Happy Chandler

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Albert Benjamin "Happy" Chandler
Governor of Kentucky
In office 1955 – 1959
Preceded by	Lawrence W. Wetherby
Succeeded by	Bert T. Combs
United States Senator
In office 1939 – 1945
Preceded by	M. M. Logan
Succeeded by	William A. Stanfill
Constituency	Kentucky
Governor of Kentucky
In office 1935 – 1939
Preceded by	Ruby Laffoon
Succeeded by	Keen Johnson
Born	July 14, 1898 Corydon, Kentucky[1]
Died	June 15, 1991 (aged 92) Versailles, Kentucky
Political party	Democratic[1]
Spouse	Mildred Watkins-Chandler
Occupation	Lawyer
Religion	Episcopalian[2]

Albert Benjamin Chandler, Sr. (July 14, 1898 – June 15, 1991) was twice governor of Kentucky, a U.S. Senator and the 2nd Baseball Commissioner. His jovial attitude earned him the nickname "Happy," which stuck for the remainder of his life.^[3]

Contents 1 Early life 2 Early political career 2.1 Split with Governor Laffoon 2.2 First term as governor 2.3 Service in the United States Senate 3 Baseball Commissioner 4 Second term as governor 5 Later career 6 Legacy 7 References 8 External links

[edit] Early life

Chandler was born July 14, 1898 in Corydon, Henderson County Kentucky the son of Joseph Sephus and Callie Saunders-Chandler. His childhood was a difficult one. According to his autobiography, his earliest memory was his mother abandoning the family when he was four years old, and at sixteen, his only brother, two years younger than he, was fatally wounded when he fell from a cherry tree he was picking from.^[4] Though cared for by his father and other relatives, by age eight, he was selling newspapers to supplement the family's income.

Chandler graduated high school in 1917, and, against his father's wishes, enrolled Transylvania University in Lexington, Kentucky, with only "a red sweater, a five dollar bill, and a smile." During his matriculation, he starred in three sports, captaining the basketball and baseball teams, and playing quarterback on the football team. He also joined the Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity after being denied membership in Kappa Alpha. All the while, he worked odd jobs to support himself. In the fall semester of 1918, with his nation in the midst of World War I, Chandler volunteered to serve in the Student Army Training Corps, although the corps disbanded with the signing of an armistice in November.^[4]

Chandler graduated from Transylvania in 1921, taking with him both a bachelor's degree and his life-long nickname.^[5] From there, Chandler studied at Harvard Law School, coaching high school athletics to earn money. He returned to Lexington in 1922, attaining a Bachelor of Laws from the University of Kentucky two years later. Again, he funded his education by coaching high school sports in nearby Versailles.^[3]

For the next five years, Chandler was an assistant football coach at Centre College in Danville, simultaneously practicing law Versailles.^[3]

While representing Margaret Hall, an Episcopal girls school, Chandler met Keysville, Virginia native Mildred Watkins. He became infatuated and eventually persuaded his new love to break her engagement to another man. Despite Watkins' eventual confession of having been married previously and being the mother of a two-year-old daughter, the two married on November 12, 1925. Chandler immediately adopted Watkins' daughter, Marcella, and the couple eventually had three children together: Mimi, Ben and Dan.^[4]

[edit] Early political career

Chandler's career in politics began with an appointment by Judge Ben Williams to the post of master commissioner of the Woodford County Circuit Court in 1928.^[4] Only a year later, he was elected to represent Kentucky's 22^nd Senate District in the Kentucky General Assembly. He made a name for himself primarily on two issues: the repeal of parimutuel betting and a plan to build a hydroelectric dam on Cumberland Falls. Chandler successfully opposed both proposals.^[4]

[edit] Split with Governor Laffoon

In 1931, Chandler was elected lieutenant governor of the state by a wide margin.^[3] Although Chandler and the elected governor, Ruby Laffoon were both Democrats, Chandler soon split with his running mate and ended up working against many of his programs, particularly on the issue of a state sales tax, which Laffoon supported but Chandler opposed. As lieutenant governor, Chandler also served as the presiding officer in the state senate, though his political opponents passed measures to limit his customary powers in retaliation for his split with Laffoon.^[5]

Laffoon had hand-picked Thomas Rhea to succeed him as governor, but Chandler had other ideas. Advised by political allies, Chandler made the boldest move of his political career. Acting as governor while Laffoon was out of the state – as provided by the Kentucky Constitution at the time – Chandler called the legislature into special session and pushed through a bill calling for candidates for governor to be chosen by primaries rather than elected at the party conventions. This bucking of the political machine made him a hero in the eyes of the people.^[5]

