Ned McWherter
Encyclopedia
Ned Ray McWherter was an American politician who served as the 46th Governor of Tennessee from 1987 to 1995. He was a Democrat
.
McWherter was born in Palmersville
, Weakley County, Tennessee. He was a member of the United Methodist Church
, McWherter served for 21 years in the Tennessee National Guard
before retiring with the rank of captain.
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.
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 when 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 for Dunn, McWherter was virtually assured of election in November. Dunn was able only 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.
During his first term, McWherter insisted that all formal governmental proceedings be open to the public and press, thus 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 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.
In 1990, McWherter was invited to speak at a chapel service at Freed-Hardeman University
in Henderson, Tennessee
at the request of his life-long friend, E. Claude Gardner, then President of the University.
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. An income tax has long been considered the third rail
of Tennessee politics. McWherter gave the idea lukewarm support at first, but the idea was eventually 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 deputy governor, Harlan Matthews, to serve as U.S. Senator until the 1994 election.
of the United States Postal Service
by President Bill Clinton
. McWherter lived the remainder of his life in Tennessee, where he was very active in the Tennessee Democratic Party. His business holdings included several nursing home
s and a beer distributorship.
McWherter was married to the late Bette Jean Beck McWherter, who died in 1973, and is the father of two children. His son Michael Ray McWherter
is a businessman and was a candidate in the 2010 Tennessee gubernatorial race
, and his daughter Linda Ramsey is a doctor
of physical education
at the University of Tennessee at Martin
. He funded the construction of the library at the University of Memphis
and the Learning Resources Center at Middle Tennessee State University
, and both both buildings have been named in his honor.
McWherter died on April 4, 2011 in a Nashville hospital where he was being treated for cancer . He was 80 years old.
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...
.
McWherter was born in Palmersville
Palmersville, Tennessee
Palmersville is a small unincorporated town in northwestern Weakley County, Tennessee, United States. Its ZIP code is 38241. The United States Census Bureau does not maintain demographic data for it....
, Weakley County, Tennessee. He was a member of the United Methodist Church
United Methodist Church
The United Methodist Church is a Methodist Christian denomination which is both mainline Protestant and evangelical. Founded in 1968 by the union of The Methodist Church and the Evangelical United Brethren Church, the UMC traces its roots back to the revival movement of John and Charles Wesley...
, McWherter served for 21 years in the Tennessee 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...
before retiring with the rank of captain.
Early political career
McWherter began his political career in 1968 when he won a seat in the Tennessee House of RepresentativesTennessee 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:...
from Weakley County. After only serving two terms in 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...
, 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.
Statewide office
In 1986 McWherter won a spirited primaryPrimary 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....
over Public Service Commissioner
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...
Jane Eskind and 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...
mayor Richard Fulton
Richard Fulton
Richard Harmon "Dick" Fulton was a Democratic politician who served as a member of the Tennessee State Senate and of the United States House of Representatives, and the second mayor of the Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County.- Background :Fulton was educated as a youth in the...
for the Democratic nomination for governor. He faced former Republican governor Winfield Dunn
Winfield Dunn
Bryant Winfield Culberson Dunn was the 43rd Governor of Tennessee, from 1971 to 1975.-Biography:Dunn was born in Meridian, Mississippi. He graduated from the University of Mississippi in 1950 with a B.B.A., and from the University of Tennessee Medical Units in Memphis in 1955 with a D.D.S. Dunn...
in what was initially considered one of the hotter races of the 1986 cycle. However, Dunn's campaign stalled when 1st District Congressman Jimmy Quillen
Jimmy Quillen
James Henry Quillen, usually known as Jimmy Quillen was a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives from Tennessee from 1963 to 1997.-Early life:...
, the de facto leader of the Republican Party in 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...
, 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
Medical school
A medical school is a tertiary educational institution—or part of such an institution—that teaches medicine. Degree programs offered at medical schools often include Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine, Bachelor/Doctor of Medicine, Doctor of Philosophy, master's degree, or other post-secondary...
at East Tennessee State University
East Tennessee State University
East Tennessee State University is an accredited American university located in Johnson City, Tennessee. It is part of the Tennessee Board of Regents system of colleges and universities, the nation's sixth largest system of public education, and is the fourth largest university in the state...
. Without significant support in East Tennessee for Dunn, McWherter was virtually assured of election in November. Dunn was able only to hold McWherter's victory margin to just under nine points due to strong support from his former base in 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....
. 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.
During his first term, McWherter insisted that all formal governmental proceedings be open to the public and press, thus 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
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
committee chairmen in Southern history and assisted women into influential leadership roles in the legislature. His "21st century Schools" education reform
Education reform
Education reform is the process of improving public education. Small improvements in education theoretically have large social returns, in health, wealth and well-being. Historically, reforms have taken different forms because the motivations of reformers have differed.A continuing motivation has...
program launched similar programs in other states and his replacement of the Medicaid
Medicaid
Medicaid is the United States health program for certain people and families with low incomes and resources. It is a means-tested program that is jointly funded by the state and federal governments, and is managed by the states. People served by Medicaid are U.S. citizens or legal permanent...
program with the TennCare
TennCare
TennCare is the U.S. state of Tennessee’s health care insurance program. It is designed to expand health insurance to the uninsured through the state’s Medicaid program by utilizing managed care to reduce the costs of health care...
