[Deathwatch] Herman Talmadge, Ex-Georgia Gov., Senator, 88

[Deathwatch Central]

Ex-Georgia Gov., Senator, Herman Talmadge Dead 
Thu Mar 21, 5:32 PM ET 
By Paul Simao 

ATLANTA (Reuters) - Herman Talmadge, a member of a powerful Georgia
political family whose career ended in disgrace when the Senate
denounced him over charges involving drinking and pockets full of $100
bills, died on Thursday. 
  
He was 88. 

Talmadge, who was treated for throat cancer in 1996 and underwent open
heart surgery the following year, died just after midnight at his home
outside Atlanta, said Ginger Moss, a spokeswoman for the Haisten
Funeral Home in McDonough, Georgia. 

Inheriting a political machine built by his father Eugene, the younger
Talmadge served twice as Georgia governor and in the U.S. Senate from
1957 to 1981. 

He started as a strong supporter of school segregation before the civil
rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s ended the practice. Later he
said he believed school segregation "was probably a mistake." 

In the Senate, he served on the special Watergate Committee that helped
lead to the resignation of President Richard Nixon and wrote
legislation affecting rural development, Medicaid, Medicare and school
nutrition. 

Talmadge also cast crucial votes in favor of the 1977 Panama Canal
Treaty, which led to the end of U.S. control of the canal and, many
believe, contributed to Talmadge's 1980 defeat at the hands of Mack
Mattingly, the state's first Republican senator since Reconstruction. 

"He knew that this was almost political suicide in Georgia," former
U.S. President Jimmy Carter said during a luncheon in Atlanta to
celebrate the 20th anniversary of the nonprofit Carter Center. 

But it was Talmadge's departure from Congress that is probably best
remembered now. 

HABITUAL INTOXICATION 

In 1977, Betty Talmadge, his wife of 35 years, divorced him, charging
"cruel treatment and habitual intoxication." During the divorce
proceedings, she reported finding a wad of cash stuffed in her
husband's overcoat pocket. 

Talmadge admitted his drinking got out of hand after his 29-year-old
son Robert drowned in 1975, but he said he never kept large sums of
money at home. His wife's allegations, however, were widely reported
and were included in a Senate Ethics Committee hearing into Talmadge's
financial dealings. 

An aide, Daniel Minchew, was accused of diverting $37,000 in expense
money and campaign contributions to a secret Washington account that
bore Talmadge's name. Minchew claimed he did it on orders from his
boss. 

Talmadge hotly denied the charges and pointed out that he quickly
reimbursed the Senate when he learned of the situation. But the former
Mrs. Talmadge added to his woes by producing 77 $100 bills she said she
found in his overcoat. 

Despite his protestations of a setup, Talmadge was denounced by his
fellow senators for "reprehensible conduct." 

He underwent treatment for exhaustion and alcohol abuse in 1979 and
went into quiet retirement following his defeat by Mattingly one year
later. 

HEIR TO A POLITICAL MACHINE 

Talmadge was born on Aug. 9, 1913, near McRae, Georgia. He was educated
at the University of Georgia and Northwestern University and was a Navy
commander during World War Two. 

His father, dubbed "the wild man from Sugar Creek" for his fiery
speeches, was a powerful grass-roots politician who wore red suspenders
and was elected governor four times. 

Long perceived as the heir apparent, Herman was suddenly thrust into
the political arena when his father died in 1946 after winning the
governor's race a fourth time but before he could take the oath of
office again. 

The Georgia General Assembly took the unusual step of electing his son
to succeed him, but the state Supreme Court ruled the outgoing
governor, Ellis Arnall, was entitled to remain in office until
succeeded by the Lt. Gov.-elect Melvin Thompson. 

Talmadge defeated Thompson in a special election the following year and
was elected to a full term in 1950. 

In 1956, he was handily elected to the Senate where he fought to block
the passage of civil rights legislation. Talmadge had predicted "blood
will run in Atlanta's streets" in 1954 after the Supreme Court outlawed
school segregation in its landmark Brown v. Board of Education ruling. 


Talmadge later moderated his views, pushing for economic and
agricultural programs for poor blacks. 

His first marriage, to Kathryn Williamson in 1937, lasted four years.
He married Betty Shingler in 1941, and they had two sons, Herman Eugene
Jr. and Robert. He married his third wife, Lynda Cowart Pierce, in
1984.