Jim Nance McCord (March 17, 1879 – September 2, 1968) was an American
journalist
A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalism ...
and
politician
A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...
who served as the 40th
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 ...
from 1945 to 1949, and was a member of the
U.S. House of Representatives
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 ...
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
Lewisburg is a city in, and the county seat of Marshall County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 12,288 in 2020. Lewisburg is located in Middle Tennessee, fifty miles south of Nashville and fifty-two miles north of Huntsville, Alabam ...
, from 1916 to 1942, and was publisher and editor of the ''Marshall Gazette''.
[Governor Jim Nance McCord Papers (finding aid)]
, Tennessee State Library and Archives, 1971. Retrieved: 16 December 2012.
As governor, McCord greatly increased funding for education, instituted a state sales tax, and enacted right-to-work legislation.
[Carroll Van West,]
Jim Nance McCord
" ''Tennessee Encyclopedia of History and Culture'', 2009. Retrieved: 16 December 2012.
Early life and career
McCord was born in
Unionville in
Bedford County, Tennessee
Bedford County is a county located in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2020 census, the population was 50,237. Its county seat is Shelbyville. Bedford County comprises the Shelbyville, TN Micropolitan Statistical Area, which is also inc ...
, 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,
[Jim Nance McCord]
at the ''Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
The ''Biographical Directory of the United States Congress'' (Bioguide) is a biographical dictionary of all present and former members of the United States Congress and its predecessor, the Continental Congress. Also included are Delegates from ...
'' 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
A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background.
Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as politics, business, sports a ...
, the ''Marshall Gazette''.
[William Thomas Hale and Dixon Merritt, ]
A History of Tennessee and Tennesseans
' (Lewis Publishing Company, 1913), pp. 1715-1716. 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
Temperance may refer to:
Moderation
*Temperance movement, movement to reduce the amount of alcohol consumed
*Temperance (virtue), habitual moderation in the indulgence of a natural appetite or passion
Culture
*Temperance (group), Canadian danc ...
faction of the state Democratic Party, in the early 1910s.
In the 1930s, he supported
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...
and the
New Deal
The New Deal was a series of programs, public work projects, financial reforms, and regulations enacted by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in the United States between 1933 and 1939. Major federal programs agencies included the Civilian Cons ...
.
In 1942, McCord was elected president of the Tennessee Press Association.
McCord had a lifelong interest in livestock breeding, focusing mainly on
Jersey cattle
The Jersey is a British breed of small dairy cattle from Jersey, in the British Channel Islands. It is one of three Channel Island cattle breeds, the others being the Alderney – now extinct – and the Guernsey. It is highly productive – ...
and
Tennessee Walking Horse
The Tennessee Walking Horse or Tennessee Walker is a breed of gaited horse known for its unique four-beat running-walk and flashy movement. It was originally developed as a riding horse on farms and plantations in the American South. It is a ...
s. He began working as an
auctioneer
An auction is usually a process of buying and selling goods or services by offering them up for bids, taking bids, and then selling the item to the highest bidder or buying the item from the lowest bidder. Some exceptions to this definition ex ...
of purebred Jersey cattle in 1920, and helped convince the U.S. Department of Agriculture to establish an experimental dairy farm specializing in Jersey cattle near Lewisburg in the 1930s.
In 1935, McCord helped form the Tennessee Walking Horse Breeders Association.
McCord's political career began in 1914, when he was elected to the Marshall County Court. In 1916, he was elected Mayor of Lewisburg, serving until 1942 (13 consecutive terms).
He was an
elector
Elector may refer to:
* Prince-elector or elector, a member of the electoral college of the Holy Roman Empire, having the function of electing the Holy Roman Emperors
* Elector, a member of an electoral college
** Confederate elector, a member of ...
for Roosevelt in 1932, and was a delegate to the
Democratic National Convention
The Democratic National Convention (DNC) is a series of presidential nominating conventions held every four years since 1832 by the United States Democratic Party. They have been administered by the Democratic National Committee since the 1852 ...
in 1940.
In 1942, he ran unopposed for the
5th district District 5, 5 District or 5th District may refer to:
Europe
* District 5 (Zürich)
* District 5, Düsseldorf
* V District, Turku
* Districts of Malta#District 5, District 5, an electoral district of Malta
* Districts of Malta#District 5 2, Distric ...
seat in the U.S. House of Representatives (the incumbent,
Percy Priest
James Percy Priest (April 1, 1900 – October 12, 1956) was an American teacher, journalist and politician who represented Tennessee in the United States House of Representatives from 1941 until his death.
Background
Priest was born in Cart ...
, had been redistricted).
