The "Wreck of the Tennessee Gravy Train" is a folk song about politicians and bank failure

Bank failure

A bank failure occurs when a bank is unable to meet its obligations to its depositors or other creditors because it has become insolvent or too illiquid to meet its liabilities. More specifically, a bank usually fails economically when the market value of its assets declines to a value that is...

s. It is based on a true incident in Tennessee

Tennessee

Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...

 in 1930. After a scandal involving awarding contracts without bids, Henry Horton was re-elected governor of Tennessee. The Caldwell Company Bank collapsed soon afterward, leaving the state 6 million dollars in debt. An impeachment

Impeachment

Impeachment is a formal process in which an official is accused of unlawful activity, the outcome of which, depending on the country, may include the removal of that official from office as well as other punishment....

 attempt against Horton was unsuccessful, but he did not run for an additional term. The affair also ruined the career of Senator Luke Lea

Luke Lea (1879–1945)

Luke Lea was a Democratic United States Senator from Tennessee from 1911 to 1917.-Biography:Lea was the great-grandson of an earlier Luke Lea who was a two-term Congressman from Tennessee in the 1830s...

.