“Mr. Speaker” Tom Murphy, the longest-tenured state House Speaker in U.S. history
1924-2007
Image from the New Georgia Encyclopedia
For better or for worse, today’s state government owes its power structure to two events:
- The Legislature naming Lestor Maddox governor in 1966 thanks to no candidate winning a majority of popular votes, weakening the stranglehold the position of governor previously held over the state’s power structure.
- The election of Tom Murphy as House Speaker by the House Democratic caucus when George L. Smith died in office in 1973.
Murphy never looked back, becoming the closest thing to a dictator the state has ever seen. He is a complex figure that I couldn’t possibly do justice to in a short blog post.
The AJC has a pretty good obituary up. I thought the comments by the current governor and House speaker were classy.
