Earle Clements, Date of Birth, Place of Birth, Date of Death

    

Earle Clements

American farmer and politician

Date of Birth: 22-Oct-1896

Place of Birth: Morganfield, Kentucky, United States

Date of Death: 12-Mar-1985

Profession: judge, politician, farmer, lobbyist

Nationality: United States

Zodiac Sign: Libra


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About Earle Clements

  • Earle Chester Clements (October 22, 1896 – March 12, 1985) was an American farmer and politician.
  • He represented the state of Kentucky in both the U.S.
  • House of Representatives and the U.S.
  • Senate and was its 47th Governor, serving from 1947 to 1950.
  • For three decades, he was the leader of a faction of the state's Democratic Party that stood in opposition to the faction led by two-time governor and senator A.
  • B.
  • "Happy" Chandler. After following his father into the local politics of his home county, Clements agreed to chair the gubernatorial campaign of Thomas Rhea in 1935.
  • Already committed to Rhea, he turned down an offer from Happy Chandler to chair his campaign, beginning the rift between the two men.
  • Clements went on to the Kentucky Senate in 1941.
  • In 1944, he was selected as Democratic floor leader of the senate and successfully campaigned for a larger budget than that proposed by Republican governor Simeon Willis.
  • His stand against Willis made him popular in the Democratic Party, and he went on to serve two terms in the U.S.
  • House of Representatives from 1944 to 1948. In 1947, Clements succeeded Willis as governor, defeating Harry Lee Waterfield, Chandler's preferred candidate, in the Democratic primary.
  • As governor, Clements raised taxes and used the revenue to increase funding for the state park system and construct and maintain more roads.
  • He also achieved advancements in education, including some progress toward desegregation.
  • In 1950, Clements was elected to the U.S.
  • Senate.
  • He resigned as governor to accept his Senate seat.
  • While in the Senate, he served as Democratic party whip under party leader Lyndon Johnson and as executive director of the Senate Democratic Reelection Committee from 1957 to 1959.
  • He was defeated by Thruston Morton in his re-election bid in 1956; a lack of support from Chandler (then serving his second term as governor) contributed to Clements' defeat.
  • At Johnson's insistence, Clements resumed chairing the Senate Democratic Reelection Committee in 1957 and 1959. Clements had supported Bert T.
  • Combs for governor against Chandler in 1955, and did so again against Harry Lee Waterfield in 1959.
  • Combs defeated Waterfield and rewarded Clements by appointing him state highway commissioner.
  • In 1961, Clements and Combs split over a proposed deal to lease dump trucks from a Louisville car dealer.
  • State newspapers charged that the deal was payback to the dealer, a Combs supporter.
  • When Combs canceled the deal Clements took it as a public rebuke and soon after resigned to work on the presidential campaign of his friend, Lyndon Johnson.
  • Following his split with Combs, Clements allied himself with the Chandler faction, opposing Combs' lieutenant governor, Wilson Wyatt in his bid to unseat Senator Thruston Morton.
  • Clements' influence declined rapidly after the split with Combs, and by the 1963 gubernatorial race, he was unable to deliver his home county for Chandler in the primary against Edward T.
  • Breathitt.
  • Clements died in his hometown of Morganfield, Kentucky on March 12, 1985.

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