Bob Clement
Encyclopedia
Robert Nelson "Bob" Clement (born September 23, 1943 in Nashville, Tennessee
) is a Tennessee
politician
and a member of the Democratic Party
.
. During his father's third run for governor in 1962, Bob joined his father on the campaign trail, often making speeches when his father developed throat trouble.
Clement graduated from Hillsboro High School
in Nashville. He went on to attend the University of Tennessee
, graduating in 1967. He served in the National Guard
from 1969 to 1971 and also served in the reserves until 2001, retiring as a colonel.
Clement considered buying a telephone
company while still at UT, but his father refused to lend him the money. However, he did learn quite a bit about the Tennessee Public Service Commission
, which regulated phone companies and other utilities. He wanted to get a job on the commission's staff, but chairman Hammond Fowler kept blowing off his requests. When Fowler, who held the East Tennessee
seat on the commission, ran for a fourth six-year term in 1972, Clement ran against him in the Democratic primary. Bolstered in part by a televised
debate
in which he appeared to be young and vibrant while Fowler appeared to be old and doddering, Clement won by an incredible 3-to-1 margin — the most lopsided defeat of a statewide incumbent in Tennessee history. He overwhelmed Republican
nominee Tom Garland in the general election what was otherwise largely a very good year for Republicans in Tennessee (and nationwide) running for major offices. (No Republican was ever elected to the Public Service Commission in Tennessee during its existence, which later played a factor in its abolition more than 20 years later.) At 32, he was (and still is) the youngest person ever elected to statewide office in Tennessee history.
In 1978, Clement announced he would run for the Democratic nomination for governor. He ran second in the primary behind Knoxville
banker Jake Butcher
, who had finished second in the Democratic gubernatorial primary four years previously and who had a level of name recognition roughly equal to Clement and, additionally, greater financial resources.
In 1979, President
Jimmy Carter
tapped him for an unexpired term on the Board of Directors
of the Tennessee Valley Authority
. He tried to stop the overbuilding of nuclear reactors in the TVA service area; later telling The (Nashville) Tennessean
that the agency was trying to pay for the projects by raising rates when there was plenty of power available. He stepped down in 1981.
, who was leaving it to run against Senator
Jim Sasser
, and had been renumbered from the 6th in redistricting. Clement won the Democratic nomination, but lost the general election
to Don Sundquist
, a businessman from Memphis
who would later become a two-term governor. It was the first (and as of the 2010 elections, only) time that a Democrat had come within single digits in the 7th District and its predecessors since it fell into Republican hands in 1972. Clement said years later that he'd made a mistake by trying to run the same kind of campaign that his father had in his glory days.
Temporarily out of politics, Clement remained active in Democratic circles. He also had a large network of contacts through his ongoing service in the National Guard. In 1983, Clement became president
of Cumberland College
, a struggling private junior college
in Lebanon
, 30 miles south of Nashville. Cumberland had once been one of the most prestigious universities
in the South, but had fallen upon hard times, never fully recovering from the Great Depression
and the widespread availability of lower-cost public higher education after World War II
. The nadir probably occurred when it was forced, for financial reasons, to sell its once-renowned law school
(which Clement's father had attended) to what is now Samford University
in Birmingham
and downgrade to a junior college. During Clement's tenure, the school regained four-year college
, and shortly later, full university status. He also tripled the school's private donations.
In 1987, 5th District Congressman Bill Boner
left his House seat to become mayor of Nashville. Clement, who had moved to Nashville by this time, resigned as president of Cumberland on August 22 to run in the Democratic primary for the balance of Boner's term. He won the nomination over a crowded field, including most prominently Phil Bredesen
, future mayor of Nashville and two-term governor of Tennessee, who finished second. As the Republicans had long since lost interest in a seat they hadn't won since 1875 (Democrats have faced only token opposition since 1972), Clement's victory in the special election of January 19, 1988 was a foregone conclusion. He took office that night, as soon as the results were certified. He was unopposed for a full term in November even as George H. W. Bush
became only the second (and as it turned out, last) Republican to carry Nashville in a presidential election. He was reelected six times with no substantive opposition.
Despite representing one of the most Democratic districts in the country, Clement had a reputation for working across party lines. This nonpartisan style dated back to his first campaign for the Public Service Commission.
On October 10, 2002, Bob Clement was among the 81 House Democrats who voted in favor of authorizing the invasion of Iraq
.
