Benton McMillin (September 11, 1845 – January 8, 1933) was an American politician and diplomat. He served as the 27th governor of Tennessee from 1899 to 1903 and represented Tennessee's 4th district in the United States House of Representatives from 1879 to 1899. He served as a diplomat during the administration of President Woodrow Wilson, initially as Minister to Peru (1913–1919) and afterward as Minister to Guatemala (1920–1921).

Known as the "Democratic War Horse" for his persistent campaigning on behalf of the Democratic Party, McMillin served as an elector in fourteen presidential elections from 1876 to 1932 and attended nearly every Democratic National Convention during that period. As governor, he signed anti-child labor legislation and standardized the state's school textbooks. His attempts to create a federal income tax as a Representative led to the landmark Supreme Court decision, Pollock v. Farmers' Loan & Trust Co. (1895), which declared the federal income tax to be unconstitutional. He attended Philomath Academy in Clay County, Tennessee, and later attended Kentucky A&M (now the University of Kentucky) in Lexington.

left|190px|thumb|Portrait of McMillin as governor,

By the time McMillin ran for reelection in 1900, the state's Republican Party had come under the control of Congressman Walter P. Brownlow. Seeking to unseat McMillin, Brownlow and his faction nominated Representative John E. McCall as the party's candidate for governor. While the party ran a strong campaign, McMillin was easily re-elected by winning 145,708 votes to 119,831 for McCall.

During his two terms, McMillin implemented a number of progressive measures. He signed legislation authorizing counties to establish high schools and school boards and instituted a property tax to pay for school textbooks.

In 1912, a divided Democratic Party nominated McMillin as the party's candidate for governor in the hopes of unseating Republican Ben W. Hooper. The party was divided over the prohibition issue, with one faction, the "Independent Democrats" (which supported statewide prohibition), having withdrawn from the party and formed a coalition (the "Fusionists") with Republicans. McMillin represented the other faction, the "Regular Democrats," which believed the state's largest cities should be exempt from prohibition. He was defeated in the general election by winning just 116,610 votes to Hooper's 124,641.

In 1919, McMillin was appointed Minister to Guatemala. A few months after his arrival, a revolt erupted against the unpopular President Manuel Estrada Cabrera, with Cabrera eventually surrendering to McMillin to avoid capture by supporters of Carlos Herrera. The American embassy was damaged during Herrera's five-day bombardment of the capital. and edged McMillin for the nomination, 63,940 votes to 59,922.

After his defeat in the 1922 campaign, McMillin returned to his insurance business. He died in Nashville on January 8, 1933, and is buried in the city's Mount Olivet Cemetery.

See also

  • List of governors of Tennessee

References

  • Benton McMillin Papers (finding aid) – Tennessee State Library and Archives