Milton H. Hamilton, Jr
Encyclopedia
Milton H. Hamilton, Jr. (September 8, 1932 – September 5, 2008) was a Tennessee
politician who served in both houses of the Tennessee General Assembly
and was majority leader
of the Tennessee State Senate
and Tennessee Commissioner of Environment and Conservation
.
) and was graduated with the B.A.
degree from Murray State University
, where he participated in the ROTC program, in 1955. He immediately afterward fulfilled his commitment to the United States Army
, spending two years on active duty as a second lieutenant
before being honorably discharged in 1957, although he remained in the Tennessee Army National Guard
until 1977.
Board of Education
. Following this, he was elected to the Tennessee House of Representatives
, where his father had previously served, in 1964, as a Democrat
. Hamilton served two terms in the State House.
. He served in an increasingly important series of positions on committees and in party leadership posts, culminating with his selection as majority leader in 1977, a position which he was to hold for 10 years.
In 1987, a rebellion within the Democratic Caucus began over the largely conservative
leadership and style of Senate Speaker
and Lieutenant Governor of Tennessee
John S. Wilder
, a close Hamilton friend and ally, which resulted in the nomination by the Democrats in the 1987 organizational session of the legislature of Riley Darnell
of Clarksville, Tennessee
for Lieutenant Governor and Speaker. However, Hamilton led a faction of eight other Democratic senators who remained loyal to Wilder, and along with unanimous support from the Republican
senators, this coalition voted to retain Wilder. The nine dissident Democrats were then dismissed from the Democratic caucus and reorganized as their own group, which they styled the "New Democratic Caucus", with Hamilton as their leader. Hamilton and his allies maintained some positions of leadership in the Senate, with others being filled by Republicans. Hamilton chaired the all-important Calendar Committee, and remained on other influential committees, most notably Ways and Means.
While in the state senate Hamilton was very active in the National Conference of State Legislatures
. He was also very active in the state's conservation efforts with regard to Reelfoot Lake
, which was located in his district and served as an important source of tourism
as well as an important aquatic and wildlife resource.
In 1994 Republican Don Sundquist
was elected governor of Tennessee and the Republican representation in the state senate increased to 15, just two short of a majority. Shortly after this, Hamilton and another Democratic senator who had also been a traditional Wilder ally made the decision to switch parties
, giving the Republicans their first majority in the Tennessee Senate since Reconstruction, and Hamilton again became majority leader, although now of the other party. However, the Republican majority was short-lived as Hamilton did not choose to run for reelection in 1996, and the senate reverted to Democratic control.
as Commissioner of Environment and Conservation, placing him over all state parks, including the one at Reelfoot Lake, among other duties. Hamilton seemed to relish this position, serving in it until the end of the Sundquist Administration in January 2003. He was unable, however, to save the restaurant at the state-operated inn on the northern part of Reelfoot Lake called Blue Basin, this facility closed in the state "revenue crisis" of 2001 and as of 2006 has never been reopened. Hamilton implemented a system of user fees at many state parks to help offset their operating expenses; this program was frozen upon the inauguration of Phil Bredesen
as governor and has since announced plans to revoke it entirely.
and was married to the former Dale White with three grown children, and five grandchildren. One of his children, Milton H. "Mickey" Hamilton III, was a place kicker on the college football
team of the University of Tennessee at Martin
in the late 1970s, earning a tryout with the Pittsburgh Steelers
and nearly, according to contemporary newspaper
accounts, displacing longtime Steelers kicker Roy Gerela
. Mickey was one of the nations top kickers having kicked 3 field goals over 50 yards. In one game he kicked 4 field goals with two of the four being of 52 and 53 yards which defeated Nationally ranked Tennessee State University. The Hamiltons have been members of a great number of fraternal and service organizations over the years, including the American Legion
, the Masons
, the Knights Templar
, the Shriners, and the Obion County Chamber of Commerce
, and has also served on the board of trustees of the Southern College of Optometry
.
Hamilton's wife, Dale, died in 2007. Hamilton himself died on September 5, 2008, at Centennial Hospital in Nashville.
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 who served in both houses of the Tennessee 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...
and was majority leader
Majority leader
In U.S. politics, the majority floor leader is a partisan position in a legislative body.In the federal Congress, the role differs slightly in the two houses. In the House of Representatives, which chooses its own presiding officer, the leader of the majority party is elected the Speaker of the...
of the Tennessee State Senate
Tennessee Senate
The Tennessee Senate is the upper house of the Tennessee state legislature, which is known formally as the Tennessee General Assembly.The Tennessee Senate, according to the state constitution of 1870, is composed of 33 members, one-third the size of the Tennessee House of Representatives. Senators...
and Tennessee Commissioner of Environment and Conservation
Tennessee Commissioner of Environment and Conservation
The Tennessee Commissioner of Environment and Conservation is the head of the Department of Environment and Conservation of the U.S. state of Tennessee, which is responsible for environmental protection, conservation of natural resources, and management of state parks...
.
