Synopses & Reviews
The death of Georgia governor-elect Eugene Talmadge in late 1946 launched a constitutional crisis that ranks as one of the most unusual political events in U.S. history: the state had three active governors at once, each claiming that he was the true elected official.
This is the first full-length examination of that episode, which wasnandrsquo;t just a crazy quirk of Georgia politics (though it was that) but the decisive battle in a struggle between the stateandrsquo;s progressive and rustic forces that had continued since the onset of the Great Depression. In 1946, rural forces aided by the county unit system, Jim Crow intimidation of black voters, and the Talmadge machineandrsquo;s andldquo;loyal 100,000andrdquo; voters united to claim the governorship.
In the aftermath, progressive political forces in Georgia would shrink into obscurity for the better part of a generation. In this volume is the story of how the political, governmental, and Jim Crow social institutions not only defeated Georgiaandrsquo;s progressive forces but forestalled their effectiveness for a decade and a half.
Review
andldquo;The Three Governors Controversy is a compelling narrative of the widespread notoriety engendered by Georgiaandrsquo;s 1946 election and its aftermath. This history reveals the underlying conflicts of the succession battle by bringing together a careful analysis of the politics of the period with an array of popular and scholarly accounts.andrdquo; andmdash;Timothy J. Crimmins, coauthor of Democracy Restored: A History of the Georgia State Capitol
Review
andldquo;At last we have a comprehensive analysis of one of the most colorful episodes in the rich annals of southern political history. Bullock, Buchanan, and Gaddie have succeeded not only in telling an oft-told tale from a fresh yet still thoroughly engaging perspective but also in sorting out its various immediate and long-term implications. This book will be essential reading for scholars and simply irresistible to southern politics junkies.andrdquo;andmdash;James C. Cobb, Spalding Distinguished Professor, Department of History, University of Georgia
Review
andquot;Subjected to scholarly examination, the three governors controversy turns out to have been even crazier in fact and more far-reaching in effect than the popular imagination has conjured. A big part of the reason the book succeeds so well in elucidating this confrontation is its careful depiction of the historical contextandmdash;who all the major players were, how they came to be assigned their parts in the drama and what lessons the audience could take away, after the curtain came down.andquot;andmdash;Pete McCommons, Flagpole magazine
About the Author
Charles S. Bullock III is Richard B. Russell Professor of Political Science at the University of Georgia and the author and editor of numerous books on American political culture, the South, and electoral politics. Scott E. Buchanan is an associate professor of political science at the Citadel. He is the author of Some of the People Who Ate My Barbecue Didnandrsquo;t Vote for Me: The Life of Georgia Governor Marvin Griffin. Ronald Keith Gaddie is chairman of the Department of Political Science at the University of Oklahoma and the general editor of Social Sciences Quarterly.