137-626: Albert Benjamin " Happy " Chandler Sr. (July 14, 1898 – June 15, 1991) was an American politician from Kentucky . He represented Kentucky in the U.S. Senate and served as its 44th and 49th governor . Aside from his political positions, he also served as the second commissioner of baseball from 1945 to 1951 and was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1982. His grandson, Ben Chandler , later served as congressman for Kentucky's Sixth District . A multi-sport athlete during his college days at Transylvania College , Chandler briefly considered
274-584: A Mississippian culture took root in western and central Kentucky and a Fort Ancient culture appeared in eastern Kentucky. While the two had many similarities, the distinctive ceremonial earthwork mounds constructed in the former's centers were not part of the culture of the latter. Fort Ancient settlements depended largely on corn, beans, and squash, and practiced a system of agriculture that prevented ecological degradation by rotating crops, burning sections of forest to create ideal habitat for wild game, relocating villages every 10–30 years, and continually shifting
411-513: A Democratic victory. Chandler was elected over John C. Worsham, by a vote of 426,247 to 353,573. In a break with precedent, Chandler set up an office on the executive floor of the state capitol and worked there full-time. Previous lieutenant governors had stayed in Frankfort only during legislative sessions, when they were charged with presiding over the State Senate. Shortly after their election,
548-407: A Kentucky gubernatorial election, and at only 37, Chandler was the youngest governor of any US state. One of Chandler's first acts as governor was to secure the repeal of the sales tax passed under Laffoon. He also successfully lobbied the legislature to abolish the two-round primary, in favor of a single primary for future elections. Knowing that he would need to raise revenue to offset the repeal of
685-525: A cadet in training and never had engaged in active service in the war. Ultimately, the campaign turned on the failed presidential administration of the Republican ex-president Hoover and that of the sitting president, the Democratic Roosevelt. Chandler defeated Swope by a vote of 556,262 (54%) to 461,104 (45%) in the general election. The 95,000-vote margin of victory was then the largest ever recorded in
822-485: A career in professional baseball before deciding to pursue a law degree. After graduation, he entered politics and was elected as a Democrat to the Kentucky Senate in 1929. Two years later, he was elected lieutenant governor , serving under Governor Ruby Laffoon . Chandler and Laffoon disagreed on the issue of instituting a state sales tax and when Chandler, the presiding officer in the state senate, worked to block
959-530: A cherry tree when he was 13 years old. Chandler was raised by his father and relatives, and by age 8, he virtually supported himself financially from his paper route and doing odd jobs in his community. In 1917, he graduated from Corydon High School, where he had been captain of the baseball and football teams. His father wanted him to study for the ministry, but Chandler instead entered Transylvania College (now Transylvania University ) in Lexington, Kentucky . It
1096-468: A close race. The following year, Kentucky's other senator, Marvel Mills Logan , died in office, and Chandler resigned as governor so his successor could appoint him to the vacant seat. A fiscal conservative and disciple of Virginia 's Harry F. Byrd , Chandler opposed parts of Roosevelt's New Deal and openly disagreed with the president's decision to prioritize European operations in World War II over
1233-425: A fairer English translation "The Land of Those Who Became Our Fathers". In any case, the word aki means "land" in most Algonquian languages. The first archaeological evidence of human occupation of Kentucky is approximately 9500BCE, and it was Clovis culture, primitive hunter-gatherers with stone tools. Around 1800 BCE, a gradual transition began from a hunter-gatherer economy to agriculturalism. Around 900 CE,
1370-446: A fellow Eastern Kentuckian , but political bosses Billy Klair, Johnson N. Camden Jr. , and Ben Johnson supported Chandler. The support of another political boss, Mickey Brennan, gave Chandler the edge at the party's nominating convention. Democratic gubernatorial nominee Ruby Laffoon also owed his selection to the machinations of the state's political bosses, notably his uncle, Representative Polk Laffoon . Problematically, Chandler
1507-580: A former negotiator for the National Labor Relations Board , attempted to organize the Pittsburgh Pirates into a guild for purposes of collective bargaining . Murphy decried the reserve clause in player contracts, which gave team owners unlimited control over the player's services, and he demanded more rights for players, including the right of contract and the right of salary arbitration. Chandler worked with Pirates officials to avoid
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#17328587391391644-536: A friend of Chandler in the US War Department , suggested Chandler as a successor. Baseball owners who had been afraid that their players would be made eligible for the draft during the war had decided that their new commissioner needed to have the skills and influence to represent baseball's interests in Washington, D C . As a senator, Chandler had advocated on behalf of baseball during the war, which endeared him to
1781-725: A group of Southern conservatives in the Senate, and through Byrd's influence, Chandler was appointed to the Committee on Military Affairs . In 1943, he was part of a five-person delegation from the Military Affairs Committee that traveled the world, inspecting US military bases. He vociferously disagreed with Roosevelt's decision to prioritize the European Theatre in World War II over the Pacific Theatre . Chandler upset many in
1918-561: A group of black and white educators that "it is not wise to educate the white and colored in the same school in the South. It is not prepared for it yet." In 1939, he appointed the first woman trustee on the University of Kentucky Board of Trustees, Georgia M. Blazer of Ashland. She served from 1939 to 1960. In 1936, Chandler urged implementation of the state's first rural roads program and development of electrical infrastructure with assistance from
2055-770: A major slave market and departure port for slaves being transported down the Ohio River. Kentucky was a heavily divided slave state during the American Civil War . Though the state had dueling Union and Confederate state governments, Kentucky was never an official component of the Confederacy. Kentucky was one of the Southern border states during the war, and it remained neutral within the Union . Despite this, representatives from 68 of 110 counties met at Russellville calling themselves
2192-507: A majority, which triggered the runoff primary. Both Wallis and Huddleston backed Chandler in the runoff, and Chandler defeated Rhea, by a vote of 260,573 (53%) to 234,124 (47%), to secure the nomination. Chandler promised to repeal the unpopular sales tax, lower the gasoline tax , oppose any increase in property taxes, and end the common practice of assessing state employees a percentage of their salaries to be used for campaign activities. Infuriated by their loss, Laffoon and his allies abandoned
2329-489: A military veteran from Virginia, was elected its first Governor. The central Bluegrass region and the western portion of the state were the areas with the most slave owners . Planters cultivated tobacco and hemp on plantations with the use of slave labor, and were noted for their quality livestock . During the 19th century, Kentucky slaveholders began to sell unneeded slaves to the Deep South , with Louisville becoming
