By Ray Hill Brazilla Carroll Reece had served for ten years in the U. S. House of Representatives before being upset in the 1930 general election by Oscar Byrd Lovette of Greeneville, Tennessee. Reece never stopped campaigning to return for Congress and he and O. B. Lovette fought two bitter contests in the 1932 election. […]
By Ray Hill Carroll Reece had first been elected to Congress from Tennessee’s First District in 1920 when he defeated Congressman Sam R. Sells inside the Republican primary. Sells had served for a decade before losing to Reece, who had been recognized for his bravery and heroism in the First World War. Reece had also […]
By Ray Hill Outside of Arizona, few people remember Ernest McFarland save for the man Barry Goldwater beat to get to the United States Senate. Yet Ernest McFarland was much more than a rudimentary politician. McFarland rose from county judge to United States senator, governor, and Chief Justice of the Arizona Supreme Court. While in […]
By Ray Hill Milton Ruben Young is a name very few of my readers are likely familiar with and he was an improbable member of the United States Senate. Even in his native state of North Dakota, Young is something of vague figure despite almost thirty-six years of service in the Senate. Indeed, Milton Young […]
By Ray Hill Very few people remember Samuel Davis McReynolds, who was a long-time Congressman representing Tennessee’s Third District, which includes Chattanooga; yet during his time, he was a highly influential member of the House of Representatives. Quite likely, McReynolds’ career has been eclipsed by that of his successor, Estes Kefauver. McReynolds was born […]
By Ray Hill Carroll Reece had spent a decade in Congress serving Tennessee’s First Congressional District when he had been upset by Oscar Byrd Lovette, the former district attorney general from Greene County in the 1930 general election. Reece had faced a tough primary challenge that year from attorney Sam W. Price, yet it seemed […]
By Ray Hill Carroll Reece, congressman from Tennessee’s First District for a decade, had been upset in the 1930 election by Oscar Byrd Lovette, the former district attorney for a few counties surrounding Greene County. Lovette’s victory had been highly improbable; Lovette had only announced and run a campaign during the last ten days before […]
By Ray Hill On January 9, 1932, twelve hundred Republicans from Tennessee’s First Congressional District had converged upon the Hamblen County courthouse in Morristown to demand former congressman Brazilla Carroll Reece once again run for Congress. Reece had first been elected in 1920 and had served a decade in Congress before losing to the […]
By Ray Hill The trio of colorful legislators who exerted enormous influence in the Tennessee General Assembly for decades – – – Walter M. “Pete” Haynes, I. D. Beasley, and James H. Cummings – – – were commonly known in Nashville as the “Triumvirate” or “the Unholy Trinity.” The late John Bragg served in the […]
By Ray Hill For decades the Tennessee General Assembly was largely ruled by three men: Walter M. “Pete” Haynes of Decherd; I. D. Beasley of Carthage and James H. Cummings of Woodbury. Known as the “Unholy Trinity”, the three men were powerful legislators and highly important in their respective communities. Beasley, Haynes and Cummings were […]
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