[edit] First term as governor

Chandler did succeed in his bid for governor in 1935, defeating Rhea in a runoff primary and disposing of Republican challenger King Swope by a hefty margin. At a mere 37 years old, Chandler was dubbed the "Boy Governor" As promised, he quickly oversaw the repeal of the state's sales tax, compensating for the financial loss to the state by raising excise and income taxes.^[6] The 1935 repeal of Kentucky's prohibition amendment gave Chandler a further source of revenue – a tax on whiskey. Frugality and fiscal responsibility became hallmarks of Chandler's administration. The Government Reorganization Act of 1936 so streamlined the state's bureaucracy that Chandler was able to cut the state's outstanding debt by 75%, a whopping $28.5 million.^[5]

Chandler did spend when necessary, however. He supported the state's Old Age Pension Law^[7] and created a pension fund for the state's teachers. In 1936, he allocated $2 million to improve the state's rural roads and led the state to participate in the federal Rural Electrification Act. He further provided for free textbooks for students in public schools, and dramatically increased funding for schools, colleges, and universities in the state. By the end of Chandler's first year in office, University of Kentucky president Frank L. McVey proclaimed that "much more has been accomplished than would have been thought possible."^[5]

Chandler's heroics continued during the Ohio River flood of 1937, when he personally supervised the evacuation of a partly-flooded penitentiary in Frankfort. Though he opposed the closed shop and sit-down strike tactics used by the state's labor unions, Chandler also earned a reputation as a friend of organized labor by creating a state Department of Industrial Relations and supporting the federal Child Labor Amendment, though it was never ratified.^[5] During his tenure as governor, he earned Doctor of Laws degrees from Transylvania (1936) and the University of Kentucky College of Law (1937).^[3]

[edit] Service in the United States Senate

In 1938, while still serving as governor, Chandler challenged Senate Majority Leader (and future Vice President) Alben Barkley in the Democratic primary for Barkley's seat in Congress. Though Chandler lost to the very popular Barkley, President Franklin D. Roosevelt felt compelled to make a trip to the state to support Barkley's candidacy, just in case.^[6]

Chandler would get his chance at the Senate soon enough, however. In 1939, the state's junior Senator, M. M. Logan, died. Under an arrangement with Lieutenant Governor Keen Johnson, Chandler resigned his position, elevating Johnson to the governorship. Johnson, in turn, appointed Chandler to fill Logan's seat in the Senate. Chandler retained the seat in a special election in 1940, and was re-elected to a full term in 1942, defeating former ally John Y. Brown.^[5]

During his tenure in the Senate, Chandler usually backed the policies of President Roosevelt. As a member of the Senate's Military Affairs Committee, he was vocal in his opposition to prioritizing the European front over defeating Japan in World War II.^[5] He and five other senators toured American military bases, successfully lobbying to strengthen those in the Aleutian Islands area.^[8] It was also during his time in the Senate that he developed a friendship with comedian Bob Hope.^[9]

[edit] Baseball Commissioner

When baseball's first commissioner, Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis, passed away in 1944, an official in the War Department began campaigning for Chandler's election to the post. Despite being the last candidate put forth in the April 1945 meetings, he was elected by a unanimous vote of the team owners, and resigned his Senate seat in October of that year.^[10] He remained in that post until 1951.

During his service, he presided over the establishment of a pension fund for players, but his most significant contribution was overseeing the initial steps toward integration of the major leagues, beginning with the debut of Jackie Robinson with the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947. This move was controversial with some team owners and was credited by many in the sports community with Chandler's failure to be selected for another term as Commissioner after the expiration of his first one in 1951.^[5] He once said, "I don't believe in barring Negroes from baseball just because they are Negroes."

[edit] Second term as governor

After being forced out as Baseball Commissioner, Chandler returned to Versailles and continued to practice law. His hiatus from public life would be short lived, however. While prohibited by the Kentucky Constitution from serving consecutive terms as governor, nothing prohibited Chandler from seeking a second gubernatorial term in 1955, twenty years after his first bid. He secured the Democratic nomination over challenger Bert T. Combs, and took the general election from Republican Edwin R. Denny by landslide.^[6]

Much had changed in the years since Chandler's first term as governor. In 1948, he had embraced the "Dixiecrats," a Southern faction that had broken from the national Democratic Party, and their segregationist presidential nominee, Strom Thurmond.^{[citation needed]} This move had alienated him from some in his own party at the state level as well. Nevertheless, he was able to make positive changes in the state in his second term, continuing his themes of improving education and public works. He oversaw the establishment of the University of Kentucky Medical Center which bears his name. Having already integrated baseball, in 1956, Chandler used National Guard troops to enforce racial integration of schools in two Kentucky towns.^[6]

[edit] Later career

Chandler remained active in Kentucky politics long after his final term as governor ended. In his later life he often mounted quixotic campaigns to return to office, becoming something of a perennial candidate. Chandler lost in the 1963 Democratic primary for governor to Edward T. Breathitt and that was his final serious campaign. In 1968 George C. Wallace strongly considered Chandler as his running mate but instead chose General Curtis LeMay. Chandler ran weak campaigns for governor in 1967 and 1971, the latter as an Independent. Chandler is sometimes credited with having created the phrase, "I didn't leave the Democratic Party; the Democratic Party left me!"

