Ned Ray McWherter

Ned Ray McWherter (October 15, 1930 – April 4, 2011) was an American businessman and politician who served as the 46th Governor of Tennessee, from 1987 to 1995.

In the early 1940s, his family moved to Ypsilanti, Michigan, where his father worked in wartime factories.

In May 1945, the family moved to Dresden, Tennessee, where McWherter's parents purchased the City Cafe, which they would operate for several years.

McWherter attended Dresden High School, where he was co-captain of the football team and president of the school's Future Farmers of America chapter.

After graduating, he attempted to play college football, first at the University of Tennessee at Martin, and then at the University of Memphis, and finally at Murray State, but he suffered a knee injury prior to each season at all three schools.

His college athletic career cut short, McWherter joined the Martin Shoe Company as a salesman.

When the company's line of sandals struggled against competition from cheaper Japanese imports, McWherter travelled throughout the Caribbean and Central America in an attempt to find retailers, eventually finding a market for the sandals in Puerto Rico.

McWherter served for 21 years (1947–1968) in the Tennessee National Guard before retiring with the rank of captain.

He was a member of the United Methodist Church.

McWherter became actively involved in politics in the late 1950s, when he worked for the successful campaign of 8th district congressional candidate, Robert "Fats" Everett.

In 1964, McWherter founded Volunteer Distributing to distribute Anheuser-Busch beer in the Weakley area.

Two years later, he opened Dresden's first nursing home.

In 1968, Doug Murphy, the Mayor of Martin, convinced him to run for Weakley County's seat in the Tennessee House of Representatives.

McWherter won the seat without opposition.

He was reelected to the seat eight times, usually running unopposed.

McWherter entered the House of Representatives at a turbulent time in state politics.

During his first term, Republicans controlled the House for the first time in several decades.

During his second (1971–1973), Democrats regained control of the House, but a Republican governor, Winfield Dunn, had been elected.

To counter Dunn, Democrats chose fiery Nashville attorney James McKinney as Speaker of the House.

McKinney vehemently opposed Dunn's initiatives and refused to consider most of his legislation.

Prior to that, he served as Speaker of the Tennessee House of Representatives from 1973 to 1987, the longest tenure as Speaker up to that time.

McWherter was born in Palmersville, Weakley County, Tennessee, the son of Harmon Ray McWherter, a sharecropper, and Lucille (Smith) McWherter.

He grew up in the Little Zion community near Palmersville, where he attended a one-room schoolhouse.

At the beginning of McWherter's third term (1973–1975), Democratic legislators, who controlled the House by a slim 50–49 margin, were concerned that McKinney's stubbornness was preventing the state from conducting its affairs, and several suggested replacing McKinney with McWherter.

In the House Democratic Caucus, McWherter was chosen over McKinney as the party's choice for Speaker by a single vote.

Sensing disunity among Democrats, Governor Dunn tried to convince disgruntled McKinney supporters to vote for a Republican in the full House vote, but was unsuccessful, and McWherter was elected Speaker by a 50–49 margin.

One of McWherter's first major issues as Speaker was a 1974 bill that sought to establish a medical school at East Tennessee State University in Johnson City.

The bill was popular in East Tennessee, parts of which were struggling with a low doctors-per-capita ratio.

Governor Dunn, however, vetoed the bill, arguing the medical school in Memphis was adequate for the state's needs.

This sparked cries of favoritism from East Tennesseans (Dunn was from Memphis).

After the state senate voted to override the veto, McWherter, brushing off a threat from former Memphis mayor Henry Loeb, led the House in overriding the veto, allowing the bill to become law.

In 1976, McWherter supported Democratic presidential candidate Jimmy Carter.

At a Carter campaign event in Memphis, McWherter expressed irritation with an ABC cameraman, prompting reporter Sam Donaldson to tell the cameraman, "don't mind him, he's a nobody."

Years later, when President Ronald Reagan was scheduled to appear before the Tennessee General Assembly, McWherter removed Donaldson's name from the media credentials list.

When Donaldson showed up at the state capitol, he was denied admission by the House sergeant-at-arms.

After issuing a string of profanities, Donaldson stormed out of the building and returned to Washington.

In January 1979, outgoing Governor Ray Blanton issued pardons to over 50 state inmates, including several convicted murderers.

His administration had been under investigation for selling pardons, and the FBI and state lawmakers feared more illicit pardons would be issued in his final days in office.

When Dunn ran for another term as governor in 1986, his lack of support for the medical school in Johnson City came back to haunt him.

Despite an overwhelming Republican base in the eastern part of the state, McWherter was able to gain the support of Republican Congressman James H. Quillen to pick up a majority of votes in the state's First Congressional District.