In 2002, when Republican Senator Fred Thompson stated that he had changed his mind regarding his previous announcement that he would run for a second full term, Clement entered the Democratic primary
for Thompson's seat. He won the nomination easily, but was defeated in the November general election by former governor Lamar Alexander
. Clement was succeeded in the House by former Congressman Jim Cooper
, who too is a son of a former Tennessee governor.
for a possible run for mayor of Metropolitan Nashville/Davidson County in 2007. His supporters launched a campaign Web site well before his official announcement. Clement finished second in a crowded field including five major candidates, where the top three candidates finished only a few hundred votes apart. Clement faced former Metropolitan Nashville/Davidson County law department director Karl Dean
in a runoff election on September 11, 2007.
Clement lost the election to Dean by a 52% (51,946) to 48% (47,347) margin.
Clement stated after the results were tallied that he has no plans to run for public office in the future.
Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville is the capital of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat of Davidson County. It is located on the Cumberland River in Davidson County, in the north-central part of the state. The city is a center for the health care, publishing, banking and transportation industries, and is home...
) is a 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...
politician
Politician
A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...
and a member of the Democratic Party
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
.
Early life
Clement is the son of former Governor Frank G. ClementFrank G. Clement
Frank Goad Clement served as Governor of Tennessee from 1953 to 1959, and again from 1963 to 1967.-Early life:...
. During his father's third run for governor in 1962, Bob joined his father on the campaign trail, often making speeches when his father developed throat trouble.
Clement graduated from Hillsboro High School
Hillsboro Comprehensive High School
Hillsboro High School is a comprehensive high school in Nashville, Tennessee. Established in 1939, the school is one of fifteen high schools in Metropolitan Nashville Public Schools. The school offers the IB Diploma Programme.-History:...
in Nashville. He went on to attend the University of Tennessee
University of Tennessee
The University of Tennessee is a public land-grant university headquartered at Knoxville, Tennessee, United States...
, graduating in 1967. He served in the National Guard
United States National Guard
The National Guard of the United States is a reserve military force composed of state National Guard militia members or units under federally recognized active or inactive armed force service for the United States. Militia members are citizen soldiers, meaning they work part time for the National...
from 1969 to 1971 and also served in the reserves until 2001, retiring as a colonel.
Clement considered buying a telephone
Telephone
The telephone , colloquially referred to as a phone, is a telecommunications device that transmits and receives sounds, usually the human voice. Telephones are a point-to-point communication system whose most basic function is to allow two people separated by large distances to talk to each other...
company while still at UT, but his father refused to lend him the money. However, he did learn quite a bit about the Tennessee Public Service Commission
Tennessee Public Service Commission
The Tennessee Public Service Commission, also called Tennessee Railroad and Public Utilities Commission, was a three-member elected body which regulated private utilities, trucking firms, and railroads within the state of Tennessee...
, which regulated phone companies and other utilities. He wanted to get a job on the commission's staff, but chairman Hammond Fowler kept blowing off his requests. When Fowler, who held the East Tennessee
East Tennessee
East Tennessee is a name given to approximately the eastern third of the U.S. state of Tennessee, one of the three Grand Divisions of Tennessee defined in state law. East Tennessee consists of 33 counties, 30 located within the Eastern Time Zone and three counties in the Central Time Zone, namely...
seat on the commission, ran for a fourth six-year term in 1972, Clement ran against him in the Democratic primary. Bolstered in part by a televised
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
debate
Debate
Debate or debating is a method of interactive and representational argument. Debate is a broader form of argument than logical argument, which only examines consistency from axiom, and factual argument, which only examines what is or isn't the case or rhetoric which is a technique of persuasion...
in which he appeared to be young and vibrant while Fowler appeared to be old and doddering, Clement won by an incredible 3-to-1 margin — the most lopsided defeat of a statewide incumbent in Tennessee history. He overwhelmed Republican
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
nominee Tom Garland in the general election what was otherwise largely a very good year for Republicans in Tennessee (and nationwide) running for major offices. (No Republican was ever elected to the Public Service Commission in Tennessee during its existence, which later played a factor in its abolition more than 20 years later.) At 32, he was (and still is) the youngest person ever elected to statewide office in Tennessee history.
In 1978, Clement announced he would run for the Democratic nomination for governor. He ran second in the primary behind Knoxville
Knoxville, Tennessee
Founded in 1786, Knoxville is the third-largest city in the U.S. state of Tennessee, U.S.A., behind Memphis and Nashville, and is the county seat of Knox County. It is the largest city in East Tennessee, and the second-largest city in the Appalachia region...
banker Jake Butcher
Jake Butcher
Jacob Franklin "Jake" Butcher was a U.S. banker and politician who built a financial empire in East Tennessee, was the Democratic Party nominee for governor of Tennessee in 1978 and the primary promoter of the 1982 World's Fair in Knoxville, Tennessee, and who lost his business and his personal...
, who had finished second in the Democratic gubernatorial primary four years previously and who had a level of name recognition roughly equal to Clement and, additionally, greater financial resources.