In his last years, Chandler remained active as a University of Kentucky Board of Trustees member. He was also an occasional guest singer for the traditional singing of "My Old Kentucky Home" (sung before sporting events in Kentucky after "The Star-Spangled Banner" and after basketball games at Rupp Arena). He always received wild applause for this, and in his last two years, when he had to be helped to walk onto the playing floor to perform, he was met with a standing ovation.

During a meeting of the University of Kentucky Board of Trustees finance committee on April 5, 1988, Chandler drew the ire of several student groups by using a racial epithet. During a discussion of the university's 1985 decision to dispose of its investments in South Africa, Chandler, a member of the Board, remarked "You know Zimbabwe's all nigger now. There aren't any whites."^[11] He later apologized.

[edit] Legacy

Happy Chandler is a member of the Baseball Hall of Fame

Chandler was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1982.^[12] He died at age 92 in Versailles, Kentucky and is buried at the Pisgah Church Cemetery in Versailles.^[1]

Chandler's grandson A. B. "Ben" Chandler III was elected to statewide office three times (Auditor of Public Accounts in 1991 and Attorney General in 1995 and 1999), won the Democratic primary for governor in 2003 but lost in the general election to Ernie Fletcher, and was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 2004.

At the time of his death, Chandler was the earliest U.S. governor of any state still living; he had held that distinction since the death of Alfred M. Landon. After Chandler's death, the title was passed to Harold E. Stassen.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Video of Happy Chandler singing "My Old Kentucky Home" at a University of Kentucky basketball game in the early 1980s
• Happy Chandler's plaque at the National Baseball Hall of Fame
• An obituary

Preceded by James Breathitt, Jr.	Lieutenant Governor of Kentucky 1931–1935	Succeeded by Keen Johnson
Preceded by Ruby Laffoon	Democratic nominee for Governor of Kentucky 1935–1935	Succeeded by Keen Johnson
Preceded by Ruby Laffoon	Governor of Kentucky 1935–1939	Succeeded by Keen Johnson
Preceded by M. M. Logan	United States Senator (Class 2) from Kentucky October 10, 1939–November 1, 1945	Succeeded by William A. Stanfill
Preceded by Kenesaw Mountain Landis	Commissioner of Baseball 1945–1951	Succeeded by Ford Frick
Preceded by Lawrence Wetherby	Democratic nominee for Governor of Kentucky 1955–1955	Succeeded by Bert T. Combs
Preceded by Lawrence Wetherby	Governor of Kentucky 1955–1959	Succeeded by Bert T. Combs
Preceded by Alfred M. Landon	Earliest serving US governor 1987–1991	Succeeded by Harold E. Stassen

Governors of Kentucky

Shelby • Garrard • Greenup • Scott • Shelby • Madison • Slaughter • Adair • Desha • Metcalfe • J. Breathitt • J. Morehead • Clark • Wickliffe • Letcher • Owsley • Crittenden • Helm • Powell • C. Morehead • Magoffin • Robinson • Bramlette • Helm • Stevenson • Leslie • McCreary • Blackburn • Knott • Buckner • Brown • Bradley • Taylor • Goebel • Beckham • Willson • McCreary • Stanley • Black • Morrow • Fields • Sampson • Laffoon • Chandler • Johnson • Willis • Clements • Wetherby • Chandler • Combs • E. Breathitt • Nunn • Ford • Carroll • Brown Jr. • Collins • Wilkinson • Jones • Patton • Fletcher Kentucky also had two Confederate Governors: George W. Johnson and Richard Hawes.

Lieutenant Governors of Kentucky

Bullitt • Caldwell • Slaughter • Hickman • Slaughter • Barry • McAfee • Breathitt • J. Morehead • Wickliffe • M. Thomson • Dixon • Helm • J. Thompson • Hardy • Boyd • Jacob • Stevenson • Carlisle • Underwood • Cantrill • Hindman • Bryan • Alford • Worthington • Marshall • Beckham • Thorne • Cox • McDermott • Black • Ballard • Breathitt, Jr. • Chandler • Johnson • Myers • Tuggle • Wetherby • Beauchamp • Waterfield • Wyatt • Waterfield • Ford • Carroll • Stovall • Collins • Beshear • Jones • Patton • Henry • Pence