Governor
In 1944, McCord sought his party's nomination for governor in the race to succeed the incumbent,
Prentice Cooper
William Prentice Cooper Jr. (September 28, 1895May 18, 1969) was an American politician and diplomat who served as the 39th governor of Tennessee from 1939 to 1945. He led the state's mobilization efforts for World War II, when over 300,000 Ten ...
, who was term-limited.
[Phillip Langsdon, ''Tennessee: A Political History'' (Franklin, Tenn.: Hillsboro Press, 2000), pp. 336-343.] With the support of powerful
Memphis
Memphis most commonly refers to:
* Memphis, Egypt, a former capital of ancient Egypt
* Memphis, Tennessee, a major American city
Memphis may also refer to:
Places United States
* Memphis, Alabama
* Memphis, Florida
* Memphis, Indiana
* Memp ...
political boss
In politics, a boss is a person who controls a faction or local branch of a political party. They do not necessarily hold public office themselves; most historical bosses did not, at least during the times of their greatest influence. Numerous off ...
,
E. H. Crump
Edward Hull "Boss" Crump Jr. (October 2, 1874 – October 16, 1954) was an American politician from Memphis, Tennessee. Representing the Democratic Party, he was the dominant force in the city's politics for most of the first half of the 20t ...
, McCord won the
primary
Primary or primaries may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Music Groups and labels
* Primary (band), from Australia
* Primary (musician), hip hop musician and record producer from South Korea
* Primary Music, Israeli record label
Works
* ...
by a lopsided margin over
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 ...
attorney Rex Manning and
Knoxville
Knoxville is a city in and the county seat of Knox County in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2020 United States census, Knoxville's population was 190,740, making it the largest city in the East Tennessee Grand Division and the state's ...
law professor
John R. Neal, and defeated the Republican candidate,
Greeneville attorney John Wesley Kilgo, in the general election, 275,746 votes to 158,742.
During his first term, McCord obtained significant appropriations for education, including $4 million for monthly raises for teachers and principals, and funding to provide tuition assistance for returning
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
veterans. He also signed a retirement law for state employees.
In the 1946 gubernatorial campaign, McCord beat back a primary challenge from former governor
Gordon Browning
Gordon Weaver Browning (November 22, 1889May 23, 1976) was an American politician who served as the 38th governor of Tennessee from 1937 to 1939, and again from 1949 to 1953. He also served six terms in the U.S. House of Representatives, from 19 ...
(who was in Germany and did not actively campaign), and easily defeated the Republican candidate, W.O. Lowe, in the general election.
The 1946 primary was marred by an uprising known as the "
Battle of Athens," which erupted when several hundred ex-World War II veterans launched an armed assault on the jail in
Athens, Tennessee
Athens is the county seat of McMinn County, Tennessee, United States and the principal city of the Athens Micropolitan Statistical Area has a population of 53,569. The city is located almost equidistantly between the major cities of Knoxville an ...
, where the sheriff and several Crump-linked figures had retreated with ballot boxes, presumably to fix local elections. McCord dispatched the state guard to restore order.
During his second term, McCord enacted a 2% sales tax, which Crump had reluctantly agreed not to oppose.
The revenue from this tax was used to build new schools, buy school buses, and help implement the state's first comprehensive program for grades 1 through 12. McCord also enacted
right-to-work legislation
In the context of labor law in the United States, the term "right-to-work laws" refers to state laws that prohibit union security agreements between employers and labor unions which require employees who are not union members to contribute to ...
, which was made possible by the
Taft-Hartley Act of 1947.
The enactment of this law alienated the party's
organized labor
A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and Employee ben ...
constituency.
In the governor's race of 1948, Browning, determined to break the Crump machine, ran a strong campaign for the nomination. He assailed McCord for the sales tax, and accused Crump of voter fraud. Gradually, important constituencies, including veterans, black voters, rural voters, and organized labor, began abandoning Crump and McCord. On election day, Browning defeated McCord for the nomination, 231,852 votes to 158,854.
It was the first defeat of a Crump-backed candidate in a major state election in over two decades.
Later life
McCord was a delegate to the limited state
constitutional convention of 1953, which submitted several important changes to the voters for approval, most notably extension of the gubernatorial term from two to four years, and the repeal of the state's
poll tax
A poll tax, also known as head tax or capitation, is a tax levied as a fixed sum on every liable individual (typically every adult), without reference to income or resources.
Head taxes were important sources of revenue for many governments fr ...
. McCord also served in the
cabinet
Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to:
Furniture
* Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers
* Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets
* Filing ...
of Governor
Frank G. Clement
Frank Goad Clement (June 2, 1920 – November 4, 1969) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 41st Governor of Tennessee from 1953 to 1959 and from 1963 to 1967. Inaugurated for the first time at age 32, he was the state's younge ...
as Commissioner of Conservation, from 1953 to 1958.