In 1979, President
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
Jimmy Carter
Jimmy Carter
James Earl "Jimmy" Carter, Jr. is an American politician who served as the 39th President of the United States and was the recipient of the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize, the only U.S. President to have received the Prize after leaving office...
tapped him for an unexpired term on the Board of Directors
Board of directors
A board of directors is a body of elected or appointed members who jointly oversee the activities of a company or organization. Other names include board of governors, board of managers, board of regents, board of trustees, and board of visitors...
of the Tennessee Valley Authority
Tennessee Valley Authority
The Tennessee Valley Authority is a federally owned corporation in the United States created by congressional charter in May 1933 to provide navigation, flood control, electricity generation, fertilizer manufacturing, and economic development in the Tennessee Valley, a region particularly affected...
. He tried to stop the overbuilding of nuclear reactors in the TVA service area; later telling The (Nashville) Tennessean
The Tennessean
The Tennessean is the principal daily newspaper in Nashville, Tennessee, USA. Its circulation area covers 39 counties in Middle Tennessee and eight counties in southern Kentucky....
that the agency was trying to pay for the projects by raising rates when there was plenty of power available. He stepped down in 1981.
Success, failure, success
In 1982, Clement announced his candidacy for the 7th Congressional District, his family's home district. The seat was being vacated by five-term incumbent Republican Robin BeardRobin Beard
Robin Leo Beard, Jr. was a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives from Tennessee who served from 1973 to 1983.-Early life:...
, who was leaving it to run against Senator
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
Jim Sasser
Jim Sasser
James Ralph "Jim" Sasser is an American politician and attorney. A Democrat, Sasser served three terms as a United States Senator from Tennessee and was Chairman of the Senate Budget Committee...
, and had been renumbered from the 6th in redistricting. Clement won the Democratic nomination, but lost the general election
General election
In a parliamentary political system, a general election is an election in which all or most members of a given political body are chosen. The term is usually used to refer to elections held for a nation's primary legislative body, as distinguished from by-elections and local elections.The term...
to Don Sundquist
Don Sundquist
Donald Kenneth Sundquist is a former governor and congressman from Tennessee. A Republican, he served as the 47th Governor of Tennessee from 1995 to 2003...
, a businessman from Memphis
Memphis, Tennessee
Memphis is a city in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Tennessee, and the county seat of Shelby County. The city is located on the 4th Chickasaw Bluff, south of the confluence of the Wolf and Mississippi rivers....
who would later become a two-term governor. It was the first (and as of the 2010 elections, only) time that a Democrat had come within single digits in the 7th District and its predecessors since it fell into Republican hands in 1972. Clement said years later that he'd made a mistake by trying to run the same kind of campaign that his father had in his glory days.
Temporarily out of politics, Clement remained active in Democratic circles. He also had a large network of contacts through his ongoing service in the National Guard. In 1983, Clement became president
President
A president is a leader of an organization, company, trade union, university, or country.Etymologically, a president is one who presides, who sits in leadership...
of Cumberland College
Cumberland University
Cumberland University is a private university in Lebanon, Tennessee, United States. It was founded in 1842, though the current campus buildings were constructed between 1892 and 1896.-History:...
, a struggling private junior college
Junior college
The term junior college refers to different educational institutions in different countries.-India:In India, most states provide schooling through 12th grade...
in Lebanon
Lebanon, Tennessee
Lebanon is a city in Wilson County, Tennessee, in the United States. The population was 20,235 at the 2000 census. It serves as the county seat of Wilson County. Lebanon is located in middle Tennessee, approximately 25 miles east of downtown Nashville. Local residents have also called it...
, 30 miles south of Nashville. Cumberland had once been one of the most prestigious universities
University
A university is an institution of higher education and research, which grants academic degrees in a variety of subjects. A university is an organisation that provides both undergraduate education and postgraduate education...
in the South, but had fallen upon hard times, never fully recovering from the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
and the widespread availability of lower-cost public higher education after World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. The nadir probably occurred when it was forced, for financial reasons, to sell its once-renowned law school
Cumberland School of Law
Cumberland School of Law is an ABA accredited law school at Samford University in Birmingham, Alabama. The 11th oldest law school in the United States, it is 160 years old and has more than 11,000 graduates. Its alumni include two United States Supreme Court Justices; Nobel Peace Prize recipient...
(which Clement's father had attended) to what is now Samford University
Samford University
Samford University, founded as Howard College is a private, coeducational, Alabama Baptist Convention-affiliated university located in Homewood, a suburb of Birmingham, Alabama, United States. It includes the , Cumberland School of Law, McWhorter School of Pharmacy, Brock School of Business, Ida V....
in Birmingham
Birmingham, Alabama
Birmingham is the largest city in Alabama. The city is the county seat of Jefferson County. According to the 2010 United States Census, Birmingham had a population of 212,237. The Birmingham-Hoover Metropolitan Area, in estimate by the U.S...
and downgrade to a junior college. During Clement's tenure, the school regained four-year college
College
A college is an educational institution or a constituent part of an educational institution. Usage varies in English-speaking nations...
