by Ray Hill | Aug 21, 2016 | Columnist, Hill, Stories In This Week's Focus:
By Ray Hill The 1948 election in Tennessee was a watershed political event. For two decades, the political partnership of senior United States senator Kenneth D. McKellar and Edward Hull Crump, leader of the Shelby County machine, had dominated Volunteer State...
by Ray Hill | Aug 14, 2016 | Columnist, Hill, Stories In This Week's Focus:
By Ray Hill When one thinks of bossism in Tennessee politics, Edward Hull Crump of Memphis leaps to mind. Much has been written about the Crump machine, but Hilary Howse of Nashville headed an equally potent and thriving political machine in Davidson County. There...
by Ray Hill | Aug 7, 2016 | Columnist, Hill, Stories In This Week's Focus:
By Ray Hill In 1943, while still a member of President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Cabinet, Harold L. Ickes wrote his autobiography. Aptly entitled “Autobiography of a Curmudgeon,” Ickes immediately said, “If, in these pages, I have hurled an insult at anyone, be it...
by Ray Hill | Jul 31, 2016 | Columnist, Hill, Stories In This Week's Focus:
By Ray Hill More than a few historians rate Harold LeClair Ickes as the greatest Secretary of the Interior to serve in the Cabinet of any president. Certainly, he served the longest, more than thirteen years. Harold L. Ickes earned a reputation, one he carefully...
by Ray Hill | Jul 24, 2016 | Columnist, Hill, Stories In This Week's Focus:
By Ray Hill Hill McAlister had finally achieved his dream of serving as governor of Tennessee after two hard fought failed campaigns. The descendant of two governors, McAlister had run a strong race against incumbent Austin Peay when the latter was seeking a third...
by Ray Hill | Jul 17, 2016 | Columnist, Hill, Stories In This Week's Focus:
By Ray Hill If there is anything sadder than a defeated and forgotten politician, it may well be a forgotten politician’s widow. Once powerful politicians who wielded enormous influence, attended by staff and an abundance of friends, oftentimes find themselves bereft...
