Herman Talmadge

Herman Eugene Talmadge (August 9, 1913 – March 21, 2002) was an American politician who served as governor of Georgia in 1947 and from 1948 to 1955 and as a U.S. senator from Georgia from 1957 to 1981.

A Democrat, Talmadge served during a time of political transition, both in Georgia and nationally.

He began his career as a staunch segregationist known for his opposition to civil rights, ordering schools to be closed rather than desegregated.

But by the later stages of his career, following the enactment of the Voting Rights Act, which gave substance to the Fifteenth Amendment enacted nearly one hundred years before, Talmadge, like many other Southern politicians of that period, had modified his views.

His life eventually encapsulated the emergence of his native Georgia from entrenched white supremacy into a political culture where white voters regularly elect black members of Congress.

Herman Talmadge was born on August 9, 1913, on a farm near the small town of McRae in Telfair County in southeastern Georgia.

Herman attended public schools in Telfair County until his senior year of high school, when his family moved to Atlanta and he enrolled at Druid Hills High School, graduating in 1931.

In the fall of 1931, he entered the University of Georgia for his undergraduate degree and was a member of the Demosthenian Literary Society and Sigma Nu fraternity.

After completing his undergraduate studies, Talmadge enrolled in the University of Georgia School of Law.

He received his law degree in 1936 and joined his father's law practice.

In 1937, Talmadge married Katherine Williamson.

The marriage ended in divorce after three years.

In 1941, he married Betty Shingler, and they had two sons, Herman Eugene Jr. and Robert Shingler.

When World War II broke out, Talmadge volunteered to serve in the United States Navy.

He served as an ensign with the Sixth Naval District at Charleston, and with the Third Naval District in New York after graduating from midshipman's school at Northwestern University.

In 1942, Talmadge participated in the invasion of Guadalcanal aboard the USS Tryon.

He served as flag secretary to the commandant of naval forces in New Zealand from June 1943 to April 1944 and then as executive officer of the USS Dauphin (APA-97).

Talmadge participated in the battle of Okinawa and was present in Tokyo Bay for the Japanese surrender.

He attained the rank of lieutenant commander and was discharged in November 1945.

After his service in World War II, Talmadge returned to his home in Lovejoy, Georgia.

While continuing to practice law and to farm, he took over publishing his father's weekly newspaper, The Statesman, and started a ham-curing business.

After returning from the war, Talmadge became active in Democratic Party politics.

When his father, Eugene Talmadge, won the 1946 Georgia gubernatorial election but died before taking office, Herman Talmadge asserted claims to be the 70th governor of Georgia, in what is known as the three governors controversy.

He ran his father's successful 1946 campaign for governor.

Eugene Talmadge had been ill, and his supporters were worried about his surviving long enough to be sworn in.

They studied the state constitution and found that if the governor-elect died before his term began, the Georgia General Assembly would choose between the second and third-place finishers.

The elder Talmadge ran unopposed among Democrats, so the party officials arranged for write-in votes for Herman Talmadge as insurance.

In December 1946, Eugene Talmadge died before taking office.

Melvin E. Thompson, the lieutenant governor-elect; Ellis Arnall, the sitting governor; and Herman Talmadge all arranged to be sworn in and concurrently tried to conduct state business from the Georgia State Capitol.

Talmadge occupied the governor's office from January until March 1947, before yielding to a court decision in favor of Melvin E. Thompson, the elected lieutenant governor.

In 1948, a special election was held to determine who would finish the term; Talmadge defeated Thompson by over 6%.

He was the only son of Eugene Talmadge and his wife, Mattie (Thurmond), and through his mother, he was a second cousin of South Carolina Senator and 1948 Dixiecrat presidential candidate Strom Thurmond.

He was reelected to a full term in 1950 by defeating Thompson again in a closer race.

Talmadge then served as governor until the end of his term in 1955.

Talmadge, who became governor as a political novice at age 33, supported the passage of a statewide sales tax and the construction of new schools.

He also supported infrastructure improvements and increased teachers' salaries.

While he remains a controversial figure in Georgia history, especially due to his opposition to civil rights, some Georgians praise his infrastructure improvements brought about by the passage of the sales tax.

In the Senate, Talmadge was prominently a member of the Senate Agriculture Committee and later the Select Committee on Presidential Campaign Activities (better known as the Senate Watergate Committee).

As chairman of the Agriculture Committee, he oversaw the passing of several major pieces of legislation, including the expansion of the Child Nutrition Act and the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act of 1972, the first major legislation dealing with rural development since the Rural Electrification Act of 1936.

The Senate later denounced Talmadge for financial irregularities revealed during his divorce from his second wife; this, along with Georgia's changing demographics, led to his defeat by Republican Mack Mattingly in his 1980 reelection campaign.