J. Wyeth Chandler (February 21, 1930 – November 11, 2004) served as mayor of Memphis, Tennessee from 1972 to 1982. He was the adopted son of former Memphis mayor and

U.S. Representative The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they c ...

Walter Chandler Walter "Clift" Chandler (October 5, 1887 – October 1, 1967) was an American politician from Tennessee and a Representative for the ninth district of Tennessee. He served as mayor of Memphis, Tennessee from 1940 to 1946 and in 1955. Biography ...

. Chandler succeeded the controversial

Henry Loeb Henry Loeb III (December 9, 1920 – September 8, 1992) was an American politician of the Democratic Party, who was mayor of Memphis, Tennessee, for two separate terms in the 1960s, from 1960 through 1963, and 1968 through 1971. He gained n ...

, who battled local sanitation workers during a strike that brought Martin Luther King Jr. to Memphis in April 1968. This violence-ridden episode in the city's history resulted in King's death by assassin James Earl Ray on April 4. Chandler spent much of his tenure dealing with the economic and social fallout from the strike and the killing, as the incidents gave the city a bad name among business and charitable interests for some years. Chandler was mayor at the time of Elvis Presley's death in 1977, and during the police and firemen's strike the following year. Some Memphians criticized his administration as too "status quo", but he was undeniably popular, winning three consecutive elections. After resigning from office in October 1982 to accept a judgeship appointment from the

Governor of Tennessee The governor of Tennessee is the head of government of the U.S. state of Tennessee. The governor is the only official in Tennessee state government who is directly elected by the voters of the entire state. The current governor is Bill Lee, a ...

Lamar Alexander, Chandler was succeeded by two interim mayors: first by J.O. Patterson, Jr. (the first-ever African-American to serve in the office), then by Wallace Madewell. The next regularly elected mayor was Richard Hackett, who served from 1983 to 1991.

References

External links

''Memphis Flyer'' eulogyMemphis History: Wyeth Chandler.
* Mayors of Memphis, Tennessee 1930 births 2004 deaths 20th-century American politicians {{Tennessee-mayor-stub