Early life
Hamilton was born in Obion County, Tennessee in 1932. He was educated in the Obion County public schools. He attended the former Memphis State University (now the University of MemphisUniversity of Memphis
The University of Memphis is an American public research university located in the Normal Station neighborhood of Memphis, Tennessee and is the flagship public research university of the Tennessee Board of Regents system....
) and was graduated with the B.A.
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
degree from Murray State University
Murray State University
Murray State University, located in the city of Murray, Kentucky, is a four-year public university with approximately 10,400 students. The school is Kentucky’s only public university to be listed in the U.S.News & World Report regional university top tier for the past 20 consecutive years...
, where he participated in the ROTC program, in 1955. He immediately afterward fulfilled his commitment to the United States Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
, spending two years on active duty as a second lieutenant
Second Lieutenant
Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces.- United Kingdom and Commonwealth :The rank second lieutenant was introduced throughout the British Army in 1871 to replace the rank of ensign , although it had long been used in the Royal Artillery, Royal...
before being honorably discharged in 1957, although he remained in the Tennessee Army 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...
until 1977.
Early public service
Hamilton's first elected office was service on the Union City, TennesseeUnion City, Tennessee
Union City is a city in Obion County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 10,876 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Obion County. The name comes from its location at the union of two railroads, one running roughly east-west and the other roughly north-south...
Board of Education
Board of education
A board of education or a school board or school committee is the title of the board of directors or board of trustees of a school, local school district or higher administrative level....
. Following this, he was elected to the Tennessee House of Representatives
Tennessee House of Representatives
The Tennessee House of Representatives is the lower house of the Tennessee General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Tennessee.-Constitutional requirements:...
, where his father had previously served, in 1964, as a Democrat
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...
. Hamilton served two terms in the State House.
State senator
In 1968, Hamilton was elected to the state Senate from District 24, representing much of the northern part of West TennesseeWest Tennessee
West Tennessee is one of the three Grand Divisions of the State of Tennessee. Of the three, it is the one that is most sharply defined geographically. Its boundaries are the Mississippi River on the west and the Tennessee River on the east...
. He served in an increasingly important series of positions on committees and in party leadership posts, culminating with his selection as majority leader in 1977, a position which he was to hold for 10 years.
In 1987, a rebellion within the Democratic Caucus began over the largely conservative
American conservatism
Conservatism in the United States has played an important role in American politics since the 1950s. Historian Gregory Schneider identifies several constants in American conservatism: respect for tradition, support of republicanism, preservation of "the rule of law and the Christian religion", and...
leadership and style of Senate Speaker
Speaker (politics)
The term speaker is a title often given to the presiding officer of a deliberative assembly, especially a legislative body. The speaker's official role is to moderate debate, make rulings on procedure, announce the results of votes, and the like. The speaker decides who may speak and has the...
and Lieutenant Governor of Tennessee
Lieutenant Governor of Tennessee
The Lieutenant Governor of Tennessee is the Speaker of the Tennessee Senate and first in line in the succession to the office of Governor of Tennessee in the event of the death, resignation, or removal from office through impeachment and conviction of the Governor of the U.S...
John S. Wilder
John S. Wilder
John Shelton Wilder was an American politician who was a Tennessee state senator from 1959 to 1961 and again from 1967 to 2009 and the 48th lieutenant governor of Tennessee from 1971 to 2007, possibly the longest time anyone has served as Lieutenant Governor or a similar position in the history of...
, a close Hamilton friend and ally, which resulted in the nomination by the Democrats in the 1987 organizational session of the legislature of Riley Darnell
Riley Darnell
Riley C. Darnell was the Tennessee Secretary of State.Defeated for reelection to the state Senate in November, 1992, Darnell's political comeback was immediate...
of Clarksville, Tennessee
Clarksville, Tennessee
Clarksville is a city in and the county seat of Montgomery County, Tennessee, United States, and the fifth largest city in the state. The population was 132,929 in 2010 United States Census...
for Lieutenant Governor and Speaker. However, Hamilton led a faction of eight other Democratic senators who remained loyal to Wilder, and along with unanimous support from the 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...
senators, this coalition voted to retain Wilder. The nine dissident Democrats were then dismissed from the Democratic caucus and reorganized as their own group, which they styled the "New Democratic Caucus", with Hamilton as their leader. Hamilton and his allies maintained some positions of leadership in the Senate, with others being filled by Republicans. Hamilton chaired the all-important Calendar Committee, and remained on other influential committees, most notably Ways and Means.
While in the state senate Hamilton was very active in the National Conference of State Legislatures
National Conference of State Legislatures
The National Conference of State Legislatures is a bipartisan non-governmental organization established in 1975 to serve the members and staff of state legislatures of the United States...
. He was also very active in the state's conservation efforts with regard to Reelfoot Lake
Reelfoot Lake
Reelfoot Lake is a shallow natural lake located in the northwest portion of Tennessee, United States of America. Much of it is really more of a swamp, with bayou-like ditches connecting more open bodies of water called basins, the largest of which is called Blue Basin. Reelfoot Lake is noted for...
