Ellis Arnall

Ellis Gibbs Arnall (March 20, 1907, Newnan, Georgia – December 13, 1992) was an American politician, a progressive Democrat who served as the 69th Governor of the U.S. state of Georgia from 1943 to 1947.

Education

Arnall attended Mercer University, the University of the South, and the University of Georgia School of Law.^[1] He was admitted to the practice of law in 1931.

Early career

The voters of Coweta County, Georgia elected Arnall to the Georgia House of Representatives in 1932. Arnall was elected 'Speaker Pro Tempore', the second highest officer position in the Georgia house. Governor Eurith D. Rivers appointed Arnall to a vacancy in the office of state attorney general. At the age of 31, Arnall was named state attorney general.

Governor

Governor Eugene Talmadge's actions had caused the state's colleges to lose accreditation. Arnall ran against him in 1942, defeating him and becoming the youngest governor in America.

Arnall repealed the poll tax, lowered the voting age, revised the state constitution and paid off the state's debt. When young men were drafted into the armed forces during World War II, Arnall argued that youths old enough to fight for their country were old to vote for their country's leadership, thus making Georgia the first state to grant 18-year olds to vote. Arnall also removed the prison system under the governor's control. He established a board of corrections to oversee state prisons and a pardon and parole board to handle these requests. He also led efforts to prevent the governor from establishing a dictatorship such as the one that some said existed under Governor Talmadge. Arnall's reforms won him attention from the national press.

Re-election attempt

But his career declined as he was unable to persuade the State Legislature to allow him to seek re-election. Arnall also stood behind Henry A. Wallace's efforts to remain Vice President in 1944. Arnall also refused to defy the Supreme Court ruling banning the all-white Democratic party primary. This enraged Talmadge and his supporters, who used the issue to brand Arnall a 'race-traitor'.

Eugene Talmadge was elected governor in 1946, but he died in December, before he was due to take office in January 1947. The state legislature then elected Talmadge's son, Herman Talmadge, to the office of Governor. Arnall refused to leave office during the controversy, and the younger Talmadge ended up locking Arnall out of his office in the state capitol. Arnall soon renounced his claim and endorsed Melvin E. Thompson's claim to the Governor's office.

Later career

After leaving office, Arnall worked as an attorney and a businessman in Atlanta, founding Arnall Golden & Gregory (now Arnall Golden Gregory LLP), which continues to be one of Atlanta's leading law firms. He served in the Truman administration for a short time as Director of the Office of Price Stabilization. Truman offered Arnall the post of Solicitor General but he declined, returning to private practice.

Second re-election attempt

Arnall's last campaign was for governor of Georgia in 1966. His principal opponent for the nomination was segregationist Lester Maddox. In the primary election, Arnall won a plurality of the popular vote, but was denied the required majority because a small number of votes went to an obscure state senator named Jimmy Carter. Arnall barely campaigned in the run-off election, and the result was a surprising victory for Maddox.

Stunned, Arnall announced a write-in candidacy for the general election. In that contest, Republican nominee Howard Callaway won a plurality and Maddox finished second; under the election rules then in effect, the state legislature was required to select a governor from the two candidates with the highest number of votes. With the legislature overwhelmingly dominated by Democrats, Maddox became Governor.

Death and legacy

After the 1966 campaign, Arnall never sought public office again. Harold Paulk Henderson's biography of Arnall, The Politics of Change in Georgia: A Political Biography of Ellis Arnall, was published in 1991.

When Arnall died in 1992, he was buried in the Oak Hill Cemetery in Newnan.

Arnall wrote the 1946 book, The Shore Dimly Seen (J. B. Lippincott & Co.), about politics and challenges of the South.

Arnall was also an active Civitan.^[2]

References

External links

• Obituary in The New York Times (December 15, 1992)
• Profile page for Ellis Gibbs Arnall on the National Governors Association web site
• Ellis Arnall at Find a Grave
• Oral History (1985–86), Georgia's Political Heritage Project, Dr. Mel Steely, Director; University of West Georgia [1]