Eugene Talmadge: Difference between revisions
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Talmadge was born in [[Forsyth, Georgia]]. He went to the [[University of Georgia]] and graduated from the [[University of Georgia School of Law|University's law school]]. While at UGA, he was a member of the [[Phi Kappa Literary Society]] and [[Sigma Nu]] fraternity. Eugene had some offices in [[Telfair County, Georgia]]. He was unsuccessful twice when running for the [[Georgia General Assembly|Georgia state legislature]], but was elected State Agriculture commissioner in 1926 and was re-elected twice. Talmadge uses the newspaper of his department to give advice to farmers and talk about his political views. He was criticized by the [[Georgia Senate|State Senate]] for improperly spending funds and using department funds to make trips to the [[Kentucky Derby]]. Accused of "stealing" $20,000 by shipping Georgia hogs to Chicago, Talmadge told one group of farmers, "Sure I stole it! But I stole it for you."<ref>''Current Biography 1941'', pp 850-52</ref> |
Talmadge was born in [[Forsyth, Georgia]]. He went to the [[University of Georgia]] and graduated from the [[University of Georgia School of Law|University's law school]]. While at UGA, he was a member of the [[Phi Kappa Literary Society]] and [[Sigma Nu]] fraternity. Eugene had some offices in [[Telfair County, Georgia]]. He was unsuccessful twice when running for the [[Georgia General Assembly|Georgia state legislature]], but was elected State Agriculture commissioner in 1926 and was re-elected twice. Talmadge uses the newspaper of his department to give advice to farmers and talk about his political views. He was criticized by the [[Georgia Senate|State Senate]] for improperly spending funds and using department funds to make trips to the [[Kentucky Derby]]. Accused of "stealing" $20,000 by shipping Georgia hogs to Chicago, Talmadge told one group of farmers, "Sure I stole it! But I stole it for you."<ref>''Current Biography 1941'', pp 850-52</ref> |
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==Governor== |
==Governor== |
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In 1932, Governor [[Richard B. Russell, Jr.]] sought a seat in the [[United States Senate]]. Talmadge ran for Governor and won a majority of the [[County Unit System|county unit votes]] in the Primary (then [[tantamount to election]], since the [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican Party]] was practically non-existent). The County Unit System |
In 1932, Governor [[Richard B. Russell, Jr.]] sought a seat in the [[United States Senate]]. Talmadge ran for Governor and won a majority of the [[County Unit System|county unit votes]] in the Primary (then [[tantamount to election]], since the [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican Party]] was practically non-existent). The County Unit System gave power to the most rural counties, which were Talmadge's base. He boasted, , "I can carry any county that ain't got street cars."<ref>''Current Biography 1941'', p 851</ref> He made 12 campaign promises, the most controversial of which was to lower the price of an automobile license to only $3, which them within the budgets of the poor farmers. The state legislature intensely debated the $3 license issue but did not pass it. After it adjourned, Talmadge fixed the $3 fee by proclamation.<ref>Tammy Harden Galloway, "Tribune of the Masses and a Champion of the People": Eugene Talmadge and the Three-Dollar Tag," ''Georgia Historical Quarterly,'' Fall 1995, Vol. 79 Issue 3, pp 673-684 </ref> |
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He was re-elected in 1934. When officials refused to do what he wanted, he was known to take actions, including issuing executive orders, that were called 'dictatorial' by his critics. |
He was re-elected in 1934. When officials refused to do what he wanted, he was known to take actions, including issuing executive orders, that were called 'dictatorial' by his critics. |
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Talmadge was a critic of President [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]] and his official proximity with [[African-American]] people.<ref>[http://www.time.com/time/printout/0,8816,770134,00.html National Affairs: Black on Blacks], ''[[TIME Magazine]]'', April 27, 1936</ref> Unable to run for re-election in 1936, Talmadge chose to challenge Senator Russell in the [[primary election|primary]], but Russell defeated Talmadge by a wide margin. Talmadge was unsuccessful in his challenge to Senator [[Walter F. George|Walter George]] in 1938. |
Talmadge was a critic of President [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]] and his official proximity with [[African-American]] people.<ref>[http://www.time.com/time/printout/0,8816,770134,00.html National Affairs: Black on Blacks], ''[[TIME Magazine]]'', April 27, 1936</ref> Unable to run for re-election in 1936, Talmadge chose to challenge Senator Russell in the [[primary election|primary]], but Russell defeated Talmadge by a wide margin. Talmadge was unsuccessful in his challenge to Senator [[Walter F. George|Walter George]] in 1938. |
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==University of Georgia== |
==University of Georgia== |
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{{main|Cocking affair}} |
{{main|Cocking affair}} |
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Revision as of 12:32, 10 May 2011
Eugene Talmadge (September 23, 1884 – December 21, 1946) was a Democratic politician who served as the 67th Governor of Georgia from 1933 to 1937 and again from 1941 to 1943. Elected to another term in 1946, he died before taking office. To date only Joe Brown and Eugene Talmadge have been elected four times as Governor of Georgia.
