By Ray Hill Two of the most successful politicians of the same era, Huey Pierce Long and Franklin Delano Roosevelt could hardly have been more different. The handsome, courtly Roosevelt was the scion of a famous and wealthy family, the coddled and adored only...
Louisiana’s Kingfish: Huey P. Long Part One
By Ray Hill “Always take the offensive - - - the defensive ain’t worth a damn.” So said Louisiana’s self designated “Kingfish,” Huey P. Long. Huey took his own advice and remained on the offensive until the day he was struck down by an assassin’s bullet. Huey Pierce...
Governor Malcolm Rice Patterson
By Ray Hill Before the age of television, blue shirts and blow-dried hair, Tennessee had some of the most colorful political figures anywhere. Amongst those was Malcolm Rice Patterson, a Congressman and governor of Tennessee. A veteran of some of the most hard fought...
Governor Hill McAlister
By Ray Hill Hill McAlister very much wanted to be governor of Tennessee and made repeated efforts before finally achieving his goal. Once in office, McAlister found it bit tougher than he likely expected. McAlister was born in Nashville on July 15, 1875 and...
Governor Thomas C. Rye
By Ray Hill Just after the turn of the century, Tennessee’s Democratic Party became almost hopelessly fractured. The candidacies of two men helped to heal the deep divisions inside the Democratic Party in Tennessee: that of Kenneth D. McKellar for the United...
Tennessee’s Reform Governor: Austin Peay
By Ray Hill Austin Peay was once one of Tennessee’s more famous governors, hailed as perhaps one of the most talented reformers in the state’s history. The late governor’s legacy is hardly confined to the university named for him in his home city of Clarksville. Born...
Tennessee In Congress: 1939
By Ray Hill Tennessee has been quite fortunate in oftentimes having an excellent Congressional delegation. The landscape and economic condition of Tennessee would be much different had it not been for the ability of some of our Congressional delegation to secure...
The Campaign That Never Was: The 1944 Governor’s Race in Tennessee
By Ray Hill Prentice Cooper had been governor of Tennessee for six years; the first man to be elected to three two-year terms since Austin Peay. Unlike Peay, Cooper lived through his entire tenure of office, but in 1944, he could not run again. Governor Cooper was a...
Tennessee’s First Election For the U. S. Senate: The Democratic Primary 1915
By Ray Hill 2015 marks the one-hundredth year since the people of Tennessee cast their ballots to select a candidate for the United States Senate. There had previously been non-binding preferential primaries, as senators were still elected by the state legislature....
Bob Taylor of Tennessee
By Ray Hill Senator Kenneth D. McKellar once claimed that outside of the three men who served as President of the United States, Robert Love Taylor was “the best-known man to the Republic at large that Tennessee has ever produced”. It well may have been true. Robert...
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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...