What was the impact of
Eugene Talmadge’s political
career?
First round as governor (1933-1937)
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Appealed to rural white voters.
Promised to cut car tag fees, lower
utility rates, and balance the state
budget
First round as governor (1933-1937)
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Was a very strong executive
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The General Assembly refused to lower
the price of car tags, he did it anyway.
When the highway board would not
give in to his control, he declared
martial (military) law and picked new
members
Had the state treasurer physically
removed from his office in the state
capitol building.
Why did he do these things?

Read the 2nd paragraph on pg. 296
to determine why Talmadge took
such strong actions.
Disagreed with FDR and New Deal

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Openly opposed many parts of the
New Deal including minimum wage,
Social Security, and unemployment
insurance
Called FDR a socialist and sought to
run against him for president
Instead, ran against Sen. Richard
Russell and lost
Changes in Georgia


_______________ became governor in
1936 and GA joined the New Deal
completely by building
________________________(pick 3).
Other items in the “little New Deal”
included money for ____________ for
schools, creation of the
_______________, and requiring drivers
_____________________.
Still popular with voters

1940 – Talmadge ran for governor
for a 3rd time and won by telling
white voters the New Deal was
trying to end segregation.
Talmadge and higher education


1941 – Word spread that some
college officials were wanting to
integrate state colleges.
Talmadge used his power to fire two
administrators – the Dean of
Education at UGA and the president
of the Georgia Teachers College
(now Georgia Southern)
Talmadge and higher education
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
The Southern Assoc. of Colleges and
Schools (SACS) took away the
accreditation (official approval) of white
public colleges in the state.
Made national headlines. Georgia college
credits were worthless outside of the
state.
Talmadge was defeated by Ellis Arnall in
1942 – the only governor’s election he
lost
Everything old is new again
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1946 – Talmadge ran for governor –
yet again.
He did not win the popular vote but
won the county unit vote, which
meant he won the election.
Talmadge died in December before
officially taking office and 3 men
claimed to be governor