Early career
Talmadge was born in Forsyth, Georgia. He went to the University of Georgia and graduated from the University's law school. While at UGA, he was a member of the Phi Kappa Literary Society and Sigma Nu fraternity. Eugene had some offices in Telfair County, Georgia. He was unsuccessful twice when running for the Georgia state legislature, but was elected State Agriculture commissioner in 1926 and was re-elected twice. Talmadge uses the newspaper of his department to give advice to farmers and talk about his political views. He was criticized by the State Senate for improperly spending funds and using department funds to make trips to the Kentucky Derby. Accused of "stealing" $20,000 by shipping Georgia hogs to Chicago, Talmadge told one group of farmers, "Sure I stole it! But I stole it for you."[1]
Governor
In 1932, Governor Richard B. Russell, Jr. sought a seat in the United States Senate. Talmadge ran for Governor and won a majority of the county unit votes in the Primary (then tantamount to election, since the Republican Party was practically non-existent). The County Unit System gave power to the most rural counties, which were Talmadge's base. He boasted, , "I can carry any county that ain't got street cars."[2] He made 12 campaign promises, the most controversial of which was to lower the price of an automobile license to only $3, which them within the budgets of the poor farmers. The state legislature intensely debated the $3 license issue but did not pass it. After it adjourned, Talmadge fixed the $3 fee by proclamation.[3]
He was re-elected in 1934. When officials refused to do what he wanted, he was known to take actions, including issuing executive orders, that were called 'dictatorial' by his critics.
Talmadge was a critic of President Franklin D. Roosevelt and his official proximity with African-American people.[4] Unable to run for re-election in 1936, Talmadge chose to challenge Senator Russell in the primary, but Russell defeated Talmadge by a wide margin. Talmadge was unsuccessful in his challenge to Senator Walter George in 1938.
University of Georgia
Talmadge returned to the Governor's office in 1940, emerging as the leader of racist and segregationist elements in Georgia.[5] Responding to reports that Walter Cocking, a dean at the University of Georgia, had advocated bringing blacks and whites together in the classroom, he launched an attack on the university, charging elitism, and called for the regents to remove Cocking and purge the university of Communists, "foreigners" (non-Georgians), and subscribers to racial equality. The university board of regents at first refused Talmadge's demands for dismissal of offending faculty members, but after the Governor restructured the board, the dismissals took place. This intervention into academic affairs caused the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools to remove accreditation from the Georgia state universities, and it contributed to Talmadge's defeat by Ellis Arnall in 1942.[6][7]
During Arnall's term, the state legislature lengthened his term to four years and prohibited him from seeking re-election in 1946. Talmadge ran for Governor and used the United States Supreme Court's Smith v. Allwright decision as his main issue. Talmadge promised that if he were to be elected, he would restore the 'Equal Primary'.
Talmadge lost the popular vote in the Democratic primary to James V. Carmichael but won a majority of the 'county unit votes'. However, he died in December 1946, before he could be sworn in for his fourth term; his death precipitated the 1947 "three governors" controversy among Arnall, Melvin E. Thompson and Talmadge's son Herman.[8]
Memory
The Talmadge Memorial Bridge in Savannah, Georgia is named after Eugene Talmadge, and connects downtown Savannah, Georgia with the Carolina Low Country via the Savannah River.
(The "Cocking affair" later became the subject of Michael Braz's opera, A Scholar Under Siege, composed for the centenary of Georgia Southern University and premiered in 2007.[9])
Notes and references
- ^ Current Biography 1941, pp 850-52
- ^ Current Biography 1941, p 851
- ^ Tammy Harden Galloway, "Tribune of the Masses and a Champion of the People": Eugene Talmadge and the Three-Dollar Tag," Georgia Historical Quarterly, Fall 1995, Vol. 79 Issue 3, pp 673-684
- ^ National Affairs: Black on Blacks, TIME Magazine, April 27, 1936
- ^ Glenn Feldman, Politics and religion in the White South (2005) p 111
- ^ James F. Cook, "Cocking Affair", New Georgia Encyclopedia, 2002.
- ^ Sue Bailes, "Eugene Talmadge and the Board Of Regents Controversy," Georgia Historical Quarterly, Winter 1969, Vol. 53 Issue 4, pp 409-423
- ^ William L. Belvin, Jr.. "The Georgia Gubernatorial Primary of 1946, Georgia Historical Quarterly, Spring 1966, Vol. 50 Issue 1, pp 36-53
- ^ Bynum, Russ, "Opera Tells How Georgia Racism Backfired", Associated Press, April 19, 2007. Accessed 27 January 2009.
Further reading
- Anderson, William. The Wild Man from Sugar Creek: The Political Career of Eugene Talmadge (1975)
- Logue, Cal McLeod. Eugene Talmadge: rhetoric and response (1989)