['']Tennessee Blue Book The ''Tennessee Blue Book'' is an official government manual for the U.S. state of Tennessee, published by the Secretary of State of Tennessee.
The ''Blue Book'' is typically published on a biennial basis. Its contents include details on the organ ...
'', 2009-2010, page 526
In 1958, at the age of 79, McCord ran for governor as an
independent
Independent or Independents may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups
* Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s
* Independ ...
against the Democratic nominee,
Buford Ellington
Earl Buford Ellington (June 27, 1907 – April 3, 1972) was an American politician who served as the 42nd governor of Tennessee from 1959 to 1963, and again from 1967 to 1971. Along with his political ally, Frank G. Clement, he helped lead a ...
, his former campaign manager and fellow Clement cabinet official.
McCord received just 32% to Ellington's 58%.
McCord died in Nashville on September 2, 1968, at the age of 89, a decade after his last run for the governorship. At the time of his death, he was the third oldest governor in Tennessee history, behind
John I. Cox and
Tom Rye, both of whom lived to age 90.
Winfield Dunn
Bryant Winfield Culberson Dunn (born July 1, 1927) is an American businessman and politician who served as the 43rd governor of Tennessee from 1971 to 1975. He was the state's first Republican governor in fifty years.Phillip Langsdon, ''Tennessee ...
has since surpassed their ages. McCord is buried in
Lone Oak Cemetery in Lewisburg.
Family and legacy
McCord had a twin brother, Ed, who died at a relatively young age. His father, Thomas, fought for the Confederacy under General
Nathan B. Forrest during the Civil War, and suffered a wound that required the amputation of part of his leg.
Thomas McCord was married twice before marrying Iva Steele, and Jim Nance McCord had several half-siblings from these first two marriages.
McCord married Vera Kercheval in 1901. In 1954, a year after her death, he married Sula (Tatum) Sheeley. In 1967, after the death of his second wife, he married Nell (Spence) Estes.
McCord had no children.
Buildings on the campuses of
Austin Peay State University
Austin Peay State University () is a public university in Clarksville, Tennessee. Standing on a site occupied by a succession of educational institutions since 1845, the precursor of the university was established in 1927 and named for then-sitt ...
, the
University of Tennessee at Knoxville
The University of Tennessee (officially The University of Tennessee, Knoxville; or UT Knoxville; UTK; or UT) is a public land-grant research university in Knoxville, Tennessee. Founded in 1794, two years before Tennessee became the 16th state, ...
, the
University of Memphis
}
The University of Memphis (UofM) is a public university, public research university in Memphis, Tennessee. Founded in 1912, the university has an enrollment of more than 22,000 students.
The university maintains the Herff College of Engineering ...
,
Tennessee Technological University
Tennessee Technological University, commonly referred to as Tennessee Tech, is a public research university in Cookeville, Tennessee, United States. It was formerly known as Tennessee Polytechnic Institute, and before that as University of Dixie ...
,
Tennessee State University
Tennessee State University (Tennessee State, Tenn State, or TSU) is a public historically black land-grant university in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 1912, it is the only state-funded historically black university in Tenness ...
, and the
University of Tennessee at Martin
The University of Tennessee at Martin (UT Martin or UTM) is a public university in Martin, Tennessee. It is one of the five campuses of the University of Tennessee system. UTM is the only public university in West Tennessee outside of Memphis ...
,
Structural History of UT Martin: McCord Hall
Retrieved: 17 December 2012. have been named in honor of McCord.
See also
*List of governors of Tennessee
The term of the governor of Tennessee is limited by the state constitution. The first constitution, enacted in 1796, set a term of two years for the governor and provided that no person could serve as governor for more than 6 years in any 8-year ...
References
External links
Jim Nance McCord
– entry at the National Governors Association
The National Governors Association (NGA) is an American political organization founded in 1908. The association's members are the governors of the 55 states, territories and commonwealths. Members come to the association from across the politica ...
Portrait painting of Governor McCord
– Tennessee Portrait Project
Portrait photograph of Governor McCord
– Tennessee State Library and Archives
The Country Newspaper As a Force in the Development of Agriculture
– 1913 speech by McCord
Governor Jim Nance McCord Papers, 1945 - 1949
Tennessee State Library and Archives
{{DEFAULTSORT:McCord, Jim Nance
Governors of Tennessee
State cabinet secretaries of Tennessee
Mayors of places in Tennessee
People from Bedford County, Tennessee
1879 births
1968 deaths
American Presbyterians
Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Tennessee
Democratic Party governors of Tennessee
People from Lewisburg, Tennessee
Tennessee Independents
20th-century American politicians