, which was located in his district and served as an important source of tourism
Tourism
Tourism is travel for recreational, leisure or business purposes. The World Tourism Organization defines tourists as people "traveling to and staying in places outside their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business and other purposes".Tourism has become a...
as well as an important aquatic and wildlife resource.
In 1994 Republican 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...
was elected governor of Tennessee and the Republican representation in the state senate increased to 15, just two short of a majority. Shortly after this, Hamilton and another Democratic senator who had also been a traditional Wilder ally made the decision to switch parties
Party switching
Party-switching is any change in political party affiliation of a partisan public figure, usually one currently holding elected office.In many countries, party-switching takes the form of politicians refusing to support their political parties in coalition governments...
, giving the Republicans their first majority in the Tennessee Senate since Reconstruction, and Hamilton again became majority leader, although now of the other party. However, the Republican majority was short-lived as Hamilton did not choose to run for reelection in 1996, and the senate reverted to Democratic control.
Commissioner
In 1997, shortly after his state senate term ended, Sundquist named Hamilton to his CabinetCabinet (government)
A Cabinet is a body of high ranking government officials, typically representing the executive branch. It can also sometimes be referred to as the Council of Ministers, an Executive Council, or an Executive Committee.- Overview :...
as Commissioner of Environment and Conservation, placing him over all state parks, including the one at Reelfoot Lake, among other duties. Hamilton seemed to relish this position, serving in it until the end of the Sundquist Administration in January 2003. He was unable, however, to save the restaurant at the state-operated inn on the northern part of Reelfoot Lake called Blue Basin, this facility closed in the state "revenue crisis" of 2001 and as of 2006 has never been reopened. Hamilton implemented a system of user fees at many state parks to help offset their operating expenses; this program was frozen upon the inauguration of 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...
as governor and has since announced plans to revoke it entirely.
Personal
Hamilton was a MethodistMethodism
Methodism is a movement of Protestant Christianity represented by a number of denominations and organizations, claiming a total of approximately seventy million adherents worldwide. The movement traces its roots to John Wesley's evangelistic revival movement within Anglicanism. His younger brother...
and was married to the former Dale White with three grown children, and five grandchildren. One of his children, Milton H. "Mickey" Hamilton III, was a place kicker on the college football
College football
College football refers to American football played by teams of student athletes fielded by American universities, colleges, and military academies, or Canadian football played by teams of student athletes fielded by Canadian universities...
team of the University of Tennessee at Martin
University of Tennessee at Martin
The University of Tennessee at Martin is a campus in the University of Tennessee system. Other campuses include the flagship campus in Knoxville, the Chattanooga campus, the Center for the Health Sciences in Memphis, and the Space Institute in Tullahoma...
in the late 1970s, earning a tryout with the Pittsburgh Steelers
Pittsburgh Steelers
The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional football team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The team currently belongs to the North Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League . Founded in , the Steelers are the oldest franchise in the AFC...
and nearly, according to contemporary newspaper
Newspaper
A newspaper is a scheduled publication containing news of current events, informative articles, diverse features and advertising. It usually is printed on relatively inexpensive, low-grade paper such as newsprint. By 2007, there were 6580 daily newspapers in the world selling 395 million copies a...
accounts, displacing longtime Steelers kicker Roy Gerela
Roy Gerela
Roy Gerela is a former American football placekicker best known for his years with the Pittsburgh Steelers, with whom he won three Super Bowl rings....
. Mickey was one of the nations top kickers having kicked 3 field goals over 50 yards. In one game he kicked 4 field goals with two of the four being of 52 and 53 yards which defeated Nationally ranked Tennessee State University. The Hamiltons have been members of a great number of fraternal and service organizations over the years, including the American Legion
American Legion
The American Legion is a mutual-aid organization of veterans of the United States armed forces chartered by the United States Congress. It was founded to benefit those veterans who served during a wartime period as defined by Congress...
, the Masons
Freemasonry
Freemasonry is a fraternal organisation that arose from obscure origins in the late 16th to early 17th century. Freemasonry now exists in various forms all over the world, with a membership estimated at around six million, including approximately 150,000 under the jurisdictions of the Grand Lodge...
, the Knights Templar
Knights Templar
The Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon , commonly known as the Knights Templar, the Order of the Temple or simply as Templars, were among the most famous of the Western Christian military orders...
, the Shriners, and the Obion County Chamber of Commerce
Chamber of commerce
A chamber of commerce is a form of business network, e.g., a local organization of businesses whose goal is to further the interests of businesses. Business owners in towns and cities form these local societies to advocate on behalf of the business community...
, and has also served on the board of trustees of the Southern College of Optometry
Southern College of Optometry
Southern College of Optometry is a college of optometry in the United States. It is located in Memphis, Tennessee and is dedicated to the study of optometry, the field of medicine that includes not only the performance of refractive eye examinations and the fitting of necessary corrective lenses or...
.
Hamilton's wife, Dale, died in 2007. Hamilton himself died on September 5, 2008, at Centennial Hospital in Nashville.