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A controversial and colorful politician, Eugene Talmadge played a leading role in the state's politics from 1926 to 1946. During his three terms as state commissioner of agriculture and three terms as governor, his personality and actions polarized voters into Talmadge and anti-Talmadge factions in the state's one-party politics of that era. He was elected to a fourth term as the state's chief executive in 1946 but died before taking office. Eugene Talmadge was born on the family farm near Forsyth on September 23, 1884, to Carrie Roberts and Thomas R. Talmadge. After attending the University of Georgia and briefly teaching, Talmadge returned to Athens to earn a law degree (1907). He practiced law briefly in Atlanta before moving to Ailey and then Mt. Vernon to start his own practice. In 1909 he married Mattie Thurmond Peterson, a young widow, who was the telegraph operator in Ailey. They had three children: Margaret, Vera, and Herman Eugene. The Talmadge's later moved to a farm in Telfair County.
Early Political Career
After holding minor offices in Telfair County, Talmadge made unsuccessful runs for state legislative office in 1920 and 1922. He finally won state elective office by defeating Commissioner of Agriculture J. J. Brown in 1926. Talmadge was overwhelmingly re-elected in 1928 and 1930. He used the department's newspaper, the Market Bulletin, to give advice to farmers on how to improve their farming skills and operations. But more important, Talmadge used the Bulletin to express his views on political issues and to present himself as an outspoken advocate for the farmers. He extolled the virtues of a laissez-faire economic policy and individual action to improve the well-being of farmers.
His critics in the legislature attempted to rein in the freewheeling and outspoken Talmadge. The senate adopted a committee report charging the commissioner
Eugene Talmadge
Eugene Talmadge
with violating a state law requiring that fertilizer fees collected by the department be deposited in the state treasury. The committee also concluded that Talmadge had improperly spent department funds on a scheme to raise the price of hogs. The senate committee further criticized the commissioner for having paid himself and family members more than $40,000 in salaries and expenses and for using department funds to underwrite his annual trips to the Kentucky Derby. A committee of the Georgia house recommended that Governor Richard B. Russell Jr. sue Talmadge to recover state funds spent on the hog-buying scheme. A minority report even called for his impeachment. The house agreed to sue but rejected the call to initiate impeachment proceedings against the commissioner. Russell referred the issue to the state attorney general, who declined to bring suit.
Governorship
Still popular with his rural constituency, Talmadge considered running for higher political office in 1932. Governor Russell ran for a seat in the U.S. Senate instead of seeking reelection. Talmadge entered the Democratic Party's crowded gubernatorial primary and won without a runoff. He promised to run the government economically, balance the state budget, lower utility rates, reduce the price of automobile tags to three dollars, and reorganize the state highway board.
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