2466-663: A period known as the Beaver Wars (1640–1680), another Algonquian tribe called the Maumee , or Mascouten was chased out of southern Michigan. The vast majority of them moved to Kentucky, pushing the Kispoko east and war broke out with the Tutelo of North Carolina and Virginia that pushed them further north and east. The Maumee were closely related to the Miami from Indiana. Later, the Kispoko merged with
2603-473: A radio address. Chandler maintained that someone from the Barkley campaign had tried to poison him, but the charge never gained much credence with the press or the electorate. Barkley frequently mocked it on the campaign trail by first accepting a glass of water offered to him and then shuddering and rejecting it. He pointed out to audiences that it was the young Chandler and not Barkley who had broken down first under
2740-579: A record 29,006 birds taken during the 23-day season in spring 2009. In 1991 the Land Between the Lakes partnered with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for the Red Wolf Recovery Program, a captive breeding program. Kentucky is subdivided into 120 counties , the largest being Pike County at 787.6 square miles (2,040 km ), and the most populous being Jefferson County (which coincides with
2877-491: A refusal to sell their crops to the major tobacco companies. An Association meeting occurred in downtown Guthrie , where a vigilante wing of "Night Riders", formed. The riders terrorized farmers who sold their tobacco at the low prices demanded by the tobacco corporations. They burned several tobacco warehouses throughout the area, stretching as far west as Hopkinsville to Princeton . In the later period of their operation, they were known to physically assault farmers who broke
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#17328587391393014-606: A second term as governor in 1955. The major accomplishments of his second term were enforcing the racial integration of the state's public schools and establishing a medical school at the University of Kentucky , later named the Chandler Medical Center in his honor. Following his second term as governor, his political influence began to wane as he made three more unsuccessful runs for governor in 1963, 1967, and 1971. His endorsement of dark-horse candidate Wallace G. Wilkinson
3151-559: A secret meeting that had allegedly been held by baseball officials at the Blackstone Hotel in Chicago on August 28, 1946. At the meeting, Rickey claimed that Ford Frick disseminated a report that stated, "However well-intentioned, the use of Negro players would hazard all physical properties of baseball." According to Rickey, all 15 team owners except for him voted to endorse the report. Rickey claimed Frick meticulously collected all copies of
3288-522: A short distance from Chandler's hometown of Corydon, Clements later said that if Chandler had asked him first, he might have managed Chandler's campaign, instead of Rhea's. Instead, by the virtue of managing the opposing campaign, Clements became the leader of a Democratic faction that opposed Chandler for the next three decades. Chandler feared that Laffoon, who controlled the State Democratic Central Committee, would attempt to handpick
3425-421: A special legislative session that would not be time-limited and could entertain only the agenda he specified. Legislators obliged this request. Acting on recommendations from Beckham's commission, legislators helped offset the lost revenue from the sales tax by raising excise taxes , particularly the tax on whiskey , which was made possible by the state's repeal of Prohibition , in 1935. Legislators also enacted
3562-512: A threatened strike by the players. Part of Chandler's intervention included organizing a team of replacement players as a contingency plan; the team would have included Honus Wagner , then 72. The defections to the Mexican league and the threat of a strike by the Pirates prompted owners to form an advisory committee, chaired by Larry MacPhail, to suggest needed changes that would calm the discontent among
3699-415: A two-stage primary would wear Beckham down. Journalist John Ed Pearce, however, contends that Beckham had already declined to become a candidate, citing his own ill health and that of his son, before the special session convened. Whatever the case, the legislature passed the bill that Laffoon proposed. After Beckham declined to run for governor, the anti-Laffoon faction supported Chandler against Rhea. During
3836-406: Is believed to have once been a lush open woodland environment similar to oak savanna with abundant thickets of river cane , a species of bamboo , was once described by E. Lucy Braun as having the most "anomalous" plant life of the whole Eastern United States. Kentucky's natural environment has suffered greatly from destructive human activities that began after European colonization, particularly
3973-791: Is divided into eastern, central and western sub-regions, the latter known as the Pennyrile); the Western Coal Field ; and the far-western Jackson Purchase , the northernmost extension of the Mississippian Embayment, west and south of the Tennessee River. The Bluegrass region is commonly divided into two regions, the Inner Bluegrass encircling 90 miles (140 km) around Lexington , and the Outer Bluegrass that contains most of
4110-464: Is included in the boundaries of Fulton County . Road access to this small part of Kentucky on the Mississippi River (populated by 18 people as of 2010 ) requires traveling through Tennessee. The epicenter of the 1811–12 New Madrid earthquakes was near this area, causing the Mississippi River to flow backwards in some places. Though the series of quakes changed the area geologically and affected
4247-770: The Big Sandy River and Tug Fork to the east. Its major internal rivers include the Kentucky River , Tennessee River , Cumberland River , Green River , and Licking River . Though it has only three major natural lakes, Kentucky is home to many artificial lakes . It has the largest artificial lakes east of the Mississippi in both water volume ( Lake Cumberland ) and surface area ( Kentucky Lake ). Kentucky Lake's 2,064 miles (3,322 km) of shoreline, 160,300 acres (64,900 hectares) of water surface, and 4,008,000 acre-feet (4.9 billion cubic meters ) of flood storage are
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4384-589: The Bretton Woods Monetary Agreement and the Charter of the United Nations . He received only his Senate salary until his resignation on November 1, 1945, despite claims to the contrary by the press. Nevertheless, his delay in assuming the commissioner's job upset many team owners, as did his late arrival to Game 3 of the 1945 World Series , which rendered him unavailable to rule on whether the weather
4521-543: The Centre College Praying Colonels football team in Danville, Kentucky , asked him to scout the national powerhouse Harvard Crimson , an upcoming opponent for Centre. Chandler took copious notes for Moran, and Centre defeated Harvard 6–0 in what is considered one of the greatest upsets in college football history. After a year, Chandler was not able to afford Harvard. He returned to Kentucky and continued at
4658-617: The Colony of Virginia , whose geographical extent was south of the Ohio and Allegheny Rivers beyond the Appalachian Mountains , became known to European Americans as Kentucky (or Kentucke) country . It was named for the Kentucky River , a tributary of the Ohio. The precise etymology of the name is uncertain. One theory sees the word based on an Iroquoian name meaning "(on) the meadow" or "(on)
4795-632: The Commonwealth of Kentucky , is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States . It borders Illinois , Indiana , and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the northeast, Virginia to the east, Tennessee to the south, and Missouri to the west. Its northern border is defined by the Ohio River . Its capital is Frankfort and its most populous city is Louisville . As of 2020,
