Herman Talmadge

Infobox Senator |name=Herman Eugene Talmadge
nationality=American


jr/sr=United States Senator
state=Georgia
party=Democratic
term=January 3, 1957 – January 3, 1981
preceded=Walter F. George
succeeded=Mack F. Mattingly
date of birth=birth date|1913|8|9|mf=y
place of birth=McRae, Georgia
dead=dead
date of death=death date and age |2002|03|21|1913|08|09
place of death=Hampton, Georgia
3rd spouse=Lynda Cowart Pierce

Herman Eugene Talmadge (August 9, 1913 – March 21, 2002) was an American politician who served as Governor of the U.S. state of Georgia and who was also known as the segregationist Governor of Georgia briefly in 1947 and again from 1948 to 1955, and as a U.S. Senator from 1957 until 1981.

Talmadge was born in McRae, Georgia, the only son of Eugene Talmadge, who served as Governor of Georgia during much of the 1930s and '40s. He earned a law degree from the University of Georgia in 1936, where he had been a member of the Demosthenian Literary Society and Sigma Nu fraternity.

The younger Talmadge saw combat in the United States Navy during World War II. On his return from the South Pacific as a lieutenant commander, Herman ran his father's successful campaign for governor in 1946. Supporters of Eugene Talmadge were unsure of Eugene's chances of surviving until he was sworn in, so they did some research into the state constitution and found that if Eugene died, the Georgia state legislature would choose between the second and third place finishers. The elder Talmadge ran unopposed, so they arranged for write-in votes for Herman as insurance. In December 1946, the elder Talmadge died.

Supporters of the deceased governor stopped a challenge from the new Lieutenant Governor, Melvin E. Thompson. Thompson claimed that he should succeed Eugene Talmadge. The Georgia legislature elected Herman Talmadge to become Governor. Thompson appealed to the State supreme court. Meanwhile, Governor Ellis Arnall refused to turn over power due to the uncertainty of whom the next Governor would be, so on January 15, 1947, both men sat in the state Capitol claiming to be the Governor. The next day, Talmadge took control of the Governor's office and arranged to have the locks changed. Arnall soon relinquished his claim and supported Thompson's claim.

Soon afterwards, the Georgia Supreme Court ruled that the legislature had violated the State Constitution by electing Talmadge governor and that Thompson was the legitimate Governor of Georgia. Talmadge soon gave in to the court decision and prepared for the special election in 1948, in which Talmadge defeated Governor Thompson. Talmadge was then elected to a full term in 1950. During his terms, Talmadge encouraged industry to move into Georgia while he was also a staunch supporter of segregation.

Talmadge was barred by law from seeking another full term as Governor in 1954. He was elected to the United States Senate in 1956. That same year, a "faithless elector" from Alabama cast a single Electoral College vote for Talmadge as Vice-President of the United States. During his time as U.S. Senator, Talmadge remained a foe of civil rights legislation as a Senator, sponsored bills to help farmers, an important constituency, and served on the Senate Watergate Committee.

On October 11, 1979, Talmadge was denounced by an 81-15 vote of the Senate for "improper financial conduct" between 1973 and 1978 after accepting reimbursements of $43,435.83 for official expenses not incurred, and for improper reporting of such as campaign expenditures. [cite web
url=http://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/common/briefing/Expulsion_Censure.htm
title=Expulsion and Censure
publisher=United States Senate
accessdaymonth = 31 May |accessyear=2006 ]

Talmadge also went through a divorce and a tough primary challenge from Zell Miller in 1980. Talmadge defeated Miller but lost to Mack Mattingly in the general election, making Mattingly the first Republican to represent Georgia in the Senate since Reconstruction.

After his defeat, Talmadge retired to his home where he died at the age of 88. Talmadge fathered two sons, Herman E. Talmadge Jr. and Robert Shingler Talmadge.

External links

* [http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/nge/Article.jsp?id=h-590 New Georgia Encyclopedia Article]
* [http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=T000035 Biographic sketch at U.S. Congress website]
*Three-part oral history interview [http://docsouth.unc.edu/sohp/A-331-01/menu.html] , [http://docsouth.unc.edu/sohp/A-331-02/menu.html] , [http://docsouth.unc.edu/sohp/A-331-03/menu.html] , by Jack Nelson, July-December 1975 (Southern Oral History Program, UNC-Chapel Hill)
* [http://docsouth.unc.edu/sohp/A-347/menu.html Oral history interview] by John Egerton, November 1990 (Southern Oral History Program, UNC-Chapel Hill)
*Oral History Interviews, 1985-1995. Georgia's Political Heritage Program, (University of West Georgia. Carrollton,Ga.)

References