Buford Ellington
Encyclopedia
Earl Buford Ellington a native of Mississippi
, was the 42nd Governor of Tennessee from 1959 to 1963 and again from 1967 until 1971.
Ellington owned a farm in Verona, Tennessee in Marshall County, near Lewisburg
, the county seat. He first came to statewide prominence as a campaign manager for his predecessor, Frank G. Clement
, and as a member of his cabinet
.
Ellington was perceived as less progressive
than Clement and more in tune with other Southern
governor
s of the time, and at first seemed to be a moderate
segregationist
. He was not, however, a staunch opponent of desegregation
in the mode of Mississippi
's Ross Barnett
or Alabama
's George Wallace
, and did not use or threaten confrontational tactics as they did. His view moderated further and he eventually went on the record as favoring racial integration.
Ellington was a heavy favorite to succeed Clement in the 1958 Democratic primary
, when Clement was unable to succeed himself due to term limit
legislation which had been amended into the Tennessee state constitution
. Ellington won the election of 1958, defeating Judge Andrew Tip Taylor by a mere 8700 votes. (Albert Gore, Sr.
won renomination for the United States Senate
over former governor Prentice Cooper
on the same day.) At this point in Tennessee history, winning the Democratic nomination to statewide office was tantamount to winning the office, as the strength of the Republican Party
was almost entirely confined to the eastern third of the state.
Inaugurated governor in January, 1959, Clement's policies seemed to be essentially continued by Ellington's administration. Like Clement, Ellington was very close to the roadbuilding interests, and also favored increased funding for education
. Slow progress in desegregation continued. Unlike Clement, Ellington was not entirely opposed to the death penalty; as a result, the last execution for forty years in Tennessee took place during his first term as governor.
It had long been apparent that just as Clement had supported Ellington as his successor in 1958, Ellington was prepared to do likewise for Clement in 1962, and Clement easily won the Democratic nomination and subsequent election. Ellington remained active in Democratic circles, and it was to the surprise of very few observers that he began in 1965 to position himself for another run for the governorship.
The path was not as easy in 1966 as it had been in 1958. Ellington was insufficiently progressive to suit the powerful Seigenthaler family of Nashville
, which controlled the editorial content of the Nashville Tennessean, arguably the state's most influential newspaper
. The Tennessean candidate was John Jay Hooker
, a Nashville attorney
whose lineage included first Chief Justice of the United States
John Jay
, his namesake, and General Joe Hooker
, a Union general in the Civil War
. John Jay Hooker's father, John Jay Hooker, Sr., was one of Nashville's best and most influential lawyers. The Tennessean backing gave Hooker's campaign credibility, as did the considerable fortune of his then-wife Eugenia ("Tish"), an heiress to the former National Life and Accident Insurance Company, which owned, among other Nashville institutions, the famous country music show the "Grand Ole Opry
". Hooker had considerable support in the Nashville business community as well.
Ellington had backers of his own, however. Not only had the roadbuilders remembered their patron, but Ellington was also backed vehemently by the usually Republican Nashville Banner
, the evening rival to the Tennessean, seemingly in part because Hooker was backed by the other paper, but also because he did seem to be the more conservative of the two major candidates. In the end, the August, 1966 Democratic primary was not very close, and Ellington won renomination for another term. No one qualified as a Republican candidate for governor of Tennessee in 1966 (the last time to date that this has occurred), and Ellington easily defeated a group of independent candidates which included two fairly well known East Tennessee Republicans who were independents in name only.
Inaugurated in January, 1967 for his second and final term, Ellington stressed that he would again continue Clement's policies. For the most part, he did so, encouraging road construction and more education spending, which was facilitated by an increase in the sales tax
, among other revenue measures. Ellington had a close friendship with President
Lyndon B. Johnson
, and was a guest at the "LBJ Ranch" in Texas
.
During Selma to Montgomery marches
Governor Ellington played a key role in establish a contact and talks between President Johnson and Governor of Alabama George Wallace
.