4932-552: The Hatch Act of 1939 to limit the WPA's involvement in future elections. The negative effects of the investigation on Barkley's campaign were minimal because of Chandler's own use of his gubernatorial power and patronage on behalf of his own campaign. Dan Talbott, one of Chandler's chief political advisors, encouraged supervisors of state workers to take punitive action against employees who made "pessimistic expressions" on Chandler's chances in
5069-429: The Ohio River flood of 1937 . Following the flood, Chandler convinced the legislature to construct the new Kentucky State Reformatory , at La Grange . Generally a friend of organized labor , Chandler supported miners' efforts to unionize, organized the state Department of Industrial Relations, and prohibited mine operators from being appointed as deputy sheriffs. He also endorsed the proposed Child Labor Amendment to
5206-674: The Omicron Delta Kappa honor society. In 1918, during World War I, the United States Army started a Student Officers' Training Corps at Transylvania, and Chandler began training to be an officer. The war ended before he was called to active duty. In 1920, Chandler pitched a no-hitter for Grafton, North Dakota 's team in the Red River Valley League. He attended a professional baseball tryout in Saskatoon but did not make
5343-734: The Revolutionary War . The county was subdivided into Jefferson , Lincoln and Fayette Counties in 1780, but continued to be administered as the District of Kentucky even as new counties were split off. On several occasions the region's residents petitioned the General Assembly and the Confederation Congress for separation from Virginia and statehood . Ten constitutional conventions were held in Danville between 1784 and 1792. One petition, which had Virginia's assent, came before
5480-659: The Shawnee , who migrated from the east and the Ohio River valley. A persistent myth, perpetuated in many popular and scholarly works, alleges that Native Americans never lived permanently in Kentucky, but rather used it only as a "hunting ground." According to early Kentucky historians, early European settlers encountered extensive evidence of permanent, advanced settlements, including numerous burial mounds, copper and stone artifacts , and what early historians describe as "fortifications:" large sites consisting of extensive walls enclosing
5617-652: The US Constitution and secured passage of a state anti-child-labor law that had been defeated twice in the state legislature by overwhelming margins. However, he opposed closed shops and sitdown strikes , and he used the Kentucky National Guard to quell labor-related violence in Harlan County . In the 1936 US Senate contest in Kentucky, incumbent Democrat Marvel Mills Logan was seen as vulnerable, and Chandler backed Democratic challenger J. C. W. Beckham in
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5754-555: The University of Kentucky College of Law , coaching high school sports in Versailles and serving as the head coach of the women's basketball team at the University of Kentucky in 1923. He was an assistant coach and scout for Charlie Moran at Centre, and he coached the freshman football team there. A member of the Order of the Coif , he received his Bachelor of Laws degree in 1924. He was admitted to
5891-648: The bar the following year and opened his law practice in Versailles. On November 12, 1925, Chandler married Mildred Lucille Watkins, a teacher at the Margaret Hall School for Girls. They would have four children: Marcella, Mildred ("Mimi"), Albert Jr., and Joseph Daniel. Mimi Chandler played one of the four singing sisters in the 1944 film And the Angels Sing , appearing with Dorothy Lamour , Betty Hutton , and Diana Lynn before abandoning acting and working for
6028-567: The upcoming Mexican presidential election and used them to offer large salaries and signing bonuses to American baseball players. In some cases, the offers were triple the salaries being paid in the Major Leagues. Chandler deterred players from considering Mexican League offers by imposing a five-year ban from Major League Baseball to anyone who played in the Mexican League and did not return by April 1, 1946. In all, eighteen players played for
6165-645: The "Convention of the People of Kentucky" and passed an Ordinance of Secession on November 20, 1861. They established a Confederate government of Kentucky with its capital in Bowling Green , and Kentucky was officially admitted into the Confederacy on December 10, 1861, as the 13th Confederate state with full recognition in Richmond. The Confederate shadow government was never popularly elected statewide, though 116 delegates were sent representing 68 Kentucky counties which at
6302-538: The 14th and youngest-ever Vice President was born in Lexington, Kentucky at Cabell's Dale Farm. Breckenridge was expelled from the U. S. Senate for his support of the Confederacy. Henry W. Grady, editor of the Atlanta Constitution, coined the term New South in 1874, urging transformation from an agrarian economy to a modern industrial one. On January 30, 1900, Governor William Goebel , flanked by two bodyguards,
6439-402: The 1972 interview, there is no evidence that his meeting with Rickey ever took place. Nevertheless, future baseball commissioner Bowie Kuhn and Washington Post sportswriter Bob Addie maintained that Robinson would not have played without Chandler's intervention. Kentucky Kentucky ( US : / k ə n ˈ t ʌ k i / , UK : / k ɛ n -/ ), officially
6576-586: The Articles of Confederation" only, but not "under the Constitution", and so declined to take action. On December 18, 1789, Virginia again gave its consent to Kentucky statehood. The United States Congress gave its approval on February 4, 1791. (This occurred two weeks before Congress approved Vermont 's petition for statehood. ) Kentucky officially became the fifteenth state in the Union on June 1, 1792. Isaac Shelby ,
6713-529: The Confederation Congress in early July 1788. Unfortunately, its consideration came up a day after word of New Hampshire 's all-important ninth ratification of the proposed Constitution , thus establishing it as the new framework of governance for the United States. In light of this development, Congress thought that it would be "unadvisable" to admit Kentucky into the Union, as it could do so "under
6850-617: The Democratic gubernatorial nominee by calling a nominating convention instead of holding a primary election and so Chandler used a bold move to circumvent Laffoon's ability to carry out such an action. Under the Kentucky Constitution , Chandler became acting governor whenever Laffoon left the state. When Laffoon traveled to meet with President Franklin Roosevelt in Washington, DC , on February 6, 1935, Chandler used his authority to call
6987-443: The Democratic primary. That endorsement drew the ire of Chandler's former ally, Democratic representative John Y. Brown Sr., who believed that in exchange for his support of Chandler in the 1935 gubernatorial race, Chandler would support him in the senatorial contest. An embittered Brown entered the race anyway, and the votes that he pulled from Beckham likely allowed Logan to retain the seat. Brown remained Chandler's political enemy for
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#17328587391397124-442: The General Assembly since both the legislators and their constituents had grown to distrust party nominating conventions. Accordingly, he proposed a bill enacting a mandatory two-stage primary in which a runoff election would be held between the top two candidates in the first round. Historian Lowell H. Harrison maintained that Laffoon expected his rival faction to nominate the aging Beckham to oppose Rhea and that Laffoon hoped that
