Ned Ray McWherter (October 15, 1930April 4, 2011) was an American businessman and politician who served as the 46th governor of Tennessee, from 1987 to 1995. Prior to that, he served as the speaker of the Tennessee House of Representatives from 1973 to 1987, the longest tenure as Speaker up to that time. He was a member of the Democratic Party.

Early life

McWherter was born in Palmersville, Weakley County, Tennessee, the son of Harmon Ray McWherter, a sharecropper, and Lucille (Smith) McWherter. He grew up in the Little Zion community near Palmersville, where he attended a one-room schoolhouse. In the early 1940s, his family moved to Ypsilanti, Michigan, where his father worked in wartime factories. In May 1945, the family moved to Dresden, Tennessee, where McWherter's parents purchased the City Cafe, which they would operate for several years.

Tenure

During his first term, McWherter insisted that all formal governmental proceedings be open to the public and press, thus implementing the spirit, as well as the letter, of the "sunshine law" he had helped to author and sponsor while a member of the House. His "21st century Schools" education reform program launched similar programs in other states and his replacement of the Medicaid program with the TennCare system gained national attention. As governor, he also served nationally and locally on various councils and committees, including the board of governors, Council of State Governments, the Executive Committees of the Southern Conference, the Weakley County Head Start Program, and the Executive Committee of the Northwest Tennessee Economic Development District.

In the late 1980s, a showdown erupted between Tennessee and North Carolina over the pollution of the Pigeon River, which rises in North Carolina and traverses a mountainous area before emptying into the French Broad River in East Tennessee. East Tennessee residents and environmentalists charged that toxins dumped into the river by the Champion Paper Mill in Canton, North Carolina, damaged the river's economic potential and had led to an unusually high rate of cancer in lower Pigeon Valley communities. Canton residents argued that the town was economically dependent on the mill, which employed 2,000 workers.

When the Environmental Protection Agency ordered Champion to upgrade the plant to meet Tennessee's water quality standards, the company threatened to close the plant and lay off all 2,000 workers. East Tennessee residents held demonstrations, and asked that Governor McWherter not renew the plant's water quality variance. Legislators from both states traded barbs, cars with Tennessee license plates were vandalized in North Carolina, and McWherter's office was flooded with calls from angry North Carolina residents.

Post-Governorship

thumb|McWherter in 2010

McWherter would have been an overwhelming favorite for a third term if he had been permitted to run for one by the state constitution; when asked about this, he stated that he would not have run for another term even if it had been permissible. Following the end of his second term as governor in 1995, McWherter was appointed to the Board of Governors of the United States Postal Service by President Bill Clinton.

McWherter died on April 4, 2011, at Centennial Medical Center in Nashville, where he was being treated for cancer. McWherter funded the construction of the library at the University of Memphis and the Learning Resources Center at Middle Tennessee State University, and both buildings have been named in his honor. The Weakley County Library in Dresden has also been named for McWherter. A bronze statue of McWherter stands on the Weakley County Courthouse lawn. A building at the Quillen College of Medicine at East Tennessee State University is also named in McWherter's honor.

References

Further reading

  • Stair, Billy. The Life and Career of Ned McWherter. Nashville: State Public Affairs Office, 2011.
  • Finding Aid for Governor Ned Ray McWherter Papers – Tennessee State Library and Archives
  • Portrait painting of Governor McWherter – Tennessee Portrait Project
  • Portrait photograph of Governor McWherter – Tennessee State Library and Archives