The 1956 Presidential Election in Tennessee By Ray Hill Dwight D. Eisenhower had carried Tennessee in the 1952 election, albeit it only barely, with the final totals being 446,147 for “Ike” and 443,710 for Democratic nominee Adlai Stevenson. It was a difference of...
Tennessee Goes Republican! The 1952 Presidential Election in Tennessee
By Ray HIll Key, Jr., famed political scientist and author, gave an excellent description of the grand divisions of Tennessee and its politics in 1949: “Tennessee is a narrow ribbon of real estate stretching from North Carolina to the Mississippi. Tennessee’s far...
The Resignation of Cordell Hull
By Ray Hill Few politicians of the time were as cognizant and protective of their public images as was Cordell Hull of Tennessee. One of the most closely guarded secrets in Washington, D. C. was the fact Cordell Hull suffered from tuberculosis. Hull was...
The Political Odyssey of Dayton Phillips
By Ray Hill From 1920 until his death in 1961, the most personally popular politician inside Tennessee’s First Congressional District was B. Carroll Reece. That can be attested to on a variety of fronts, not the least of which are the election returns from that...
Reece vs. Waters; Old vs. Young
By Ray Hill This column is written for my friend Alexander Waters and his family. I knew Alexander’s grandfather, John B. Waters, Jr. Mr. Waters was one of those young Republicans, like Jim Haslam, who helped elect Howard Baker, Tennessee’s first popularly elected...
The Tragedy of Virgil Chapman
By Ray Hill It seems like so many folks my age are experiencing raising their grandchildren or having their own children return home to live. All too often, my generation has seen their children and grandchildren afflicted by drug addiction. Back in the day, the...
Patrick J. Hurley, Soldier & Statesman
By Ray Hill Patrick Jay Hurley was one of those who exemplified the promise of America, coming to the United States as an infant with his parents the same year he had been born in County Waterford, Ireland. During his eighty years, Patrick J. Hurley was a highly...
Colorful Knox Countians: Austin Cate of Riverdale, II
By Ray Hill Austin Cate, Knox County’s sheriff, had won resounding victories in both the Republican primary and the general election in 1948 to win reelection. Cate had faced formidable opposition in the GOP primary from former Finance Commissioner Ed...
Colorful Knox Countians: Austin Cate of Riverdale, I
By Ray Hill Cate was a familiar name to voters in Knox County, especially when they were picking a sheriff. William T. Cate had been sheriff and J. Carroll Cate was sheriff from 1936 – 1940. In 1946, six-foot-five, 350-pound Hazen Kreis was leaving the...
Tennessee political legends: Kenneth D. McKellar & Cordell Hull, IV
By Ray Hill Cordell Hull, Secretary of State under Franklin D. Roosevelt, had simmered for years with resentment due to having been marginalized by the president. Yet Roosevelt depended upon Hull’s reservoir of good will with both the Congress and the American...
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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...