7261-402: The House of Representatives but died in the Senate. Later, Chandler joined with Southern senators in opposing the repeal of poll taxes , which had been long used as a mechanism to prevent blacks from voting. At the expiration of his partial term in 1942, Chandler faced a challenge from former ally John Y. Brown Sr. in the Democratic primary. As a result of his votes on the anti-lynching bill and
7398-429: The Kentucky Department of Tourism. For the next five years, Chandler simultaneously practiced law, coached high school sports, and served as a scout for Centre. He joined numerous fraternal organizations, including the Freemasons , Shriners , Knights Templar , Forty and Eight , and Optimist International . Chandler entered politics when he was named chairman of the Woodford County Democratic Committee. In 1928, he
7535-403: The Kentucky delegation, Earle C. Clements in particular, refused to back his nomination. The convention nominated Harry Truman as Roosevelt's running mate. Truman became president upon Roosevelt's death in 1945, and Chandler never forgave Clements for costing him the chance to be US president. After the death of baseball commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis , in November 1944, John O. Gottlieb,
7672-403: The Mexican league despite the ban, including Mickey Owen , Max Lanier , and Sal Maglie . Vern Stephens initially agreed to play in Mexico as well but returned before Chandler's deadline. Ted Williams , Stan Musial , and Phil Rizzuto were also offered lucrative contracts and incentives, but all eventually declined to play in Mexico. Shortly after the Mexican league incident, Robert Murphy,
7809-450: The Mississippi, there is no evidence French or Spanish explorers set foot in the lands south of the Ohio, notwithstanding speculations about Hernando de Soto and Robert de la Salle. The terrain in those days was not surveyed, so there is some uncertainty whether and to what extent the early English explorers out of Virginia set foot on the land. Confounding the issue is that the region south of the Ohio/Allegheny later known as Kentucky country
7946-403: The New Deal, finally persuaded Chandler to abandon his attacks of the program. In late May 1938, Chandler's campaign manager publicly claimed that federal relief agencies, especially the Works Progress Administration , were openly working for Barkley's re-election. Although the WPA administrator in Kentucky denied the charges, veteran reporter Thomas Lunsford Stokes launched an investigation of
8083-406: The North Carolina border (today Tennessee) extending to the Mississippi River, previously most of what was known as Kentucky (or Kentucke) country , was split off into its own county of Kentucky . Harrod's Town (Oldtown as it was known at the time) was named the county seat. A 1790 U.S. government report states that 1,500 Kentucky settlers had been killed by Native Americans since the end of
8220-446: The Ohio River and continued to maintain only small or transient settlements. This upheaval likely led the settlers to believe that Kentucky was a hunting ground contested by multiple tribes but not permanently inhabited, when in reality it had only recently been abandoned due to social and political turmoil. European explorers arrived in Kentucky possibly as early as 1671. While French explorers surely spied Kentucky during expeditions on
8357-414: The Ohio River, will be in Kentucky for about two miles (3 km). Ellis Park , a thoroughbred racetrack, is located in this small piece of Kentucky. Waterworks Road is part of the only land border between Indiana and Kentucky. Kentucky has a non-contiguous part known as Kentucky Bend , at the far west corner of the state. It exists as an exclave surrounded completely by Missouri and Tennessee , and
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#17328587391398494-422: The United States. In mid-1937, he began advocating for Marvel Mills Logan, Kentucky's junior senator, to be appointed to the US Supreme Court , creating a Senate vacancy to which Chandler, as governor, could appoint himself. The retirement of Justice George Sutherland in January 1938 gave President Franklin Roosevelt the opportunity to accommodate Chandler's wishes, but Roosevelt preferred younger justices (Logan
8631-432: The agency's activities in the state and eventually raised 22 charges of political corruption in a series of eight articles, covering the Barkley-Chandler campaign. Federal WPA administrator Harry Hopkins claimed an internal investigation of the agency refuted all but two of Stokes' charges, but Stokes was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Reporting in 1939 for his investigation. In the wake of the investigation Congress passed
8768-470: The black community by voting against an anti- lynching bill soon after taking office. The bill levied fines against local governments and individual government officials in counties in which illegal lynchings had occurred. Of his vote against the bill, Chandler remarked, "I am against lynching by anybody and of anybody, black or white, but the present bill carries penalties on local officials and local subdivisions which I think are too severe." The bill passed in
8905-457: The bluegrass heartland of Kentucky. While the Cherokee did not settle in Kentucky, they hunted there. They relinquished their hunting rights there in an extra-legal private contract with speculator Richard Henderson called Treaty of Sycamore Shoals in 1775. On December 31, 1776, by an act of the Virginia General Assembly , the portion of Fincastle County west of the Big Sandy River (including today's Tug Fork tributary) terminating at
9042-417: The boycott. Governor Augustus E. Willson declared martial law and deployed the Kentucky National Guard to end the wars. Kentucky is situated in the Upland South . A significant portion of eastern Kentucky is part of Appalachia . Kentucky borders seven states, from the Midwest and the Southeast . West Virginia lies to the northeast, Virginia to the east, Tennessee to the south, Missouri to
9179-405: The campaign, Chandler fell ill with chills, stomach pains, and a high fever. After first claiming the symptoms were similar to those that he had experienced a year earlier, Chandler later described his malady as "intestinal poisoning". His doctor announced that Chandler, Dan Talbott, and a state police officer had all been sickened after drinking "poisoned water" that had been provided to Chandler for
9316-466: The commissionership, the Brooklyn Dodgers ' general manager, Branch Rickey , had announced the signing of Jackie Robinson to a minor league contract with the Montreal Royals , making him the first black man to play for a Major League Baseball affiliate. The following year, Rickey transferred Robinson's contract from Montreal to Brooklyn, effectively breaking baseball's color line . In a speech at Wilberforce University in February 1948, Rickey recounted
9453-470: The conversion of natural habitat to farmland and coal mining . Kentucky has an expansive park system, which includes one national park, two National Recreation Areas, two National Historic Parks, two national forests , two National Wildlife Refuges, 45 state parks , 37,896 acres (153 km ) of state forest, and 82 wildlife management areas . Kentucky has been part of two of the most successful wildlife reintroduction projects in United States history. In
9590-451: The divide between Chandler and Laffoon widened over the issue of implementing a state sales tax . Laffoon favored the tax, but Chandler opposed it. As presiding officer of the State Senate, Chandler worked with House Speaker John Y. Brown Sr. , to block passage of the tax. In retaliation, Laffoon's allies in the Kentucky General Assembly stripped Chandler of some of his statutory power as lieutenant governor, and they were then able to pass
