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  McWherter, Ned
CANDIDATE DETAILS
AffiliationDemocratic  
 
NameNed McWherter
Address
Waverly, Tennessee , United States
EmailNone
WebsiteNone
Born October 15, 1930
DiedApril 04, 2011 (80 years)
ContributorKarma Policeman
Last ModifedRBH
Sep 06, 2015 03:20am
Tags Widowed -
InfoNed Ray McWherter (born October 15, 1930) is an American politician who served as the 46th Governor of Tennessee from 1987 to 1995. He is a Democrat.

McWherter was born in Palmersville, in Tennessee's northwest corner. He began his political career in 1968 when he won a seat to the Tennessee House of Representatives from Weakley County. After only serving two terms in the General Assembly, he was elected Speaker of the House. He held this position for 14 years, longer than anyone in Tennessee history at that time. During his time in the legislature, he served in the following areas: State Building Commission Joint Fiscal Review Committee, the Council on Pensions and Retirement, the Tennessee Agricultural and Industrial Development Commission and the State Agri-Industries Board. He was also the chairman of the House Calendar and Rules Committee, the House Finance, Ways, and Means Committee and the House General Welfare Committee.

In 1986, he won a spirited primary over Public Service Commissioner Jane Eskind and Nashville mayor Richard Fulton for the Democratic nomination for governor. He faced former Republican governor Winfield Dunn in what was initially considered one of the hotter races of the 1986 cycle. However, Dunn's campaign stalled because 1st District Congressman Jimmy Quillen, the de facto leader of the Republican Party in East Tennessee, refused to support Dunn and encouraged several prominent East Tennessee Republicans to withhold their support as well. Quillen had never forgiven Dunn for his opposition to a medical school at East Tennessee State University. Without significant support in East Tennessee, Dunn had virtually no chance against McWherter in November. He was only able to hold McWherter's victory margin to just under nine points due to strong support from his former base in Memphis. While several former state House speakers have risen to the governorship, McWherter is the only person to hold that post right up to the time he was elected governor.

McWherter set an example of progressive and honest leadership by insisting all formal governmental proceedings be open to the public and press, implementing the spirit, as well as the letter, of the "sunshine law" he had helped to author and sponsor while a member of the House. He had opened doors to minority groups in Tennessee as Speaker by appointing the first black committee chairmen in Southern history and assisted women into influential leadership roles in the legislature. His "21st Century Schools" education reform program launched similar programs in other states and his replacement of the Medicaid program with the current TennCare system gained national attention. As governor, he also served nationally and local on councils and committees including the board of governors, Council of State Governments, the Executive Committees of the Southern Conference, the Weakley County Head Start Program and the Executive Committee of the Northwest Tennessee Economic Development District.

He was overwhelmingly re-elected to a second term in 1990, carrying approximately two-thirds of the vote over the essentially token candidacy of the Republican nominee, first-term state representative Dwight Henry. (Many prominent Tennessee Republicans actually supported McWherter for re-election, some tacitly, others fairly openly.) A tax study commission appointed during his first term reported at the beginning of his second, recommending a state income tax be implemented. McWherter seemed to understand how unpopular this idea was with the average Tennessee voter, and after giving it a few weeks of lukewarm support, the idea was dropped entirely, not to resurface again during his time as governor.

During McWherter's second term, Senator Al Gore was elected Vice President, thus creating a vacancy in the Senate. McWherter appointed his Chief of Staff, Harlan Matthews, to serve as U.S. Senator until the 1994 election.

McWherter would have easily won a third term if he had been permitted to run for one by the Tennessee constitution; when asked about this, he stated that he would not have run for another term even if it had been permissible. Following the end of his second term as governor in 1995, McWherter was appointed to the Board of Governors of the United States Postal Service by President Bill Clinton. McWherter still lives in Tennessee, where he is still very active in the Tennessee Democratic Party. He owns several nursing homes and a beer distributorship. He is a member of the United Methodist Church and served for 21 years in the Tennessee National Guard before retiring with the rank of captain.

McWherter was married to the late Bette Jean Beck McWherter and is the father of two children. His son Michael Ray McWherter is a businessman in Dresden, Tennessee, and his daughter Linda Ramsey is a doctor of physical education at the University of Tennessee at Martin.

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Date Category Headline Article Contributor
Apr 04, 2011 03:50pm Obituary Ned McWherter, former governor, House speaker, dies  Article Servo 

DISCUSSION
Importance? 7.50000 Average

FAMILY
Son Mike McWherter 0000-

INFORMATION LINKS
Tennessee Encyclopedia  Discuss
RACES
  09/29/1995 Governor of the United States Postal Service Won 100.00% (+100.00%)
  11/06/1990 TN Governor Won 60.84% (+24.22%)
  11/04/1986 TN Governor Won 54.26% (+8.52%)
  08/07/1986 TN Governor - D Primary Won 42.47% (+12.01%)
  01/08/1985 TN Speaker of the House Won 100.00% (+100.00%)
  01/11/1983 TN Speaker of the House Won 100.00% (+100.00%)
  01/13/1981 TN Speaker of the House Won 100.00% (+100.00%)
ENDORSEMENTS
TN US President - D Primary - Feb 05, 2008 D Hillary Clinton