By far the most important Tennessee event of Ellington's second term was the assassination
of Martin Luther King, Jr.
in Memphis in April, 1968, where King was assisting with a strike
by sanitation workers. Ellington mobilized the National Guard
to maintain law and order, and there was less disturbance in Memphis than in many other major U.S.
cities. After the end of his second term, he disclaimed any further interests in elective politics. Republican Winfield Dunn
was inaugurated to succeed him in January, 1971, and Ellington died less than two years later. Former President Johnson attended his funeral, and appeared to be in ill health by that point himself. Few Tennesseans were surprised when Johnson himself died just a few months later.
Mississippi
Mississippi is a U.S. state located in the Southern United States. Jackson is the state capital and largest city. The name of the state derives from the Mississippi River, which flows along its western boundary, whose name comes from the Ojibwe word misi-ziibi...
, was the 42nd Governor of Tennessee from 1959 to 1963 and again from 1967 until 1971.
Ellington owned a farm in Verona, Tennessee in Marshall County, near Lewisburg
Lewisburg, Tennessee
Lewisburg is a city in Marshall County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 10,413 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Marshall County...
, the county seat. He first came to statewide prominence as a campaign manager for his predecessor, Frank G. Clement
Frank G. Clement
Frank Goad Clement served as Governor of Tennessee from 1953 to 1959, and again from 1963 to 1967.-Early life:...
, and as a member of his cabinet
Cabinet (government)
A Cabinet is a body of high ranking government officials, typically representing the executive branch. It can also sometimes be referred to as the Council of Ministers, an Executive Council, or an Executive Committee.- Overview :...
.
Ellington was perceived as less progressive
Progressivism
Progressivism is an umbrella term for a political ideology advocating or favoring social, political, and economic reform or changes. Progressivism is often viewed by some conservatives, constitutionalists, and libertarians to be in opposition to conservative or reactionary ideologies.The...
than Clement and more in tune with other Southern
Southern United States
The Southern United States—commonly referred to as the American South, Dixie, or simply the South—constitutes a large distinctive area in the southeastern and south-central United States...
governor
Governor
A governor is a governing official, usually the executive of a non-sovereign level of government, ranking under the head of state...
s of the time, and at first seemed to be a moderate
Moderate
In politics and religion, a moderate is an individual who is not extreme, partisan or radical. In recent years, political moderates has gained traction as a buzzword....
segregationist
Racial segregation
Racial segregation is the separation of humans into racial groups in daily life. It may apply to activities such as eating in a restaurant, drinking from a water fountain, using a public toilet, attending school, going to the movies, or in the rental or purchase of a home...
. He was not, however, a staunch opponent of desegregation
Desegregation
Desegregation is the process of ending the separation of two groups usually referring to races. This is most commonly used in reference to the United States. Desegregation was long a focus of the American Civil Rights Movement, both before and after the United States Supreme Court's decision in...
in the mode of Mississippi
Mississippi
Mississippi is a U.S. state located in the Southern United States. Jackson is the state capital and largest city. The name of the state derives from the Mississippi River, which flows along its western boundary, whose name comes from the Ojibwe word misi-ziibi...
's Ross Barnett
Ross Barnett
Ross Robert Barnett was the governor of Mississippi from 1960 to 1964. He was a States' Rights Democrat.- Early life :...
or Alabama
Alabama
Alabama is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and Mississippi to the west. Alabama ranks 30th in total land area and ranks second in the size of its inland...
's George Wallace
George Wallace
George Corley Wallace, Jr. was the 45th Governor of Alabama, serving four terms: 1963–1967, 1971–1979 and 1983–1987. "The most influential loser" in 20th-century U.S. politics, according to biographers Dan T. Carter and Stephan Lesher, he ran for U.S...
, and did not use or threaten confrontational tactics as they did. His view moderated further and he eventually went on the record as favoring racial integration.
Ellington was a heavy favorite to succeed Clement in the 1958 Democratic primary
Primary election
A primary election is an election in which party members or voters select candidates for a subsequent election. Primary elections are one means by which a political party nominates candidates for the next general election....
, when Clement was unable to succeed himself due to term limit
Term limit
A term limit is a legal restriction that limits the number of terms a person may serve in a particular elected office. When term limits are found in presidential and semi-presidential systems they act as a method to curb the potential for monopoly, where a leader effectively becomes "president for...
legislation which had been amended into the Tennessee state constitution
Constitution
A constitution is a set of fundamental principles or established precedents according to which a state or other organization is governed. These rules together make up, i.e. constitute, what the entity is...