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
Council of State Governments
The Council of State Governments is a nonpartisan non-profit organization in the United States serving the state governments. It serves state legislatures, state courts, and executive branch officials and agencies, and is the only multi-branch organization of state governments in the United...
, the Executive Committees of the Southern Conference, the Weakley County Head Start Program and the Executive Committee of the Northwest Tennessee Economic Development District.
In 1990, McWherter was invited to speak at a chapel service at Freed-Hardeman University
Freed-Hardeman University
Freed-Hardeman University is a primarily undergraduate university in Henderson, Tennessee. The university is located within a short distance of the town's central area. The university traces its heritage to the members of the Churches of Christ who helped build it...
in Henderson, Tennessee
Henderson, Tennessee
Henderson is an incorporated city in Chester County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 5,670 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Chester County...
at the request of his life-long friend, E. Claude Gardner, then President of the University.
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
Dwight Henry
Dwight Henry is a former Tennessee politician.-Biography:Henry attended Cleveland State Community College from 1971 to 1973 and then enrolled in Tennessee Technological University, graduating in 1976 with a Bachelor of Arts degree...
. (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
Income tax
An income tax is a tax levied on the income of individuals or businesses . Various income tax systems exist, with varying degrees of tax incidence. Income taxation can be progressive, proportional, or regressive. When the tax is levied on the income of companies, it is often called a corporate...
be implemented. An income tax has long been considered the third rail
Third rail (metaphor)
The phrase third rail is a metaphor in politics to denote an idea or topic that is so "charged" and "untouchable" that any politician or public official who dares to broach the subject would invariably suffer politically.-Denotation:...
of Tennessee politics. McWherter gave the idea lukewarm support at first, but the idea was eventually dropped entirely, not to resurface again during his time as governor.
During McWherter's second term, Senator Al Gore
Al Gore
Albert Arnold "Al" Gore, Jr. served as the 45th Vice President of the United States , under President Bill Clinton. He was the Democratic Party's nominee for President in the 2000 U.S. presidential election....
was elected Vice President, thus creating a vacancy in the Senate. McWherter appointed his deputy governor, Harlan Matthews, to serve as U.S. Senator until the 1994 election.
Post-Governorship
McWherter would have been an overwhelming favorite for a third term if he had been permitted to run for one by the state 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 GovernorsBoard of governors
Board of governors is a term sometimes applied to the board of directors of a public entity or non-profit organization.Many public institutions, such as public universities, are government-owned corporations. The British Broadcasting Corporation was managed by a board of governors, though this role...
of the United States Postal Service
United States Postal Service
The United States Postal Service is an independent agency of the United States government responsible for providing postal service in the United States...
by President Bill Clinton
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...
. McWherter lived the remainder of his life in Tennessee, where he was very active in the Tennessee Democratic Party. His business holdings included several nursing home
Nursing home
A nursing home, convalescent home, skilled nursing unit , care home, rest home, or old people's home provides a type of care of residents: it is a place of residence for people who require constant nursing care and have significant deficiencies with activities of daily living...
s and a beer distributorship.
McWherter was married to the late Bette Jean Beck McWherter, who died in 1973, and is the father of two children. His son Michael Ray McWherter
Mike McWherter
Michael Ray "Mike" McWherter is a lawyer, businessman and politician in the U.S. state of Tennessee. He was the Democratic nominee in the 2010 Tennessee gubernatorial race.-Early life, education and career:...
is a businessman and was a candidate in the 2010 Tennessee gubernatorial race
Tennessee gubernatorial election, 2010
The 2010 Tennessee gubernatorial election took place on November 2, 2010. Democratic Governor Phil Bredesen was term-limited and unable to seek re-election...
, and his daughter Linda Ramsey is a doctor
Doctorate
A doctorate is an academic degree or professional degree that in most countries refers to a class of degrees which qualify the holder to teach in a specific field, A doctorate is an academic degree or professional degree that in most countries refers to a class of degrees which qualify the holder...
of physical education
Physical education
Physical education or gymnastics is a course taken during primary and secondary education that encourages psychomotor learning in a play or movement exploration setting....
at 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...
. He funded the construction of the library at the University of Memphis
University 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 the Learning Resources Center at Middle Tennessee State University
Middle Tennessee State University
Middle Tennessee State University, commonly abbreviated as MTSU, is a public university located in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, United States....
, and both both buildings have been named in his honor.
McWherter died on April 4, 2011 in a Nashville hospital where he was being treated for cancer . He was 80 years old.