Clifton Beverly Briley (January 11, 1914 – September 14, 1980) was an American attorney and politician, the first mayor of the newly consolidated metropolitan government of

Nashville Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and the ...

and Davidson County in Tennessee. Elected to the mayor's position in 1962 as a Democrat, Briley served three terms from 1963 to 1975; he was prevented by term limits from running again. He had previously served as county judge (chief executive) of Davidson County for several terms, from 1950 to 1963.

Early life

Briley was born in West Nashville, Tennessee in 1914. Attending local schools, he became involved in

Scouting Scouting, also known as the Scout Movement, is a worldwide youth movement employing the Scout method, a program of informal education with an emphasis on practical outdoor activities, including camping, woodcraft, aquatics, hiking, backpacking ...

as a boy and attained the rank of Eagle Scout. He attended Vanderbilt University before transferring to Cumberland University's law school (now the Cumberland Law School at

Samford University Samford University is a private Christian university in Homewood, Alabama. In 1841, the university was founded as Howard College by Baptists. Samford University describes itself as the 87th oldest institution of higher learning in the United Sta ...

), graduating in 1932. He was admitted to the bar in 1932.

Career

Briley began practicing in 1932. Briley served in the U.S. Navy during World War II as a quartermaster aboard the USS ''David Taylor''. After the war, he ran a successful campaign for county judge (chief executive) of Davidson County in 1950, serving until 1963. Briley was a champion of metropolitan government and supported the merger of Nashville and Davidson County government. In 1963 he won election against Davidson County tax assessor Clifford Allen, another longtime Nashville politician, and became the first mayor of what is known as Metro Nashville. In 1966, his main opponent was

Ben West Raphael Benjamin West (March 31, 1911 – November 20, 1974) was an American attorney and politician who served as mayor of Nashville from 1951 to 1963, and as a Tennessee state senator from 1949 to 1951. While a state senator, he supported a c ...

, the former mayor of the earlier City of Nashville municipal government. Briley won the election in a runoff. Briley was reelected in 1971, also in a runoff. He was prevented by

term limits A term limit is a legal restriction that limits the number of terms an officeholder may serve in a particular elected office. When term limits are found in presidential and semi-presidential systems they act as a method of curbing the potenti ...

from running again in 1975. He remained active in Nashville politics until his death five years later. Altogether, he served as chief executive of Davidson County and of Nashville for 25 years. Briley took a fairly

progressive Progressive may refer to: Politics * Progressivism, a political philosophy in support of social reform ** Progressivism in the United States, the political philosophy in the American context * Progressive realism, an American foreign policy par ...

position on the Civil Rights Movement, an important question for mayors of

Southern Southern may refer to: Businesses * China Southern Airlines, airline based in Guangzhou, China * Southern Airways, defunct US airline * Southern Air, air cargo transportation company based in Norwalk, Connecticut, US * Southern Airways Express, M ...

cities at the time. He readily cooperated with black leaders and is generally credited with helping smooth the transition away from racial segregation in Nashville. Public schools and lunch counters had already been desegregated by the time he took office. In 1965, Briley described the

Ku Klux Klan The Ku Klux Klan (), commonly shortened to the KKK or the Klan, is an American white supremacist, right-wing terrorist, and hate group whose primary targets are African Americans, Jews, Latinos, Asian Americans, Native Americans, and ...

as "merchants of hate" and said they were "not welcome" in Nashville. On other issues, he was a conservative Democrat; in 1972 he was the area leader of "

Democrats for Nixon Democrats for Nixon was a campaign to promote Democratic support for the then-incumbent Republican President Richard Nixon in the 1972 presidential election. The campaign was led by the former Democratic governor of Texas, John Connally. Connally ...

," in an effort to strengthen southern support for Republican national candidates. That year, Nixon became the first Republican presidential candidate to carry Davidson County since the Reconstruction era. Most Republicans had been disenfranchised in Tennessee and other Southern states as Southern Democrats passed new constitutions after the Civil War to suppress black voting by raising barriers to voter registration.

Personal life and death

Briley married Dorothy Gordon in 1934. They had two children together, Cliff and Diane. He was an alcoholic. His grandson David Briley was the Mayor of Nashville after the resignation of Megan Barry. Briley died of bladder cancer on September 14, 1980 at the Vanderbilt University Hospital in Nashville at the age of 66, just months after the death of his wife. His funeral was held at the Inglewood Baptist Church, and he was buried at Spring Hill Cemetery in Nashville.

Legacy and honors

Briley Parkway, a major beltway thoroughfare which runs by the

Grand Ole Opry The ''Grand Ole Opry'' is a weekly American country music stage concert in Nashville, Tennessee, founded on November 28, 1925, by George D. Hay as a one-hour radio "barn dance" on WSM. Currently owned and operated by Opry Entertainment (a divis ...

House and around much of the city, was named in his honor. The city-owned Beverly Briley Building, a major component of Nashville's redesigned Public Square, was named for him. His grandson, Rob Briley, was a politician who formerly represented the 52nd House District, a Nashville district, in the

state legislature A state legislature is a legislative branch or body of a political subdivision in a federal system. Two federations literally use the term "state legislature": * The legislative branches of each of the fifty state governments of the United Sta ...

. He also served as the Democratic Majority Floor Leader. Another grandson, David Briley, served as mayor of Nashville.

References

External links

Public Square redesign details
City of Nashville {{DEFAULTSORT:Briley, Beverly 1914 births 1980 deaths Heads of county government in Tennessee Mayors of Nashville, Tennessee Tennessee Democrats 20th-century American politicians Deaths from cancer in Tennessee Deaths from bladder cancer Vanderbilt University alumni Cumberland School of Law alumni Tennessee lawyers 20th-century American lawyers