9727-430: The eighteenth century, epidemics of disease had destabilized and changed the indigenous groups that inhabited Kentucky, causing some to reassemble into multi-tribal towns, and others to disperse further from the sphere of European influence. Around the end of the French and Indian War, as European settlers began to claim parts of the Bluegrass State, Native Americans abandoned their larger, more permanent villages south of
9864-444: The ensuing primary, Chandler defeated Laffoon's choice, Thomas Rhea . He then went on to defeat Republican King Swope by the largest margin of victory for a Kentucky gubernatorial race at that time. As governor, Chandler oversaw the repeal of the sales tax, replacing the lost revenue with new excise taxes and the state's first income tax . He also enacted a major reorganization of state government, realizing significant savings for
10001-502: The far north as an average annual temperature and of 60 °F (16 °C) in the extreme southwest. In general, Kentucky has relatively hot, humid , rainy summers, and moderately cold and rainy winters. Mean maximum temperatures in July vary from 83 to 90 °F (28 to 32 °C); the mean minimum July temperatures are 61 to 69 °F (16 to 21 °C). In January the mean maximum temperatures range from 36 to 44 °F (2 to 7 °C);
10138-475: The federal Rural Electrification Act . He implemented an old-age assistance program authorized by an earlier constitutional amendment, and in 1938, he proposed another amendment that would add dependent children and needy blind people to the state's assistance rolls. He increased funding to the state's hospitals and asylums, and he personally aided with the evacuation of the Frankfort Penitentiary during
10275-578: The flat tops of bluffs, cliffs or mountains, constructed from stone that was quarried in the surrounding valleys and brought up to the summit. These sites and artifacts were sometimes explained as being the remnants of a "lost" white race, or some variously identified ethnic group predating and distinct from the Native Americans. More recent scholarship identifies the mound builders as the Mississippian and Fort Ancient peoples, which were distinct from
10412-466: The freezing point vary from about sixty days in the southwest to more than a hundred days in the far-north and far-east. Kentucky has the second-most navigable miles of water among U.S. states, second to Alaska . Kentucky is the only state to have a continuous border of rivers running along three of its sides – the Mississippi River to the west, the Ohio River to the north, and
10549-494: The frontrunner, New York Yankees co-owner Larry MacPhail began to advocate for Chandler. When the owners met in Cleveland , Ohio , on April 24, 1945, to vote for a new commissioner, Chandler's name was not on the shortlist, which had Frick, Farley, Hannegan, Vinson, Lausche, and Patterson. None of the candidates received the required two-thirds majority , and after lobbying by MacPhail and New York Giants owner Horace Stoneham ,
10686-445: The governor and accused Chandler of ulterior motives in supporting the act. Chandler used the savings realized from his reorganization of government to eliminate the state's budget deficit and to pay off most of the state's debt. That brought about further savings by eliminating debt service costs, which were applied to improvements in the state's infrastructure and educational institutions. Chandler allocated funds for free textbooks for
10823-505: The indigenous cultures encountered by settlers, although sharing the same origin in Paleoindian groups that inhabited the area for at least 12,000 years. Beginning in the seventeenth century, before indigenous groups in Kentucky made direct contact with Europeans, articles of European origin such as glass beads entered the region via trade routes , and the appearance of mass graves suggests that European diseases were also introduced. By
10960-440: The installation of the pool and no violations of the federal rationing provisions were found. Chandler went on to defeat Brown and was easily re-elected in the general election over Republican Richard J. Colbert. Chandler believed that he had enough support at the 1944 Democratic National Convention to be nominated as Roosevelt's running mate for that year's presidential election . The support failed to materialize, however, after
11097-440: The interior of the state. French explorers in the 17th century documented numerous tribes living in Kentucky until the Beaver Wars in the 1670s; however, by the time that European colonial explorers and settlers began entering Kentucky in greater numbers in the mid-18th century, there were no major Native American settlements in the region. The Chickasaw had territory up to the confluence of Mississippi and Ohio rivers. During
11234-494: The legislation, Laffoon's allies in the General Assembly stripped him of many of his statutory powers. The tax then passed by a narrow margin. Knowing that Laffoon would try to select his own successor at the Democratic nominating convention, Chandler waited until Laffoon left the state—leaving Chandler as acting governor—and called the legislature into session to enact a mandatory primary election bill. The bill passed, and in
11371-475: The legislature into session to consider a bill that required each party's gubernatorial candidates to be chosen by a primary, rather than a nominating convention. Laffoon returned to the state the next day and challenged Chandler's authority to make the call, but Chandler's actions would be validated by the Kentucky Court of Appeals on February 26. Laffoon knew that the primary bill would be widely supported in
11508-603: The location of fields to maintain plots of land in various stages of ecological succession . In about the 10th century, the Kentucky native people's variety of corn became highly productive, supplanting the Eastern Agricultural Complex and replacing it with maize-based agriculture in the Mississippian era . As of the 16th century, what became Kentucky was home to tribes from diverse linguistic groups. The Kispoko , an Algonquian-speaking tribe, controlled much of
11645-457: The mean minimum temperatures range from 19 to 26 °F (−7 to −3 °C). Temperature means vary with northern and far-eastern mountain regions averaging five degrees cooler year-round, compared to the relatively warmer areas of the southern and western regions of the state. Precipitation varies north to south with the north averaging of 38 to 40 inches (970 to 1,020 mm), and the south averaging of 50 inches (1,300 mm). Days per year below
11782-478: The most of any lake in the Tennessee Valley Authority system. Kentucky's 90,000 miles (140,000 km) of streams provides one of the most expansive and complex stream systems in the nation. Kentucky hosts multiple habitats with a high number of endemic species, including some of the most extensive cave systems in the world. 102 known species are endemic to the state. The Bluegrass region, which
11919-604: The northern portion of the state, above the Knobs . Much of the outer Bluegrass is in the Eden Shale Hills sub-region, made up of short, steep, and very narrow hills. The alluvial plain of the Ohio River is another geological region, as is the area south and east of Pine Mountain, part of the Ridge and Valley Belt of Appalachia. Most of Kentucky has a humid subtropical climate (Köppen: Cfa ), with small Appalachian highland areas of
12056-865: The number of automobiles and trucks assembled. It is one of several states considered part of the Upland South . The state is home to the world's longest known cave system in Mammoth Cave National Park , the greatest length of navigable waterways and streams in the contiguous United States , and the nation's two largest artificial lakes east of the Mississippi River . Cultural aspects of Kentucky include horse racing , bourbon , moonshine , coal mining , My Old Kentucky Home State Park , automobile manufacturing, tobacco, Southern cuisine , barbecue , bluegrass music , college basketball , Louisville Slugger baseball bats, and Kentucky Fried Chicken . Prior to 1769, Botetourt County and successor counties in
