Harry Hill McAlister (July 15, 1875 – October 30, 1959) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 37th governor of Tennessee from 1933 to 1937. He also served as Nashville's city attorney in the early 1900s, and as Tennessee's state treasurer in the 1920s and early 1930s. Inaugurated as governor at the height of the Great Depression, McAlister enacted massive spending cuts in an attempt to stabilize state finances. He coordinated federal programs in the state aimed at providing Depression-era relief, and was a supporter of the New Deal.
McAlister withdrew from state politics in 1936 following a quarrel with powerful Memphis political boss E. H. Crump. He spent the last two decades of his life as a Referee in Bankruptcy in Nashville's district court.
Early life
McAlister was born in Nashville, Tennessee in 1875, the son of William King McAlister, a lawyer and judge, and Laura (Dortch) McAlister. He attended Vanderbilt University, graduating with a Bachelor of Laws (LL.B) in 1897. He was admitted to the bar, and began practice in Nashville in 1899.
McAlister became Nashville's assistant city attorney in 1901, and was elevated to city attorney in 1905. He was elected to the Tennessee Senate in 1910, and served two terms (1911–1915). As a state senator, he sought stricter enforcement of laws regarding education and child labor, and advocated better food and drug inspections. He also sought funding for a tuberculosis hospital for Nashville.
Facing a $6 million state debt and an economy ravaged by business and bank failures, McAlister immediately began trimming the state government. He slashed over 2,300 jobs from the government workforce, and cut $7 million in state spending. These cuts included the cost of the governor's mansion, which McAlister reduced from $35,000 per year to just $1,000. In the general election, Pope once again ran as an independent, and tried to form a fusion ticket with former Republican governor Ben W. Hooper, similar to the one that had elected Hooper more than two decades earlier. Hooper called on Republicans to support Pope in the gubernatorial election, while Pope called on independent Democrats to support Hooper in his Senate campaign against Crump ally, Kenneth McKellar. The plan failed, however, with Pope losing to McAlister, 198,743 votes to 122,965, and McKellar soundly defeating Hooper.
During his second term, McAlister angered Crump by proposing a state sales tax. Crump's allies in the state house defeated the tax, and he broke off support for McAlister, calling him "our sorriest governor." McAlister angered Crump further when he refused to allow the sale of liquor in Memphis (federal prohibition had ended with the repeal of the 18th Amendment, but state prohibition remained in effect).
Family
McAlister was descended (via his mother) from two former Tennessee governors, Willie Blount (1768–1835), his great-great-grandfather, and Aaron V. Brown (1795–1859), his great-grandfather.