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  • Columnists:
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  • Mattingly
  • McKeehan
  • Nagi
  • Pratt
  • Rector
  • Steely
  • Williams

Old Time Congressman: Joe L. Evins of Tennessee

by Ray Hill | Mar 18, 2018 | Columnist, Hill, Stories In This Week's Focus:

By Ray Hill Perhaps the best lesson for aspiring politicians is that fame and success are fleeting; despite whatever heights one might attain, once out of office, one usually receives little attention and it is not long before one is forgotten.  How many Tennesseans...

Texas Liberal: Senator Ralph Yarborough

by Ray Hill | Mar 11, 2018 | Columnist, Hill, Stories In This Week's Focus:

By Ray Hill While now an apparently Republican “red” state, Texas was once solidly Democratic.  Like Tennessee, Texas has produced some interesting political personalities; Speaker of the House Sam Rayburn, Senator Tom Connally, Governor John Connally (no relation to...

E.L. Mechem of New Mexico: BIG ED

by Ray Hill | Mar 4, 2018 | Columnist, Hill, Stories In This Week's Focus:

By Ray Hill   New Mexico entered the union on January 6, 1912 and it became fertile ground for rough and tumble politics that swung from the outrageous to the brutal. Elections routinely were influenced by money and there were frequent charges of voter fraud. One...

Pass the Biscuits, Pappy! Lee O’Daniel of Texas

by Ray Hill | Feb 25, 2018 | Columnist, Hill, Stories In This Week's Focus:

  By Ray Hill Every state in the nation has seen the rise of a particular politician who comes from nowhere to capture the imagination and votes of citizens; some are demagogues, others are reformers and many are just plain showmen. Wilbert Lee O’Daniel of Texas...

Alabama Liberal: Lister Hill

by Ray Hill | Feb 18, 2018 | Columnist, Hill, Stories In This Week's Focus:

By Ray Hill   Joseph Lister Hill did not emerge from the hills of Alabama, nor did he have to rise above poverty; in fact he was born into a well-to-do family.  Hill’s father was Dr. Luther Leonidas Hill and the future senator was named for his father’s friend,...

Doctor In the Senate: Royal S. Copeland of New York

by Ray Hill | Feb 11, 2018 | Columnist, Hill, Stories In This Week's Focus:

Tennessee Senator Bill Frist was not the first physician to serve in the United States Senate; almost sixty years before Dr. Frist took the oath of office, a physician left the Senate through death.  Royal S. Copeland was an unusual person and for that matter, an...
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