12193-450: The owners took an informal vote to see if anyone had the potential to be elected. Chandler's name appeared in the top three on each of the sixteen ballots. Encouraged, the owners then held another formal vote. After two ballots, Chandler received the necessary majority. A third vote was taken to make the choice unanimous. Chandler remained in the Senate for several months after his election as commissioner because he wanted to cast his vote on
12330-758: The owners. Furthermore, the commissioner's $ 50,000 annual salary, about five times that of a US senator at the time, proved a significant enticement and so he agreed to be considered. Other candidates being considered included National League President Ford Frick (who would succeed Chandler as commissioner in 1951), Democratic National Committee Chairman Robert E. Hannegan , former Postmaster General James Farley , US senator John W. Bricker , FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover , former federal Judge Fred M. Vinson , Ohio Governor Frank Lausche , and Undersecretary of War Robert P. Patterson . After Cincinnati Reds president Warren Giles and Chicago Cubs owner Philip K. Wrigley raised strong opposition to Frick, who had been
12467-463: The party ahead of the 1940 presidential election . Because Roosevelt was very popular in Kentucky, Chandler was put in the awkward position of expressing personal support of the president and opposing his handpicked leader in the Senate and his New Deal legislation. In April, polls showed Barkley ahead of Chandler by a 2-to-1 margin, and the May 3 primary victory of Florida Senator Claude Pepper , who supported
12604-474: The party and supported the Republican nominee, King Swope . Policy-wise, there were few differences between the two, and personal attacks were employed by both sides. Swope's reputation as a stern judge contrasted sharply with Chandler's charisma, and Chandler used that to his advantage by dubbing Swope "his majesty". When Chandler touted his service during World War I, Laffoon's adjutant general Henry Denhardt countered by pointing out that Chandler had been only
12741-408: The players. On August 27, 1946, the committee presented a draft a document outlining the changes. Language in the original draft admitted that baseball was operating as a monopoly and that racial bias was the sole reason for segregation in baseball. Baseball's attorneys stripped the controversial language from the version that was eventually adopted by the owners. Days prior to Chandler's assumption of
12878-653: The poll tax repeal, the Louisville chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People worked against his re-election effort. During the campaign, Brown accused Chandler of abusing his power, including of having a swimming pool installed at his home, in violation of the federal rationing provisions that had been implemented during World War II. Chandler invited the Truman Committee to investigate
13015-443: The prairie" (cf. Mohawk kenhtà:ke , Seneca gëdá'geh ( phonemic /kɛ̃taʔkɛh/ ), "at the field"). Another theory suggests a derivation from the term Kenta Aki , which could have come from an Algonquian language , in particular from Shawnee . Folk etymology translates this as "Land of Our Fathers". The closest approximation in another Algonquian language, Ojibwe , translates as "Land of Our In-Laws", thus making
13152-428: The primary campaign, Chandler seized upon the unpopular sales tax, labeling Rhea "Sales Tax Tom" and calling on the electorate to redeem the state from "Ruby, Rhea, and Ruin". In the first round of the primary, Rhea garnered 203,010 votes to Chandler's 189,575. Frederick A. Wallis received 38,410 votes, and Elam Huddleston received 15,501. The votes for Wallis and Huddleston meant that neither Rhea nor Chandler had achieved
13289-514: The primary. Furthermore, Chandler initiated a rural road-building project in the state, employing loyal supporters to construct and maintain the new roads. State workers who supported Chandler were employed to deliver pension checks to the state's elderly citizens, and Talbott did not deny charges that the workers threatened to withhold the checks if the recipients did not pledge their support to Chandler. Roosevelt personally visited Kentucky to campaign on Barkley's behalf on July 8, 1938. As governor of
13426-547: The remainder of the unexpired term, Chandler then first defeated Charles R. Farnsley in the Democratic primary and Republican Walter B. Smith by a vote of 561,151 (58%) to 401,812 (42%) in the November 5, 1940, general election. Although he never forgave Roosevelt for backing Barkley in the 1938 senatorial primary, he generally supported the Roosevelt administration except for parts of the New Deal. Chandler's mentor, Harry F. Byrd, led
13563-480: The report at the end of the meeting to prevent them from being disseminated. Baseball historian Bill Marshall later wrote that the document and subsequent vote to which Rickey was referring was the advisory committee's initial draft of recommended reforms. Marshall further recorded that Rickey identified the meeting and the report shortly after his speech at Wilberforce and retracted his claim of 15–1 opposition to Robinson's entry into Major League Baseball. Chandler, who
13700-431: The rest of his political career. In 1936, Chandler was awarded an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from the University of Kentucky. The following year, Harvard University awarded him the same degree. Both Robert Bingham and Percy Haly died in 1937. With J. C. W. Beckham aging (he would die in 1940), Chandler moved to fill the leadership void in the faction. He soon came to believe he was destined to become President of
13837-439: The sales tax and bring the state's expenditures in line with its income, Chandler appointed a commission headed by ex-Governor Beckham to draft suggested budgetary legislation. Knowing that lobbyists hostile to the suggestions would likely try to encourage legislative gridlock until the constitutionally-mandated end of the 60-day session, Chandler asked his allies in the General Assembly to adjourn after 39 days to allow him to call
13974-712: The small number of inhabitants of the area at the time, the Kentucky Bend is the result of a surveying error, not the New Madrid earthquake. Kentucky can be divided into five primary regions: the Cumberland Plateau in the east, which is wholly underlain by coal and constitutes the Eastern Coal Field; the north-central Bluegrass region , where the major cities and the capital are located; the south-central and western Pennyroyal Plateau (a Mississippian-age plateau that
14111-410: The southeast of the state having an oceanic climate ( Cfb ). Temperatures in Kentucky usually range from daytime summer highs of 87 °F (31 °C) to the winter low of 23 °F (−5 °C). The average precipitation is 46 inches (1,200 mm) a year. Kentucky has four distinct seasons, with substantial variations in the severity of summer and winter. The state's highest recorded temperature
14248-553: The state capital. After the expulsion of Confederate forces after the Battle of Perryville, this government operated in-exile. Though it existed throughout the war, Kentucky's provisional government only had governing authority in areas of Kentucky under direct Confederate control and had very little effect on the events in the Commonwealth or in the war once they were driven out of the state. Kentucky remained officially "neutral" throughout
