John Sharp Williams of Mississippi By Ray Hill  At a time when folks have little or no respect for their officeholders, it may be difficult to imagine the better part of the people of an entire state having affection and reverence for their representative in Congress....

By Ray Hill For decades, Democrats in Tennessee had enjoyed the luxury of sailing through general elections without having to worry about the results. Republicans in Tennessee talked a good game and usually had nominees for both the governorship and seats in the...

By Ray Hill I noticed the other day Senator Bill Hagerty released a list of those he had nominated for the various military academies.  Most senators now keep a person on staff to review the application of those wanting to attend military academies and it is still an...

By Ray Hill The Democratic primary in Tennessee in the 1948 election had been particularly brutal. Tennessee’s senior United States senator, Kenneth D. McKellar, old and ailing, had tried to change the mind of Shelby County political boss Edward Hull Crump about his...

Tennessee has produced some remarkable leaders during the history of our country, as well as some rascals. Andrew Jackson, James K. Polk, and Andrew Johnson all served as presidents of our country; Howard Baker and Bill Frist served as Majority Leaders of the United...

By Ray Hill Democrats in Tennessee had routinely won elections with but few exceptions since 1900; only three times had Republicans managed to win the governorship. No Republican had ever been popularly elected to the United States Senate from Tennessee. Following an...

By Ray Hill Every so often I am reminded of my age by recalling those leaders of my youth; most of them are gone now. Howard Baker, Bill Brock, John Duncan, Sr., Jimmy Quillen and Robin Beard. Former governor Winfield Dunn is still very much with us, thank God. It...

By Ray Hill For forty years, Brazilla Carroll Reece had been the congressman from the highly Republican First Congressional District of Tennessee with a few interruptions.  Carroll Reece had first gone to Congress in 1920 after beating an entrenched incumbent in a...

Many of our fellow Tennesseans are positively football crazy; most of us remember University of Tennessee quarterback Heath Shuler was elected to Congress from North Carolina. Yet there is hardly any person in the State of Tennessee with better name recognition than...