Coup: The Day the Democrats Ousted Their Governor, Put Republican Lamar Alexander in Office Early, and Stopped a Pardon Scandal

Acknowledgments

261 Acknowledgments Beyond the interviews, the following individuals were of particular help to me in compiling the available information to tell the larger story of the coup. These, in sundry ways, provided me with essential support by connecting me to colleagues, relatives (or memories of their relatives), family photographs, journals, and other documents and private records. I am especially grateful to the principals in this story who have survived, and to the relatives of the larger number who have not, for sharing their recollections , keepsake records, and remembered comments that have helped me to tell and also illustrate this tale. Hal Hardin produced many enlightening documents, contemporary notes, and pictures from his home and office files. Bill Koch has been an especially helpful and patient guide through the legal context of decisions made during the week of January 15, 1979. Honey and Lamar Alexander walked with me through the collected photographs, memoranda, and memorabilia from their storied journey. Mike McWherter graciously invited me to visit his late father’s homes in Dresden and Paris, Tennessee. Donna Leech Brown entrusted me with treasured snapshots of Bill Leech’s private life on his beloved farm in Santa Fe and introduced me to his children. David Wilder drove halfway across the state to bring me the tattered old family scrapbook that his mother faithfully kept of photos and news clippings from her husband’s long career in public life. The brothers Joe Henry Jr. and Bob Henry in Pulaski proudly shared memories and photos of their distinguished father. In the list below, I acknowledge the help of all these gracious women and men for their good assistance. Of course, any error in interpretation of all this data that might appear in the preceding pages is mine alone. Darrell Akins, Akins Crisp Public Strategies, Oak Ridge Robert Allison, Bell Buckle, Tennessee Sue Allison, Smithville, Tennessee Barbara Baier, Tennessee Tech University, Cookeville Karen Barnes, Law Office of Hal Hardin, Nashville 262 COUP Charles W. Bone, Bone McAllester Norton PLLC, Nashville and Hendersonville Beverly Burnett, Tennessean Library, Nashville Gay Campbell, First Amendment Center, Freedom Forum, Nashville Lew Conner, Nashville Ed Cromer, M. Lee Smith Publishers LLC, Brentwood, Tennessee Brooks Crowell, Lebanon, Tennessee Frank Daniels III, Nashville David Dickey, Adamsville, Tennessee Susan Dulin, Office of Justice William C. Koch, Tennessee Supreme Court, Nashville Kay Durham, Office of Senator Lamar Alexander, Nashville Marcille Durham, Ingram Group, Nashville John Egerton, Nashville Karen Gatewood, Buchanan, Tennessee Van Grafton, Perspective Films, Nashville Tom Griscom, Chattanooga Sam Hatcher, Lebanon, Tennessee Faye Head, Office of Senator Lamar Alexander, Nashville Joseph W. Henry, Jr. Henry, Henry, and Underwood, Pulaski, Tennessee Robert C. Henry, Henry, Henry, and Underwood, Pulaski, Tennessee Kem Hinton, FAIA, Tuck-Hinton Architects, Nashville Shawn H. Hunt, AIA, Glenview, Illinois Tom Kanon, Tennessee State Library and Archives, Nashville Debby Patterson Koch, Nashville Justice William C. Koch, Nashville Bill Kovach, former Washington bureau chief, New York Times, and former editor, Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Fred Marcum, Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell, and Berkowitz, Huntsville, Tennessee Harlan Mathews, Farris Mathews Bobango, Nashville and Memphis Candy McAdams, director, Ned R. McWherter Weakley County Library, Dresden, Tennessee Doug McCarty, McCarty Holsaple McCarty, Knoxville Mike McWherter, Jackson, Tennessee William P. Morelli, Ingram Industries, and past president, Tennessee Historical Society, Nashville Bobbie Murphy, Office of Fred Thompson, Nashville Beth Odle, Special Collections Division, Nashville Public Library James A. O’Hara III, Washington, DC Ann Marie Deer Owens, Vanderbilt University, Nashville Courtney N. Pearre, Amerigroup Tennessee, Nashville Acknowledgments 263 Carl A. Pierce, Howard H. Baker Jr. Center for Public Policy, University of Tennessee, Knoxville Mike Pigott, McNeely Pigott & Fox, Nashville James Pratt, Pratt Government Strategies, Nashville Molly Leach Pratt, Pratt Government Strategies, Nashville Madelyn B. Pritchett, Dresden, Tennessee Jay Richiuso, Tennessee State Library and Archives, Nashville Mrs. Gene Roberts, Chattanooga Ricky Rogers, Tennessean Library, Nashville Nancy Russell, Office of Senator Douglas Henry, Nashville Gray Sasser, Nashville Robin L. Satyshur, Nashville John L. Seigenthaler, Nashville Tammy Shonting, Law Office of Hal Hardin, Nashville Billy Stair, Stair Public Affairs, Knoxville Frank Sutherland, Brentwood, Tennessee Stephanie R. Taylor, Bone McAllester Norton PLLC, Nashville Carol Tippins, assistant director, Ned R. McWherter Weakley County Library, Dresden, Tennessee Troy Tomlinson, Sony/ATV Music Publishing, Nashville Katy Varney, McNeely Pigott & Fox, Nashville Celia S. Walker, Vanderbilt University Libraries, Nashville Beth Welch, Office of the Chancery Court Clerk and Master, Metropolitan Nashville–Davidson County James W. White, Jones, Hawkins, and Farmer PLC, Nashville David Wilder, Somerville, Tennessee Saralee Terry...