14385-667: The state led to the development of large tobacco plantations similar to those in Virginia and North Carolina , which utilized enslaved labor prior to the passage of the Thirteenth Amendment . Kentucky ranks fifth nationally in goat farming, eighth in beef cattle production, and fourteenth in corn production. While Kentucky has been a long-standing center for the tobacco industry, its economy has diversified into non-agricultural sectors including auto manufacturing, energy production, and medicine. Kentucky ranks fourth among US states in
14522-475: The state's first income tax during the session. Chandler further proposed to achieve savings through the Governmental Reorganization Act of 1936. The bill realized significant cost savings by restructuring the state government and by reducing the number of boards and commissions in the executive branch from 133 to 22. Critics pointed out that the act also centralized more power in the hands of
14659-413: The state's population was approximately 4.5 million. Previously part of Virginia, Kentucky was admitted into the Union as the fifteenth state on June 1, 1792. It is known as the "Bluegrass State" in reference to Kentucky bluegrass , a species of grass introduced by European settlers which has long supported the state's thoroughbred horse industry. The fertile soil in the central and western parts of
14796-399: The state's school children, created a teacher's pension fund, and provided extensive funding for the state's colleges and universities. Because segregation prevented blacks from attending graduate school in the state, Chandler secured an allocation of $ 5,000 annually to help blacks attend out-of-state graduate schools. He stopped short of desegregating the state's universities, however, and told
14933-604: The state, Chandler was on hand to greet Roosevelt on his arrival in Covington . Seeking to benefit from being nearest to the president, Chandler sat between Roosevelt and Barkley in the back seat of the open-topped vehicle that transported them to Latonia Race Track , the site of Roosevelt's first speech. Throughout his tour of the state, Roosevelt endorsed Barkley but remained friendly with Chandler. After Roosevelt's departure, Chandler played up Roosevelt's complimentary remarks about him but downplayed or ignored critical remarks. Late in
15070-406: The state. He used these savings to pay off the state debt and improve the state's education and transportation systems. Convinced that he was destined to become President of the United States, Chandler challenged Senate Majority Leader Alben Barkley for his U.S. Senate seat in 1938. During the campaign, President Franklin D. Roosevelt came to the state to campaign for Barkley, and Chandler lost
15207-487: The state. The northern parts tend to be about five degrees cooler than those in the western parts of the state. Somerset in the south-central part receives ten more inches of rain per year than Covington to the north. Average temperatures for the entire state range from the low 30s in January to the high 80s in mid-July. The annual average temperature varies from 55 to 60 °F (13 to 16 °C): of 55 °F (13 °C) in
15344-422: The strain of the grueling campaign. With Chandler ally Robert Bingham no longer at its helm, The Courier-Journal supported Barkley, and organized labor, a key Chandler supporter in 1935, also threw its support to Barkley. Former Chandler ally John Y. Brown Sr. also took an active part in the Barkley campaign. Ultimately, Barkley defeated Chandler by a vote of 294,391 (56%) to 223,149 (42.6%). The remaining 1.4% of
15481-479: The tax by a single vote in each house of the legislature. Free from any constitutional duties during the time between sessions, Chandler had begun laying the groundwork to succeed Laffoon as governor, almost from the beginning of his term as lieutenant governor. Laffoon, however, had made it clear that he favored Thomas Rhea to be his successor. Rhea secured the services of rising political boss Earle C. Clements as his campaign manager. Hailing from Morganfield , only
15618-676: The team. He returned to Transylvania and received a Bachelor of Arts degree in June 1921. He then signed with the Class D baseball team the Lexington Reds , where he was a teammate of future Hall of Famer Earle Combs . Briefly considering a career in baseball, he finally decided to study law. He entered Harvard Law School that same year, paying his way by coaching high school sports in Wellesley, Massachusetts . His former teammate Charlie Moran , then coaching
15755-551: The time made up a little over half the territory of the Commonwealth to the Russellville Convention in 1861, and were occupied and governed by the Confederacy at some point in the duration of the war, and Kentucky had full representation within the Confederate Government. Although Confederate forces briefly controlled Frankfort, they were expelled by Union forces before a Confederate government could be installed in
15892-511: The time, he was the oldest living former Kentucky governor as well as the earliest-serving former governor. Albert Benjamin Chandler was born in the farming community of Corydon, Kentucky , in 1898. He was the eldest child of Joseph Sweet and Callie (Saunders) Chandler. Chandler's father allegedly rescued his mother from an orphanage and married her when she was 15, but no record of their marriage has ever been found. In 1899, Chandler's brother Robert
16029-481: The upcoming Democratic senatorial primary. Barkley officially announced his re-election bid the following day. The death of another federal judge on January 26 provided a second opportunity for Roosevelt to appoint Senator Logan to a judgeship and appease Chandler, but Logan refused to consider the appointment. Following a January 31 meeting in Washington, DC , between Roosevelt and Chandler, in which Roosevelt urged Chandler to put his senatorial ambitions on hold, Chandler
16166-406: The vote was dividing among minor candidates. Chandler's 70,872-vote loss was the worst loss for a primary candidate in state history. On October 9, 1939, following the death of Senator Logan, Chandler resigned as governor, elevating Lieutenant Governor Keen Johnson to the governorship. The following day, Johnson appointed Chandler to Logan's vacated seat in the Senate. In a special election to fill
16303-957: The war due to the Southern Unionists sympathies of a majority of the Commonwealth's citizens who were split between the struggle of Kentucky's sister Southern States fully in the Confederate States of America and a continued loyalty to the Unionist cause that was prevalent in other areas of the South such as in East Tennessee, West Virginia, Western North Carolina, and others. Despite this, some 21st-century Kentuckians observe Confederate Memorial Day on Confederate leader Jefferson Davis ' birthday, June 3, and participate in Confederate battle re-enactments. Both Davis and U.S. president Abraham Lincoln were born in Kentucky. John C. Breckinridge ,
16440-772: The war in the Pacific . In 1945, Chandler resigned his Senate seat to succeed the late Kenesaw Mountain Landis as commissioner of baseball. His most significant action as commissioner was the approval of Jackie Robinson 's contract with the Brooklyn Dodgers , effectively integrating Major League Baseball . He also established the first pension fund for Major League players, earning him the title "the players' commissioner". Baseball owners were upset with Chandler's governance, however, and did not renew his contract in 1951. Following his term as commissioner, Chandler returned to Kentucky and won
16577-483: The west, Illinois to the northwest, and Indiana and Ohio to the north. Only Missouri and Tennessee, both of which border eight states, touch more. Kentucky's northern border is formed by the north shore of the Ohio River and its western border by the Mississippi River ; however, the official border is based on the courses of the rivers as they existed when Kentucky became a state in 1792. For instance, northbound travelers on U.S. 41 from Henderson, after crossing
