Tennessee Department of Veterans Services
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The Tennessee Department of Veterans Services (TDVS) is the head of
Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...
's Department of Veterans Affairs, which is responsible for veterans benefits programs within the state. The Commissioner is appointed by the governor of Tennessee and is a member of the governor's Cabinet, which meets at least once per month, or more often to the governor's liking. The position of Commissioner was first created in 1945, along with the department it heads, but in 1959 the department became a staff division under the governor's office headed by a director. The position of Commissioner was recreated in 1975 by the Tennessee General Assembly. It is analogous to the federal
Secretary of Veterans Affairs The United States secretary of veterans affairs is the head of the United States Department of Veterans Affairs, the department concerned with veterans' benefits, health care, and national veterans' memorials and cemeteries. The secretary is a me ...
or the Minister of Veterans Affairs of
Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
. According to the Tennessee State Library and Archives,
Louis Ragghianti Louis may refer to: * Louis (coin) * Louis (given name), origin and several individuals with this name * Louis (surname) * Louis (singer), Serbian singer * HMS ''Louis'', two ships of the Royal Navy See also Derived or associated terms * Lewis ( ...
was the first Commissioner after the Department's reinstatement, from 1975 to 1979, under Governor
Ray Blanton Leonard Ray Blanton (April 10, 1930 – November 22, 1996)Fred Rolater"Leonard Ray Blanton" ''Tennessee Encyclopedia of History and Culture'', 2009. Retrieved: December 31, 2012.William H. Roden, Jr. was the Commissioner under the administration of
Lamar Alexander Andrew Lamar Alexander Jr. (born July 3, 1940) is a retired American lawyer and politician who served as a United States Senator from Tennessee from 2003 to 2021. A member of the Republican Party, he also was the 45th governor of Tennessee from ...
. William D. "Bill" Manning, appointed in 1987, was the Commissioner under
Ned Ray McWherter Ned Ray McWherter (October 15, 1930April 4, 2011) was an American businessman and politician who served as the 46th Governor of Tennessee, from 1987 to 1995. Prior to that, he served as Speaker of the Tennessee House of Representatives from 19 ...
, and Fred Tucker was the Commissioner of Veterans Services under
Don Sundquist Donald Kenneth Sundquist (born March 15, 1936) is an American businessman and politician who served as the 47th Governor of Tennessee from 1995 to 2003. Prior to his governorship, he represented Tennessee's 7th congressional district in the Uni ...
. The current Commissioner, under the administration of
Bill Haslam William Edward Haslam (; born August 23, 1958) is an American billionaire businessman and politician who served as the 49th governor of Tennessee from 2011 to 2019. A member of the Republican Party, Haslam previously served as the 67th mayor of ...
, is Many-Bears Grinder.


External links


LexisNexis's archive of Tennessee Code, Title 4The Tennessee Blue Book's section on the Department (PDF)
* ttps://web.archive.org/web/19990220233244/http://www.state.tn.us/veteran/ The Tennessee Department of Veterans Affairs website in 1999 State agencies of Tennessee State departments of veterans affairs in the United States {{Tennessee-stub