Beginning with the inauguration of Ellis Arnall as governor in 1943, Georgia Governors in an Age of Change traces the gubernatorial leadership of Georgia through four decades, chronicling the state's rise from bastion of southern provincialism to a dynamic and progressive state.

This biography of Ellis Arnall follows the life and political career of the former governor from his rural Georgia upbringing through his service as state representative, attorney general, and governor to his subsequent political exile. Arnall assumed the governorship of Georgia in 1943, becoming the youngest person in the United States ever elected to that position. In his single term (1943-1947) he initiated a series of remarkable reforms that elevated Georgia above its Tobacco Road image and stood it alongside North Carolina, then the South's most progressive state. Unlike most of his colleagues, Arnall refused to "play it safe" in the state's political arena. Though still a segregationist and a traditionalist in many ways, Arnall had no patience for provincialism and cared deeply about Georgia and how it was viewed by the rest of the nation. Boldly confronting the demagoguery of his predecessor Eugene Talmadge, Arnall, who called himself "a democrat with a small 'd'," united the state's liberal and conservative factions to deliver the promise of the New South to all of Georgia's citizens: biracial voting, government reform, economic development, and an improved standard of living. So sweeping and farsighted were Arnall's accomplishments that, to a great extent, the structure of Georgia's present-day government evolved under his guidance and has changed little since. In 1985, a Georgia Association of Historians survey ranked Arnall's leadership, responsiveness to issues, and national reputation the highest among governors who served from 1943-1983. Successful as it was, his career, begun a decade earlier in the state house of representatives, was cut short. Many Georgians felt that Arnall was too liberal and, worse, that he had catered to the national media, enhancing his own image by discussing the state's problems with outsiders. By Arnall's own estimation, his political career ended when he decided to abide by a 1945 federal court decision that invalidated Georgia's white-voters-only primary elections. Arnall left politics in 1947, returning briefly in 1966 for a spirited, but unsuccessful, primary bid for governor. Written with Ellis Arnall's full cooperation and filled with fascinating details of the final days of Old South politics, this book recounts the political career of one of the region's most accomplished and energetic leaders. The Politics of Change in Georgia is based on the former governor's speeches and public writings, critical and supportive newspapers accounts, and interviews both with Arnall and with other prominent Georgians such as Herman E. Talmadge, S. Ernest Vandiver, Jr., Lester G. Maddox, Carl E. Sanders, Jr., James H. Gray, Sr., Howard H. Callaway, and Ivan Allen, Jr.

Ernest Vandiver was elected governor of the state of Georgia in 1958 on a platform of fiscal conservatism and steadfast resistance to desegregation. Having vowed to defend Georgia’s segregated social system at all costs, Vandiver nevertheless concluded that the state could not close its schools to avoid desegregation. Because of his decision to reject the path taken by George Wallace in Alabama and Orval Faubus in Arkansas and to protect public education in the state by complying with federal court mandates, Vandiver was denounced by the state’s more vocal proponents of segregation. Using primary sources and extensive interviews with the governor and his contemporaries, Henderson tells the full story of Vandiver’s life as a transitional figure in the political history of the state. He portrays Vandiver as a man cast by circumstances into presiding over a crisis greater than any faced by a Georgia governor since the Civil War. Henderson also notes some of Vandiver’s less recognized accomplishments, including the involvement of state government in furthering tourism, foreign investment, and industry. Ernest Vandiver is here recognized for his significant achievements in guiding the state through a period of rapid transformation.

The revised and expanded third edition of this classic book on the Governors of Georgia will now include the governorships of Zell Miller, Roy Barnes, and Sonny Perdue. Perfect for classroom use, this readable and reliable text is newly typeset and includes new photographs.

The death of Georgia governor-elect Eugene Talmadge in late 1946 launched a constitutional crisis that ranks as one of the most unusual political events in U.S. history: the state had three active governors at once, each claiming that he was the true elected official. This is the first full-length examination of that episode, which wasn't just a crazy quirk of Georgia politics (though it was that) but the decisive battle in a struggle between the state's progressive and rustic forces that had continued since the onset of the Great Depression. In 1946, rural forces aided by the county unit system, Jim Crow intimidation of black voters, and the Talmadge machine's "loyal 100,000" voters united to claim the governorship. In the aftermath, progressive political forces in Georgia would shrink into obscurity for the better part of a generation. In this volume is the story of how the political, governmental, and Jim Crow social institutions not only defeated Georgia's progressive forces but forestalled their effectiveness for a decade and a half.

The death of Georgia governor-elect Eugene Talmadge in late 1946 launched a constitutional crisis that ranks as one of the most unusual political events in U.S. history: the state had three active governors at once, each claiming that he was the true elected official. This is the first full-length examination of that episode, which wasn't just a crazy quirk of Georgia politics (though it was that) but the decisive battle in a struggle between the state's progressive and rustic forces that had continued since the onset of the Great Depression. In 1946, rural forces aided by the county unit system, Jim Crow intimidation of black voters, and the Talmadge machine's “loyal 100,000” voters united to claim the governorship. In the aftermath, progressive political forces in Georgia would shrink into obscurity for the better part of a generation. In this volume is the story of how the political, governmental, and Jim Crow social institutions not only defeated Georgia's progressive forces but forestalled their effectiveness for a decade and a half.