Thaddeus Armie Eure (November 15, 1899 – July 21, 1993) was an American politician who holds the record for longest tenure as an elected official in the United States, serving as North Carolina Secretary of State from 1936 to 1989.

Early life

Born in Gates County, North Carolina, Eure was the son of the Tazewell Augustus Eure and Armecia Langston Eure. A farmer, Tazewell Eure, was in the first graduating class at North Carolina Agricultural and Mechanical College (now

North Carolina State University North Carolina State University (NC State) is a public land-grant research university in Raleigh, North Carolina. Founded in 1887 and part of the University of North Carolina system, it is the largest university in the Carolinas. The universit ...

) and served in the

North Carolina House of Representatives The North Carolina House of Representatives is one of the two houses of the North Carolina General Assembly. The House is a 120-member body led by a Speaker of the House, who holds powers similar to those of the President pro-tem in the North Ca ...

from 1925–1927. He was the oldest of five Eure children. He grew up on an 80-acre farm that grew cotton, corn, and peanuts. He graduated valedictorian from the now-closed Gatesville High School in 1917. He attended the

University of North Carolina The University of North Carolina is the multi-campus public university system for the state of North Carolina. Overseeing the state's 16 public universities and the NC School of Science and Mathematics, it is commonly referred to as the UNC Sy ...

where he was a member of the

Theta Chi Fraternity Theta Chi () is an international college fraternity. It was founded on April 10, 1856 at Norwich University then-located in Norwich, Vermont, and has initiated more than 200,000 members and currently has over 8,700 collegiate members across Nort ...

. He left UNC to serve in the

Army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, returning to

Chapel Hill, North Carolina Chapel Hill is a town in Orange, Durham and Chatham counties in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Its population was 61,960 in the 2020 census, making Chapel Hill the 17th-largest municipality in the state. Chapel Hill, Durham, and the state ca ...

to attend the

University of North Carolina Law School The University of North Carolina School of Law is the law school of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Established in 1845, Carolina Law is among the oldest law schools in the United States and is the oldest law school in North Caro ...

, graduating in 1922.

Career

Prior to his service as secretary of state, Eure served as mayor of Winton, North Carolina at age 27, and as a state legislator. In 1987, President

Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan ( ; February 6, 1911June 5, 2004) was an American politician, actor, and union leader who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He also served as the 33rd governor of California from 1967 ...

recognized Eure as having held public office longer than any official in the nation at that time, with more than 64 years of continuous service. In his later years, he was known as the "oldest rat in the Democratic barn." Eure campaigned to become North Carolina Secretary of State in 1936. Backed by the Shelby Dynasty, he won. Eure was the last living member of the North Carolina legislature to have voted to approve the establishment of the North Carolina State Highway Patrol in 1929. During his tenure as Secretary of State, Eure was asked by Highway Patrol leadership to give the swearing-in oath of office to graduating troopers in each basic school class at the North Carolina Highway Patrol School, which was first conducted at UNC-Chapel Hill and later in Raleigh at the present campus on Garner Road. Eure would proudly address each class and he signed each individual trooper's oath certificate in his trademark green ink. When his physical condition weakened in 1985, then-North Carolina Governor

James G. Martin James Grubbs Martin (born December 11, 1935) is an American organic chemist and politician who served as the List of Governors of North Carolina, 70th governor of North Carolina from 1985 to 1993. He was the third Republican elected to the of ...

assigned a trooper to drive Eure to and from work each day. Eure also served on the board of trustees of Elon University from 1942 to 1989 (chairman, 1955–1989). In December 1945 the North Carolina youth legislature program held a mock session in the North Carolina State Capitol. Representing student leaders from the state's white colleges, the body passed a resolution to invite delegations from the state's black colleges to the subsequent session. Eure requested a special meeting with the body, where he told them, "I am fearful that you may be jeopardizing the beautiful picture toward which we are moving". He urged them to "go slowly", but the students refused to alter their decision. Having been elected to 13 terms as Secretary of State, Eure holds the record for most won North Carolina statewide elections by any public official.

Personal life

Eure married Minta Banks on November 15, 1924. Banks was also from Winton, North Carolina and had been educated at Saint Mary's School. They had two children, Thad Eure, Jr. and Armecia Eure Black. Eure was an early investor in his son Thad Eure, Jr.'s restaurant empire. Eure Jr was a famous restaurateur in

Raleigh, North Carolina Raleigh (; ) is the capital city of the state of North Carolina and the List of North Carolina county seats, seat of Wake County, North Carolina, Wake County in the United States. It is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, second-most ...

, founding the legendary steakhouse The Angus Barn, reviving the 42nd Street Oyster Bar and being responsible for the Darryl's and Fat Daddy's chains. Eure died of complications of gallbladder surgery in 1993. His body lay in state at the North Carolina State Capitol. He was buried in

Historic Oakwood Cemetery Historic Oakwood Cemetery was founded in 1869 in North Carolina's capital, Raleigh, North Carolina, Raleigh, near the North Carolina State Capitol in the city's Historic Oakwood neighborhood. Historic Oakwood Cemetery contains two special areas ...

. Known for wearing bow ties January 6, 1989 was declared "Red Bow Tie Day" in

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...

to honor Eure and his service. Eure's trademarks were his bow ties and always signing in

green Green is the color between cyan and yellow on the visible spectrum. It is evoked by light which has a dominant wavelength of roughly 495570 Nanometre, nm. In subtractive color systems, used in painting and color printing, it is created by ...

ink.

References

Works cited

* *

External links

A Legacy of Service – Thad Eure, Sr.
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Eure, Thad 1899 births 1993 deaths Secretaries of State of North Carolina 20th-century American politicians North Carolina Democrats People from Gates County, North Carolina Elon University alumni University of North Carolina School of Law alumni People from Winton, North Carolina Mayors of places in North Carolina