Mack Mattingly
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Mack Francis Mattingly (born January 7, 1931) is an American diplomat and politician who served one term as a
United States senator The United States Senate is the Upper house, upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States House of Representatives, House of Representatives being the Lower house, lower chamber. Together they compose the national Bica ...
from Georgia, the first Republican to have served in the U.S. Senate from that state since
Reconstruction Reconstruction may refer to: Politics, history, and sociology *Reconstruction (law), the transfer of a company's (or several companies') business to a new company *''Perestroika'' (Russian for "reconstruction"), a late 20th century Soviet Union ...
.


Early life

Mattingly was born in Anderson,
Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...
, on January 7, 1931. He served four years in the
United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Signal ...
and was stationed at
Hunter Army Airfield Hunter Army Airfield , located in Savannah, Georgia, United States, is a military airfield and subordinate installation to Fort Stewart located in Hinesville, Georgia. Hunter features a runway that is 11,375 feet (3,468 m) long and an aircr ...
in
Savannah, Georgia Savannah ( ) is the oldest city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia and is the county seat of Chatham County, Georgia, Chatham County. Established in 1733 on the Savannah River, the city of Savannah became the Kingdom of Great Br ...
, in the early 1950s. In 1957, he earned a
Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University of ...
degree in
marketing Marketing is the process of exploring, creating, and delivering value to meet the needs of a target market in terms of goods and services; potentially including selection of a target audience; selection of certain attributes or themes to emph ...
from
Indiana University Indiana University (IU) is a system of public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. Campuses Indiana University has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration of IUPUI. *Indiana Universit ...
. Afterward, he worked for twenty years for IBM Corporation in Georgia and later operated his own business, M's Inc., which sold office supplies and equipment in
Brunswick, Georgia Brunswick () is a city in and the county seat of Glynn County in the U.S. state of Georgia. As the primary urban and economic center of the lower southeast portion of Georgia, it is the second-largest urban area on the Georgia coastline after Sa ...
.


Early political career

Mattingly first became active in politics in 1964 when he served as chairman of U.S. Senator
Barry Goldwater Barry Morris Goldwater (January 2, 1909 – May 29, 1998) was an American politician and United States Air Force officer who was a five-term U.S. Senator from Arizona (1953–1965, 1969–1987) and the Republican Party nominee for presiden ...
's campaign for President in Georgia's 8th congressional district. Goldwater carried Georgia. Two years later, Mattingly would help Bo Callaway organize the Georgia Republican Party and joined his ticket as a candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives against Congressman
W. S. Stuckey, Jr. Williamson Sylvester Stuckey Jr. (born May 25, 1935) is an American businessman and former politician. He is a former member of the Democratic Party. His father, W. S. Stuckey Sr., founded the Stuckey's chain of gift shops, of which Stuckey Jr. ...
Mattingly lost the race but was elected a member of the Georgia Republican Party State Executive Committee and served as Vice Chairman from 1968 until 1975. He served as Chairman of the Georgia Republican Party from 1975 to 1977 when he began exploring a race for the U.S. Senate.


U.S. Senate tenure

In 1980, Mattingly scored a historic upset, defeating longtime Democratic Senator Herman Talmadge, outpolling
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 ...
who lost the state in the Presidential election to favorite son Jimmy Carter. Mattingly served in the Senate from January 1981 until January 1987, with membership on the United States Senate Committee on Appropriations, chairing first the
United States Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Legislative Branch U.S. Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Legislative Branch is one of twelve subcommittees of the U.S. Senate Committee on Appropriations. The United States Senate Committee on Appropriations has joint jurisdiction with the United States House Com ...
and later the
United States Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Military Construction and Veterans Affairs U.S. Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Military Construction and Veterans Affairs is one of twelve subcommittees of the U.S. Senate Committee on Appropriations. The United States Senate Committee on Appropriations has joint jurisdiction with th ...
. Mattingly also served at various times on the Senate Banking Committee, the Governmental Affairs Committee, the
Joint Economic Committee The Joint Economic Committee (JEC) is one of four standing joint committees of the U.S. Congress. The committee was established as a part of the Employment Act of 1946, which deemed the committee responsible for reporting the current economic co ...
and the Ethics Committee. He is perhaps best remembered as a proponent of the line-item veto, a position that earned him recognition by President Ronald Reagan during his 1985 State of the Union Address.


1986 campaign

In November 1986, Mattingly was narrowly defeated in his bid for re-election by former Congressman
Wyche Fowler William Wyche Fowler Jr. (born October 6, 1940) is an American attorney, politician, and diplomat. He is a member of the Democratic Party and served as a U.S. Senator from Georgia from 1987 to 1993. He had previously served in the U.S. House of ...
of Atlanta.


Post senatorial career

In 1987, Reagan appointed Mattingly assistant secretary-general for defense support for NATO in Brussels, Belgium. In 1988, Mattingly received the Secretary of Defense Medal for Outstanding Public Service. In 1992, President
George H. W. Bush George Herbert Walker BushSince around 2000, he has been usually called George H. W. Bush, Bush Senior, Bush 41 or Bush the Elder to distinguish him from his eldest son, George W. Bush, who served as the 43rd president from 2001 to 2009; pr ...
appointed Mattingly ambassador to Seychelles. He served in this position until 1993. Mattingly remains active on several corporate and nonprofit boards. Mattingly ran against Democrat Zell Miller in the 2000 special election to replace the deceased Senator Paul Coverdell, but Miller succeeded in holding the seat to which he had been appointed by Governor Roy Barnes. Mattingly endorsed
Fred Thompson Freddie Dalton Thompson (August 19, 1942 – November 1, 2015) was an American politician, attorney, lobbyist, columnist, actor, and radio personality. A member of the Republican Party, he served as a United States Senator from Tennessee f ...
for President in the 2008 Republican primary,
Newt Gingrich Newton Leroy Gingrich (; né McPherson; born June 17, 1943) is an American politician and author who served as the 50th speaker of the United States House of Representatives from 1995 to 1999. A member of the Republican Party, he was the U ...
for President in the 2012 Republican primary, and Donald Trump for President in the 2016 Republican primary.


Personal life

Mattingly married Carolyn Longcamp in 1957, and fathered two daughters, Jane and Anne. Carolyn Mattingly died in 1997. In 1998, he married Leslie Davisson, a lawyer, mediator and former judge. He currently lives on
St. Simons Island, Georgia St. Simons Island (or simply St. Simons) is a barrier island and census-designated place (CDP) located on St. Simons Island in Glynn County, Georgia, United States. The names of the community and the island are interchangeable, known simply as ...
. He continues to be active in Republican politics, and he serves on a number of
corporate board A board of directors (commonly referred simply as the board) is an Committee#Executive committee, executive committee that jointly supervises the activities of an organization, which can be either a for-profit or a nonprofit organization such a ...
s.


References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mattingly, Mack F. 1931 births Living people Politicians from Anderson, Indiana Republican Party United States senators from Georgia (U.S. state) Georgia (U.S. state) Republicans Ambassadors of the United States to Seychelles IBM employees People from Brunswick, Georgia People from St. Simons, Georgia Military personnel from Indiana United States Air Force airmen New Right (United States) 20th-century American diplomats 20th-century American politicians