16714-554: The winter of 1997, the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources began to re-stock elk in the state's eastern counties, which had been extirpated from the area for over 150 years. As of 2009 , the herd had reached the project goal of 10,000 animals, making it the largest herd east of the Mississippi River . The state stocked wild turkeys in the 1950s, after reportedly having fewer than 900. Once nearly extinct, wild turkeys thrive throughout Kentucky. Hunters reported
16851-568: Was 114 °F (46 °C) in Greensburg on July 28, 1930, while its lowest recorded temperature was −37 °F (−38 °C) in Shelbyville on January 19, 1994 . The state seldom experiences the extreme cold of far northern states or the high heat of the states in the Deep South ; temperatures rarely drop below zero degrees Fahrenheit or rise above 100 degrees. Rain and snowfall averages about 45 inches per year. The climate varies markedly within
16988-632: Was 63), and Kentucky's senior senator, Alben Barkley , recommended Solicitor General Stanley Forman Reed for the appointment. Roosevelt heeded Barkley's advice and appointed Reed instead of Logan. Eager to augment his power and angered by the refusal of Roosevelt and Barkley to accept his suggestion of appointing Logan to the Supreme Court, Chandler did not attend a long-planned dinner in Barkley's honor on January 22, 1938. Instead, he held an event of his own at Louisville 's exclusive Pendennis Club and alluded to his intentions of challenging Barkley during
17125-567: Was abandoned during the conflict period of Dunmore's War, and resettled in March 1775, becoming the first permanent European settlement in Kentucky. It was followed within months by Boone's Station, Logan's Fort and Lexington before Kentucky was organized. This period was the time of Daniel Boone's legendary expeditions starting in 1767 through the Cumberland Gap and down the Kentucky River to reach
17262-640: Was also allegedly at the meeting, made no public mention of it until a 1972 interview. In the interview, Chandler then corroborated the essentials of Rickey's story, but he placed the meeting at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in January 1947. He also recounted that later in 1947, Rickey came to his home in Kentucky to discuss the matter further. According to Chandler, Rickey professed that he would not move forward with Robinson's transfer unless he had Chandler's full support, which Chandler later pledged. Aside from Chandler's anecdote, which he frequently repeated after
17399-534: Was an ally of former governor J. C. W. Beckham , Louisville Courier-Journal publisher Robert Worth Bingham , and political boss Percy Haly, which put him at odds with Laffoon, a member of a Democratic faction that was headed by Russellville political boss Thomas Rhea and opposed to Beckham, Worth, and Haly. Despite the disharmony within the ticket, the worsening of the Great Depression under Republican president Herbert Hoover and Governor Sampson ensured
17536-612: Was appointed master commissioner of the Woodford County circuit court . The following year, he was elected as a Democrat to represent the 22nd district in the Kentucky Senate . As a member of the Senate, he was part of a Democratic coalition that passed legislation to strip Republican governor Flem D. Sampson of many of his statutory powers. As the 1931 gubernatorial election approached, Chandler and Prestonsburg native Jack Howard were mentioned as candidates for lieutenant governor. US Representative Fred M. Vinson backed Howard,
17673-530: Was born. Two years later, their mother, still in her teens and unable to cope with raising two young children, abandoned the family. She fled the state and left her sons with their father. In his autobiography, Chandler said that his mother's leaving them was his earliest memory. Years later, he sought his mother and found her living in Jacksonville, Florida . She had married again and he had three half-siblings. His full brother, Robert Chandler, died when he fell from
17810-579: Was clement enough to begin the game. Many owners believed Chandler had been attending a political meeting, but he had actually been at a Detroit Athletic Club luncheon, where he was representing Major League Baseball. Chandler's election was also met with disdain from much of the press in the Eastern United States, where most of baseball's teams resided at that time. His Southern drawl and his willingness to sing " My Old Kentucky Home " with very little encouragement led some sportswriters to opine that he
17947-584: Was encouraged by his political mentor, Virginia 's Harry F. Byrd , to challenge Barkley. Chandler heeded Byrd's advice by making an official announcement of his candidacy on February 23, 1938, in Newport, Kentucky . Barkley, who had been recently chosen as Senate Majority Leader by a single vote, was a strong supporter of Roosevelt and the New Deal . Chandler identified with the more conservative southern Democrats, who were wary of Roosevelt and sought to gain control of
18084-547: Was indicted as a co-conspirator in Goebel's assassination . Goebel is the only governor of a U.S. state to have been assassinated while in office. The Black Patch Tobacco Wars , a vigilante action, occurred in Western Kentucky in the early 20th century. As a result of the tobacco industry monopoly, tobacco farmers in the area were forced to sell their crops at prices that were too low. Many local farmers and activists united in
18221-528: Was larger than the state of Kentucky today, encompassing most of today's West Virginia and (vaguely) part of southwestern Pennsylvania. Notable expeditions were Batts and Fallam 1671, Needham and Arthur 1673. Dr. Thomas Walker and surveyor Christopher Gist surveyed the area now known as Kentucky in 1750 and 1751. As more settlers entered the area, warfare broke out with the Native Americans over their traditional hunting grounds. June 16, 1774, James Harrod founded Harrod's Town (modern Harrodsburg). The settlement
18358-616: Was mortally wounded by an assassin while walking to the State Capitol in downtown Frankfort. Goebel was contesting the Kentucky gubernatorial election of 1899 , which William S. Taylor was initially believed to have won. For several months, J. C. W. Beckham , Goebel's running mate, and Taylor fought over who was the legal governor until the Supreme Court of the United States ruled in May in favor of Beckham. After fleeing to Indiana , Taylor
18495-418: Was seen as critical to Wilkinson's successful gubernatorial campaign in 1987. Wilkinson later resisted calls to remove Chandler from the University of Kentucky board of trustees following Chandler's use of a racial epithet during a board meeting in 1988. In his retirement, Chandler made numerous public appearances and remained active in state politics and events. Chandler died at the age of 92 years, 11 months; at
18632-527: Was there that he received his lifelong nickname "Happy" because of his jovial nature. He paid for his education by doing chores for the local citizens. Chandler was captain of Transylvania's basketball and baseball teams and the quarterback of the football team. He was a teammate of Dutch Meyer , a future member of the College Football Hall of Fame . He also joined the Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity and
18769-487: Was too undignified for the office. Others resented his folksy, political style, calling him "a preening politician", "the Kentucky windbag", and "a hand-shaking baby-kissing practitioner of the arts". Chandler further alienated the press by moving the commissioner's office to Cincinnati from Chicago in 1946. In early 1946, Jorge Pasquel and his four brothers, who owned the Mexican League , siphoned campaign funds from
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