By Ray Hill Political success can come quickly and just as quickly be snuffed out. Rush D. Holt of West Virginia is a prime example of stunning political success at an early age, his electoral career squandered either through insistence upon remaining true to his...

By Ray Hill Nathan L. Bachman is little remembered today, but was a highly regarded jurist and a popular United States Senator from Tennessee. Bachman was born August 2, 1878 into a prominent family.  He attended at least three colleges before setting out to earn a...

  By Ray Hill   John Sherman Cooper was one of the most enduring and popular public figures in Kentucky in the post World War II era and he was, of all things, a Republican. Cooper was among those titanic figures that dominated Kentucky politics for decades,...

By Ray Hill Congressman Ross Bass and Governor Frank Clement were fighting a close race for the Democratic nomination for the United States Senate in 1964 to complete the remaining two years of the late Estes Kefauver’s term.  While there had been few real differences...

By Ray Hill Few Tennesseans today remember Ross Bass who served the Volunteer State in Congress for a decade, as well as a brief term in the United States Senate.  Bass was a participant in some of Tennessee’s fiercest political wars and served in Congress during a...

By Ray Hill The South produced a number of successful demagogues, not the least of which was James K. Vardaman, a governor and senator from Mississippi.  At the height of his career, Vardaman was unquestionably the most popular politician in Mississippi. James Kimble...

By Ray Hill Hill McAlister was governor of Tennessee during one of the most difficult times in our state’s history; McAlister was chief executive of the Volunteer State during the Great Depression. Born July 15, 1875, McAlister was the son of a local judge and...

By Ray Hill For modern readers it should become quite clear the voting patterns and political preferences of many states have been significantly altered over the passage of time.  One such state is Iowa, which was heavily dominated by the Republican Party for...

By Ray Hill Jim Nance McCord is yet another figure from Tennessee’s political history who is little remembered today.  Yet he was both a Congressman and governor; he also served in the Cabinet of Governor Frank Clement. Jim McCord was born in 1879 in Bedford County,...

  By Ray Hill Few politicians enjoyed the lengthy career Hiram W. Johnson carved out in California.  Johnson’s time in public office was stormy, yet he remained enduringly popular.  By the time of his death in 1945, Hiram Johnson was a living icon in his home...