Happy Chandler
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Albert Benjamin Chandler, Sr. (commonly known as A. B. "Happy" Chandler) (July 14 1898 – June 15 1991) was a governor of Kentucky, a U.S. Senator and Baseball Commissioner.
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[edit] Early life
Chandler was born in Corydon, Kentucky. He graduated from Transylvania University in 1921 and the University of Kentucky Law School and joined the Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity.
[edit] Political career
Chandler was elected to the state senate of Kentucky in 1929, and became [[Lieutenant Governor of Kentucky|Lt. Governor in 1931. He then served as Governor from 1935 to 1939. In 1938, he unsuccessfully challenged Sen. Alben Barkley in the Democratic primary, but was appointed to the Senate in 1939 upon the death of the state's other Senator, M. M. Logan. He was then elected to the Senate in 1940 to fill out the term and he was re-elected in 1942. He served as governor of Kentucky again from 1955 to 1959. He was a member of the Democratic Party.
| Image:Baseball Hof.jpg |
| Happy Chandler is a member of the Baseball Hall of Fame |
[edit] Baseball Commissioner
Chandler resigned from the Senate to become the second Commissioner of Major League Baseball in 1945, and remained in that post until 1951. During his service in this office he oversaw the initial steps toward integration of the major leagues, beginning with the debut of Jackie Robinson with the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947. This move was controversial with some team owners and was credited by many in the sports community with Chandler's failure to be selected for another term as Commissioner after the expiration of his first one in 1951. He once said, "I don't believe in barring Negroes from baseball just because they are Negroes."
[edit] Later career
Chandler remained active in Kentucky politics long after his final term as governor ended. In his later life he often mounted quixotic campaigns to return to office, becoming something of a perennial candidate. Chandler lost in the 1963 Democratic primary for governor to Edward T. Breathitt and that was his final serious campaign. In 1968 George C. Wallace strongly considered Chandler as his running mate but instead chose General Curtis LeMay. Chandler ran weak campaigns for governor in 1967 and 1971, the latter as an Independent. Chandler is sometimes credited with having created the phrase, "I didn't leave the Democratic Party; the Democratic Party left me!"
In his last years, Chandler remained active as a University of Kentucky Board of Trustees member. He was also an occasional guest singer for the traditional of "My Old Kentucky Home" (sung before sporting events in Kentucky after "The Star-Spangled Banner"). He always received wild applause for this, and in his last two years, when he had to be helped to walk onto the playing floor to perform, he was met with a standing ovation.
[edit] Legacy
Chandler was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1982. He died at age 92 in Versailles, Kentucky and is buried at the Pisgah Church Cemetery in Versailles.
Chandler's grandson A. B. "Ben" Chandler III was elected to statewide office three times (Auditor of Public Accounts in 1991 and Attorney General in 1995 and 1999), won the Democratic primary for governor in 2003 but lost in the general election to Ernie Fletcher, and was elected to Congress in 2004.
At the time of his death, Chandler was the earliest U.S. governor of any state still living; he had held that distinction since the death of Alfred M. Landon. After Chandler's death, the title was passed to Harold E. Stassen.
[edit] External links
- Baseball Hall of Fame
- Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
- An obituary
| Preceded by: James Breathitt, Jr. | Lieutenant Governor of Kentucky 1931–1935 | Succeeded by: Keen Johnson |
| Preceded by: Ruby Laffoon | Democratic nominee for Governor of Kentucky 1935–1935 | Succeeded by: Keen Johnson |
| Preceded by: Ruby Laffoon | Governor of Kentucky 1935–1939 | Succeeded by: Keen Johnson |
| Preceded by: M. M. Logan | United States Senator (Class 2) from Kentucky October 10, 1939–November 1, 1945 | Succeeded by: William A. Stanfill |
| Preceded by: Kenesaw Mountain Landis | Commissioner of Baseball 1945–1951 | Succeeded by: Ford Frick |
| Preceded by: Lawrence Wetherby | Democratic nominee for Governor of Kentucky 1955–1955 | Succeeded by: Bert T. Combs |
| Preceded by: Lawrence Wetherby | Governor of Kentucky 1955–1959 | Succeeded by: Bert T. Combs |
| Preceded by: Alfred M. Landon | Earliest living US governor 1987–1991 | Succeeded by: Harold E. Stassen |
| Governors of Kentucky
<td style="vertical-align: middle; width: 1px" rowspan="2"> Image:Flag of Kentucky.svg </td> |
|---|
| Shelby • Garrard • Greenup • Scott • Shelby • Madison • Slaughter • Adair • Desha • Metcalfe • J. Breathitt • J. Morehead • Clark • Wickliffe • Letcher • Owsley • Crittenden • Helm • Powell • C. Morehead • Magoffin • Robinson • Bramlette • Helm • Stevenson • Leslie • McCreary • Blackburn • Knott • Buckner • Brown • Bradley • Taylor • Goebel • Beckham • Willson • McCreary • Stanley • Black • Morrow • Fields • Sampson • Laffoon • Chandler • Johnson • Willis • Clements • Wetherby • Chandler • Combs • E. Breathitt • Nunn • Ford • Carroll • Brown Jr. • Collins • Wilkinson • Jones • Patton • Fletcher
Kentucky also had two Confederate Governors: George W. Johnson and Richard Hawes. |
| Lieutenant Governors of Kentucky
<td style="vertical-align: middle; width: 1px" rowspan="2"> Image:Flag of Kentucky.svg </td> |
|---|
| Bullitt • Caldwell • Slaughter • Hickman • Slaughter • Barry • McAfee • Breathitt • J. Morehead • Wickliffe • M. Thomson • Dixon • Helm • J. Thompson • Hardy • Boyd • Jacob • Stevenson • Carlisle • Underwood • Cantrill • Hindman • Bryan • Alford • Worthington • Marshall • Beckham • Thorne • Cox • McDermott • Black • Ballard • Breathitt, Jr. • Chandler • Johnson • Myers • Tuggle • Wetherby • Beauchamp • Waterfield • Wyatt • Waterfield • Ford • Carroll • Stovall • Collins • Beshear • Jones • Patton • Henry • Pence |