. Ellington won the election of 1958, defeating Judge Andrew Tip Taylor by a mere 8700 votes. (Albert Gore, Sr.
Albert Gore, Sr.
Albert Arnold "Al" Gore, Sr. was an American politician, serving as a U.S. Representative and a U.S. Senator for the Democratic Party from Tennessee....
won renomination for the United States Senate
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
over former governor Prentice Cooper
Prentice Cooper
William Prentice Cooper was an American politician and Governor of Tennessee from 1939 to 1945.-Life and career:A native of Bedford County, Tennessee, he attended Vanderbilt University and then Harvard University...
on the same day.) At this point in Tennessee history, winning the Democratic nomination to statewide office was tantamount to winning the office, as the strength of the Republican Party
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
was almost entirely confined to the eastern third of the state.
Inaugurated governor in January, 1959, Clement's policies seemed to be essentially continued by Ellington's administration. Like Clement, Ellington was very close to the roadbuilding interests, and also favored increased funding for education
Education
Education in its broadest, general sense is the means through which the aims and habits of a group of people lives on from one generation to the next. Generally, it occurs through any experience that has a formative effect on the way one thinks, feels, or acts...
. Slow progress in desegregation continued. Unlike Clement, Ellington was not entirely opposed to the death penalty; as a result, the last execution for forty years in Tennessee took place during his first term as governor.
It had long been apparent that just as Clement had supported Ellington as his successor in 1958, Ellington was prepared to do likewise for Clement in 1962, and Clement easily won the Democratic nomination and subsequent election. Ellington remained active in Democratic circles, and it was to the surprise of very few observers that he began in 1965 to position himself for another run for the governorship.
The path was not as easy in 1966 as it had been in 1958. Ellington was insufficiently progressive to suit the powerful Seigenthaler family of Nashville
Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville is the capital of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat of Davidson County. It is located on the Cumberland River in Davidson County, in the north-central part of the state. The city is a center for the health care, publishing, banking and transportation industries, and is home...
, which controlled the editorial content of the Nashville Tennessean, arguably the state's most influential newspaper
Newspaper
A newspaper is a scheduled publication containing news of current events, informative articles, diverse features and advertising. It usually is printed on relatively inexpensive, low-grade paper such as newsprint. By 2007, there were 6580 daily newspapers in the world selling 395 million copies a...
. The Tennessean candidate was John Jay Hooker
John Jay Hooker
John Jay Hooker, Jr. is a Nashville, Tennessee attorney, entrepreneur, perennial candidate and political gadfly.- Early life :John Jay Hooker was born to relative wealth and privilege in one of the Nashville area's more prominent families...
, a Nashville attorney
Lawyer
A lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person who is practicing law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain the stability of political...
whose lineage included first Chief Justice of the United States
Chief Justice of the United States
The Chief Justice of the United States is the head of the United States federal court system and the chief judge of the Supreme Court of the United States. The Chief Justice is one of nine Supreme Court justices; the other eight are the Associate Justices of the Supreme Court of the United States...
John Jay
John Jay
John Jay was an American politician, statesman, revolutionary, diplomat, a Founding Father of the United States, and the first Chief Justice of the United States ....
, his namesake, and General Joe Hooker
Joe Hooker
Joe Hooker may refer to:* Joseph Hooker, U.S. Army officer and major general in the Union Army during the American Civil War.* Harve Pierre, also known as Joe Hooker, record producer, writer and singer & Vice-President of Bad Boy Records...
, a Union general in the Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
. John Jay Hooker's father, John Jay Hooker, Sr., was one of Nashville's best and most influential lawyers. The Tennessean backing gave Hooker's campaign credibility, as did the considerable fortune of his then-wife Eugenia ("Tish"), an heiress to the former National Life and Accident Insurance Company, which owned, among other Nashville institutions, the famous country music show the "Grand Ole Opry
Grand Ole Opry
The Grand Ole Opry is a weekly country music stage concert in Nashville, Tennessee, that has presented the biggest stars of that genre since 1925. It is also among the longest-running broadcasts in history since its beginnings as a one-hour radio "barn dance" on WSM-AM...
