Herman Talmadge | |
---|---|
United States Senator from Georgia |
|
In office January 3, 1957 – January 3, 1981 |
|
Preceded by | Walter F. George |
Succeeded by | Mack F. Mattingly |
70th Governor of Georgia | |
In office November 17, 1948 – January 11, 1955 |
|
Lieutenant | Marvin Griffin |
Preceded by | Melvin E. Thompson |
Succeeded by | Marvin Griffin |
In office January 14, 1947 – March 18, 1947 |
|
Lieutenant | Melvin E. Thompson |
Preceded by | Ellis Arnall |
Succeeded by | Melvin E. Thompson |
Chairman of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry | |
In office January 21, 1971 – January 3, 1981 |
|
Preceded by | Allen Ellender |
Succeeded by | Jesse Helms |
Personal details | |
Born |
Herman Eugene Talmadge August 9, 1913 McRae, Telfair County, Georgia, USA |
Died | March 21, 2002 Hampton, Henry County Georgia |
(aged 88)
Nationality | American |
Political party | Democratic |
Spouse(s) | 3rd: Lynda Cowart Pierce |
Children |
Herman Talmadge, Jr. |
Alma mater | University of Georgia |
Profession | Lawyer |
Religion | Baptist |
Military service | |
Allegiance | United States |
Service/branch | United States Navy |
Years of service | 1941–1945 |
Rank | Lieutenant Commander |
Battles/wars | World War II |
Herman Talmadge, Jr.
Herman Eugene Talmadge (August 9, 1913 – March 21, 2002), was an attorney and a Democratic American politician from the state of Georgia, the son of former governor Eugene Talmadge. He ran his father's successful campaign for re-election in 1946 but his father died before taking office.
The younger Talmadge had been a write-in candidate and was one of three competitors serving briefly as the 70th Governor of Georgia before yielding to a court decision in favor of the elected lieutenant governor. Talmadge was elected as governor in a special election in 1948, and elected again to a full term in 1950, serving into 1955. After leaving office, Talmadge was elected in 1956 to the U.S. Senate, serving four terms from 1957 until 1981. He gained considerable power over the decades. He gained chairmanship by seniority of the powerful Senate Agriculture Committee.
After being censured by the Senate in 1979 for financial irregularities, Talmadge lost the 1980 general election to Republican Mack Mattingly, part of the shift of white conservatives in the South to the Republican Party. It was a reversal of party affiliation from the 19th century.
Talmadge was born in 1913 in McRae in Telfair County in south central Georgia, the only son of Eugene Talmadge and his wife. His father served as Governor of Georgia during much of the 1930s and the 1940s. Herman Talmadge earned a degree from the University of Georgia School of Law in 1936, where he had been a member of the Demosthenian Literary Society and Sigma Nu fraternity.