Jim Nance McCord
| Jim Nance McCord | |
|---|---|
McCord, c. 1913
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| 40th Governor of Tennessee | |
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In office January 16, 1945 – January 16, 1949 |
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| Preceded by | Prentice Cooper |
| Succeeded by | Gordon Browning |
| Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Tennessee's 5th district |
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In office January 3, 1943 – January 3, 1945 |
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| Preceded by | Percy Priest |
| Succeeded by | Harold Earthman |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
March 17, 1879 Unionville, Tennessee |
| Died | September 2, 1968 (aged 89) Nashville, Tennessee |
| Resting place |
Lone Oak Cemetery, Lewisburg, Tennessee 35°26′31″N 86°47′13″W / 35.442°N 86.787°W |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse(s) | Vera Kercheval (1901–1953, her death) Sula Tatum (1954–1966, her death) Nell Spence (1967–1968, his death) |
| Occupation | Editor/publisher of Marshall County Gazette |
| Religion | Presbyterian |
Jim Nance McCord (March 17, 1879 – September 2, 1968) was an American journalist and politician who served as Governor of Tennessee from 1945 to 1949, and was a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from 1943 to 1945. He was also Commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Conservation from 1953 to 1958, and was a delegate to the state constitutional convention of 1953. Prior to state and national service, McCord served as Mayor of Lewisburg, Tennessee, from 1916 to 1942, and was publisher and editor of the Marshall Gazette.
As governor, McCord greatly increased funding for education, instituted a state sales tax, and enacted right-to-work legislation.
McCord was born in Unionville in Bedford County, Tennessee, the second of seven children of Thomas McCord, a farmer, and Iva (Steele) McCord. He was educated in the public schools and by private instructors. In 1894, he moved to Shelbyville, where he worked as a clerk at a hardware store. Two years later, he and his half-brother, W.A. McCord, opened a bookstore in Lewisburg (in Marshall County). From 1900 to 1910, McCord worked as a traveling salesman, gaining invaluable insight into the needs of Middle Tennessee farmers.
In 1901, McCord married Vera Kercheval, daughter of William Kercheval, publisher of the Lewisburg-based newspaper, the Marshall Gazette. In 1910, he began a long newspaper career as editor and publisher of the Gazette after purchasing a stake in the paper from his father-in-law. Two years later, he bought out his father-in-law's remaining shares.
As an editor, McCord supported the "Independent" Democrats, a pro-temperance faction of the state Democratic Party, in the early 1910s. In the 1930s, he supported Franklin D. Roosevelt and the New Deal. In 1942, McCord was elected president of the Tennessee Press Association.
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