Harry Hill McAlister was Governor of Tennessee from 1933 to 1937.

Biography

Hill McAlister was born in Nashville

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...

 to a family kin to at least two former governor

Governor

A governor is a governing official, usually the executive of a non-sovereign level of government, ranking under the head of state...

s of 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...

 (Willie Blount

Willie Blount

Willie Blount served as Governor of Tennessee from 1809 to 1815. He was the younger half-brother of William Blount, representative of North Carolina to the Continental Congress and governor of the Southwest Territory....

 and Aaron V. Brown

Aaron V. Brown

Aaron Venable Brown was a Governor of Tennessee and Postmaster General in the Buchanan administration. He was also the law partner of James K. Polk.-Biography:...

) and the former (and only) governor of the predecessor Southwest Territory

Southwest Territory

The Territory South of the River Ohio, more commonly known as the Southwest Territory, was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from May 26, 1790, until June 1, 1796, when it was admitted to the United States as the State of Tennessee.The Southwest Territory was...

, William Blount

William Blount

William Blount, was a United States statesman. He was a delegate to the Constitutional Convention for North Carolina, the first and only governor of the Southwest Territory, and Democratic-Republican Senator from Tennessee . He played a major role in establishing the state of Tennessee. He was the...

. After graduation from Vanderbilt University

Vanderbilt University

Vanderbilt University is a private research university located in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 1873, the university is named for shipping and rail magnate "Commodore" Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provided Vanderbilt its initial $1 million endowment despite having never been to the...

 law school

Law school

A law school is an institution specializing in legal education.- Law degrees :- Canada :...

, he was admitted to the bar and served for a time as Nashville city attorney

City attorney

A city attorney can be an elected or appointed position in city and municipal government in the United States. The city attorney is the attorney representing the city or municipality....

. He was later elected to the Tennessee State Senate and subsequently elected by the General Assembly

Tennessee General Assembly

The Tennessee General Assembly is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Tennessee.-Constitutional structure:According to the Tennessee State Constitution of 1870, the General Assembly is a bicameral legislature and consists of a Senate of thirty-three members and a House of Representatives of...

 to a total five terms as State Treasurer (1919–1927 and 1931–1933). After failing twice to achieve the Democratic nomination for governor, he received it in 1932 during his final term as Treasurer.

McAlister's election occurred at the depths of 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...

, on the same day that Franklin D. Roosevelt was elected President of the United States

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....

. He favored most of Roosevelt's New Deal

New Deal

The New Deal was a series of economic programs implemented in the United States between 1933 and 1936. They were passed by the U.S. Congress during the first term of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The programs were Roosevelt's responses to the Great Depression, and focused on what historians call...

 measures, including especially 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...

 and labor reforms, including unemployment compensation. Re-elected in 1934, he incurred the enmity of powerful 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....

 political "boss" E. H. Crump

E. H. Crump

Edward Hull "Boss" Crump was an American politician from Memphis, Tennessee. He was mayor from 1910 through 1915, and again briefly in 1940; in the intervening years he effectively appointed the mayors.-Career:...

 and did not seek a third term in 1936. He maintained a relatively low profile in his later years. He was also a member of the Nashville Civitan Club.