Louie Broady Nunn (March 8, 1924 – January 29, 2004) was an American politician who served as the 52nd governor of Kentucky. Elected in 1967, he was the only Republican to hold the office between the end of Simeon Willis's term in 1947 and the election of Ernie Fletcher in 2003.
After rendering non-combat service in World War II and graduating from law school, Nunn entered local politics, becoming the first Republican county judge in the history of Barren County, Kentucky. He worked on the campaigns of Republican candidates for national office, including John Sherman Cooper, Thruston Morton, and Dwight D. Eisenhower. He was the Republican nominee for governor in 1963, but ultimately lost a close election to Democrat Ned Breathitt. An executive order signed by Governor Bert T. Combs that desegregated Kentucky's public services became a major issue in the campaign. Nunn vowed to repeal the order if elected, while Breathitt promised to continue it.
In 1967, Nunn ran for governor again. After defeating Marlow Cook in the Republican gubernatorial primary, he eked out a victory over Democrat Henry Ward. The state offices were split between Democrats and Republicans, and Nunn was saddled with a Democratic lieutenant governor, Wendell Ford. Despite a Democratic majority in the General Assembly, Nunn was able to enact most of his priorities, including tax increases that funded improvements to the state park system and the construction of a statewide network of mental health centers. He oversaw the transition of Northern Kentucky University from a community college to a senior institution and brought the University of Louisville into the state university system. The later years of his administration were marred by race riots in Louisville and a violent protest against the Vietnam War at the University of Kentucky. Following his term as governor, he lost to Walter Dee Huddleston in the 1972 senatorial election and John Y. Brown Jr. in the 1979 gubernatorial election. In his later years, he sometimes supported the political ambitions of his son, Steve, and advocated for the legalization of industrial hemp in Kentucky. He died of a heart attack on January 29, 2004.
Early life
Louie Broady Nunn was born in Park, Kentucky – a small community on the border of Barren and Metcalfe counties – on March 8, 1924. His first name, Louie, honored a deceased friend of his father's; his middle name, Broady, was a surname in his mother's family. Louie was the youngest of the four sons born to Waller Harrison and Mary (Roberts) Nunn; their youngest child, Virginia, was their only daughter. The Nunns were farmers and operated a general store, though Waller suffered from a congenital heart condition and severe arthritis and was limited to light chores. The eldest brother, Lee Roy, became an influential campaigner and fundraiser for the Republican Party.
Nunn obtained the first eight years of his education in a one-room, one-teacher schoolhouse in Park. During his teenage years, he gave himself a hernia while lifting a heavy piece of farm equipment. In 1938, he matriculated to Hiseville High School. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree at Bowling Green Business University, now Western Kentucky University.
After the bombing of Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, Nunn departed for Cincinnati, Ohio, to take flying lessons in hopes of becoming a B-17 pilot. By the time he finished his flight training, however, the Army had discontinued its air cadet program. Finally, he transferred to the Army Medical Corps, but his back injury flared up, and he received a medical discharge on September 13, 1945.
Following his military duty, Nunn pursued a pre-law degree at the University of Cincinnati. Nunn earned his Bachelor of Laws degree in 1950. He opened his legal practice in Glasgow, Kentucky, in September 1950.
On October 12, 1950, Nunn married Beula Cornelius Aspley, a divorcee from Bond, Kentucky. Aspley also had three children from her first marriage. Nunn left the Methodist denomination in which he had been raised after marrying Aspley, joining her as a member of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ).
Political career
On June 17, 1953, Nunn declared as a Republican candidate for county judge and was ultimately the only Republican to declare. In the Democratic primary, one of the challengers charged that the incumbent had misused his office for personal gain. In the wake of the investigation, a group of disgruntled Democrats formed an organization to elect Nunn, who defeated his Democratic challenger by a vote of 5,171 to 4,378, becoming the first Republican elected county judge in the history of the heavily Democratic county. He was not a candidate for re-election as county judge in 1957 but was appointed as city attorney for the city of Glasgow in 1958. He managed successful re-election campaigns for Senator Cooper in 1960 and Senator Morton in 1962. Although John F. Kennedy won the election, Nixon carried Kentucky 54% to 46%.
Nunn was the Republican nominee for governor of Kentucky in 1963. Calling the order "a dictatorial edict of questionable constitutionality", Nunn charged that it had been dictated by U.S. Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy. In a television appearance, Nunn displayed a copy of the order and declared "My first act will be to abolish this." The injection of antisemitism into the campaign drew criticism from Senator John Sherman Cooper, who threw his support to Cook.
The General Assembly was controlled by Democrats, but Nunn was able to pass most of his agenda. Historian Lowell H. Harrison argued that these actions diluted state support to existing higher education institutions. Nunn called the revamping of the state mental health system his proudest accomplishment as governor. This action was criticized by civil rights leaders across the state. Historian Thomas D. Clark called Nunn the strongest of Kentucky's eight Republican governors. He continued working on behalf of Republican candidates and backed Ronald Reagan's primary challenge to incumbent Gerald Ford in 1975. She claimed she was trying to preserve some of her estate for her children.
In 1999, Nunn again considered a bid for governor, precluding a potential bid by his son, Steve, a state representative from Glasgow. He cited personal and health issues for not making the race. In 2000, he backed the presidential campaign of Senator John McCain. In 2000, Nunn secured an acquittal for the actor Woody Harrelson, who came to Lee County, Kentucky, and planted hemp seeds in open defiance of Kentucky's law forbidding the cultivation of hemp. He was buried at the Cosby Methodist Church cemetery in Hart County, Kentucky. The Cumberland Parkway was renamed the Louie B. Nunn Cumberland Parkway in 2000, and the main lodge at the Barren River Lake State Resort Park is also named in Nunn's honor.
See also
- Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History
References
Bibliography
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