelve men competing for the nomination. Blanton had barely edged banker Jake Butcher to be the nominee. The Republicans had their...

By Ray Hill After having lost the 1972 race for the U. S. Senate to incumbent Howard Baker by a wide margin, Ray Blanton found himself out of Congress. Blanton returned to Tennessee and immediately began planting the seeds for an expected bid for the Democratic...

By Ray Hill Tennessee had lost a congressional district in the redistricting in 1971.  Congressmen Ray Blanton and William Anderson, both Democrats, would likely have run against one another if both sought reelection.  Anderson flirted with a bid for the Democratic...