, and shortly later, full university status. He also tripled the school's private donations.
In 1987, 5th District Congressman Bill Boner
Bill Boner
William Hill "Bill" Boner is a Tennessee educator and former Democratic politician. He was the third mayor of the Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County, serving from 1987 to 1991. He served in the U.S...
left his House seat to become mayor of Nashville. Clement, who had moved to Nashville by this time, resigned as president of Cumberland on August 22 to run in the Democratic primary for the balance of Boner's term. He won the nomination over a crowded field, including most prominently Phil Bredesen
Phil Bredesen
Philip Norman "Phil" Bredesen Jr. was the 48th Governor of Tennessee, serving from 2003 to 2011. A member of the Democratic Party, he was first elected Governor in 2002, and was re-elected in 2006. He previously served as the fourth mayor of Nashville and Davidson County from 1991 to...
, future mayor of Nashville and two-term governor of Tennessee, who finished second. As the Republicans had long since lost interest in a seat they hadn't won since 1875 (Democrats have faced only token opposition since 1972), Clement's victory in the special election of January 19, 1988 was a foregone conclusion. He took office that night, as soon as the results were certified. He was unopposed for a full term in November even as George H. W. Bush
George H. W. Bush
George Herbert Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 41st President of the United States . He had previously served as the 43rd Vice President of the United States , a congressman, an ambassador, and Director of Central Intelligence.Bush was born in Milton, Massachusetts, to...
became only the second (and as it turned out, last) Republican to carry Nashville in a presidential election. He was reelected six times with no substantive opposition.
Despite representing one of the most Democratic districts in the country, Clement had a reputation for working across party lines. This nonpartisan style dated back to his first campaign for the Public Service Commission.
On October 10, 2002, Bob Clement was among the 81 House Democrats who voted in favor of authorizing the invasion of Iraq
2003 invasion of Iraq
The 2003 invasion of Iraq , was the start of the conflict known as the Iraq War, or Operation Iraqi Freedom, in which a combined force of troops from the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia and Poland invaded Iraq and toppled the regime of Saddam Hussein in 21 days of major combat operations...
.
Senate bid in 2002
Primary election
A primary election is an election in which party members or voters select candidates for a subsequent election. Primary elections are one means by which a political party nominates candidates for the next general election....
for Thompson's seat. He won the nomination easily, but was defeated in the November general election by former governor Lamar Alexander
Lamar Alexander
Andrew Lamar Alexander is the senior United States Senator from Tennessee and Conference Chair of the Republican Party. He was previously the 45th Governor of Tennessee from 1979 to 1987, United States Secretary of Education from 1991 to 1993 under President George H. W...
. Clement was succeeded in the House by former Congressman Jim Cooper
Jim Cooper
James Hayes Shofner "Jim" Cooper is the U.S. Representative for , serving since 2003. He is a member of the Democratic Party and the Blue Dog Coalition. He previously represented from 1983 to 1995....
, who too is a son of a former Tennessee governor.
Mayoral candidacy
On February 15, 2006; Clement formed an exploratory committeeExploratory Committee
In the election politics of the United States, an exploratory committee is an organization established to help determine whether a potential candidate should run for an elected office. They are most often cited in reference to United States Presidential hopefuls, prior to the primaries.Exploratory...
for a possible run for mayor of Metropolitan Nashville/Davidson County in 2007. His supporters launched a campaign Web site well before his official announcement. Clement finished second in a crowded field including five major candidates, where the top three candidates finished only a few hundred votes apart. Clement faced former Metropolitan Nashville/Davidson County law department director Karl Dean
Karl Dean
Karl Foster Dean is the sixth mayor of the Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County, Tennessee. He was sworn in on September 21, 2007. From 1999 to January 9, 2007, Karl Dean served as Nashville's Director of Law under Mayor Bill Purcell. In 1990, 1994, and 1998, he was elected the...
in a runoff election on September 11, 2007.
Clement lost the election to Dean by a 52% (51,946) to 48% (47,347) margin.
Clement stated after the results were tallied that he has no plans to run for public office in the future.
Personal life
Clement is married to the former Mary Carson of Nashville. Mary has two sons, Greg Crews and Jeff Crews. They have two daughters, Elizabeth and Rachel. He is a Southern Baptist, but attends Christ Church, a large church in Nashville.External links
- Election campaign website Retrieved on 2008-03-18