Rufus Bullock
| Rufus Bullock | |
|---|---|
 |
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| 46th Governor of Georgia | |
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In office July 4, 1868 – October 30, 1871 |
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| Preceded by | Thomas H. Ruger |
| Succeeded by | Benjamin F. Conley |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
March 28, 1834 Bethlehem, New York, U.S. |
| Died | April 27, 1907 (aged 73) Albion, New York, U.S. |
| Political party | Republican |
Rufus Brown Bullock (March 28, 1834 – April 27, 1907) was an American Republican politician and Georgia businessman. During the Reconstruction Era he called for equal economic opportunity and political rights for blacks and whites in Georgia. He also promoted public education for both races, and encouraged railroads, banks, and industrial development. He was unpopular among whites during his governorship, but for three decades afterwards he was an esteemed private citizen.
Bullock was born in Bethlehem, New York, and moved to Augusta, Georgia, in 1857 for his job with the telegraph company Adams Express.
Bullock served as the 46th Governor of Georgia from 1868 to 1871 during Reconstruction and was the first Republican governor of Georgia. After Georgia ratified the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution, the Omnibus Act declared that states were entitled to representation in Congress as one of the states of the Union. Georgia again lost the right to representation in Congress because the General Assembly expelled twenty-eight black members and prevented blacks from voting in the 1868 presidential election. In response to an appeal from Bullock, Georgia was again placed under military rule as part of the Georgia Act of December 22, 1869. This made Bullock a hated political figure. After various allegations of scandal and ridicule, in 1871 he was obliged by the Ku Klux Klan to resign the governorship. He was succeeded by Republican State Senate president Benjamin Conley, who served as Governor for the two remaining months of the term to which Bullock had been elected. Conley was succeeded by James M. Smith, a Democrat, and no Republican would serve as governor of Georgia again until Sonny Perdue in 2003.
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