". Hooker had considerable support in the Nashville business community as well.
Ellington had backers of his own, however. Not only had the roadbuilders remembered their patron, but Ellington was also backed vehemently by the usually Republican Nashville Banner
Nashville Banner
The Nashville Banner is a defunct daily newspaper of Nashville, Tennessee, United States, which published from April 10, 1876 until February 20, 1998...
, the evening rival to the Tennessean, seemingly in part because Hooker was backed by the other paper, but also because he did seem to be the more conservative of the two major candidates. In the end, the August, 1966 Democratic primary was not very close, and Ellington won renomination for another term. No one qualified as a Republican candidate for governor of Tennessee in 1966 (the last time to date that this has occurred), and Ellington easily defeated a group of independent candidates which included two fairly well known East Tennessee Republicans who were independents in name only.
Inaugurated in January, 1967 for his second and final term, Ellington stressed that he would again continue Clement's policies. For the most part, he did so, encouraging road construction and more education spending, which was facilitated by an increase in the sales tax
Sales tax
A sales tax is a tax, usually paid by the consumer at the point of purchase, itemized separately from the base price, for certain goods and services. The tax amount is usually calculated by applying a percentage rate to the taxable price of a sale....
, among other revenue measures. Ellington had a close friendship with President
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
Lyndon B. Johnson
Lyndon B. Johnson
Lyndon Baines Johnson , often referred to as LBJ, was the 36th President of the United States after his service as the 37th Vice President of the United States...
, and was a guest at the "LBJ Ranch" in Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
.
During Selma to Montgomery marches
Selma to Montgomery marches
The Selma to Montgomery marches were three marches in 1965 that marked the political and emotional peak of the American civil rights movement. They grew out of the voting rights movement in Selma, Alabama, launched by local African-Americans who formed the Dallas County Voters League...
Governor Ellington played a key role in establish a contact and talks between President Johnson and Governor of Alabama George Wallace
George Wallace
George Corley Wallace, Jr. was the 45th Governor of Alabama, serving four terms: 1963–1967, 1971–1979 and 1983–1987. "The most influential loser" in 20th-century U.S. politics, according to biographers Dan T. Carter and Stephan Lesher, he ran for U.S...
.
By far the most important Tennessee event of Ellington's second term was the assassination
Assassination
To carry out an assassination is "to murder by a sudden and/or secret attack, often for political reasons." Alternatively, assassination may be defined as "the act of deliberately killing someone, especially a public figure, usually for hire or for political reasons."An assassination may be...
of Martin Luther King, Jr.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Martin Luther King, Jr. was an American clergyman, activist, and prominent leader in the African-American Civil Rights Movement. He is best known for being an iconic figure in the advancement of civil rights in the United States and around the world, using nonviolent methods following the...
in Memphis in April, 1968, where King was assisting with a strike
Strike action
Strike action, also called labour strike, on strike, greve , or simply strike, is a work stoppage caused by the mass refusal of employees to work. A strike usually takes place in response to employee grievances. Strikes became important during the industrial revolution, when mass labour became...
by sanitation workers. Ellington mobilized the National Guard
United States National Guard
The National Guard of the United States is a reserve military force composed of state National Guard militia members or units under federally recognized active or inactive armed force service for the United States. Militia members are citizen soldiers, meaning they work part time for the National...
to maintain law and order, and there was less disturbance in Memphis than in many other major U.S.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
cities. After the end of his second term, he disclaimed any further interests in elective politics. Republican Winfield Dunn
Winfield Dunn
Bryant Winfield Culberson Dunn was the 43rd Governor of Tennessee, from 1971 to 1975.-Biography:Dunn was born in Meridian, Mississippi. He graduated from the University of Mississippi in 1950 with a B.B.A., and from the University of Tennessee Medical Units in Memphis in 1955 with a D.D.S. Dunn...
was inaugurated to succeed him in January, 1971, and Ellington died less than two years later. Former President Johnson attended his funeral, and appeared to be in ill health by that point himself. Few Tennesseans were surprised when Johnson himself died just a few months later.