The Making of a Southern Democracy: North Carolina Politics from Kerr Scott to Pat McCrory

1. Uprisings

15 c h a p t e r o n e Uprisings It is a well-known genre, especially in the American South—the selfproclaimed economic populist running for office on a platform calling for more abundant lives for struggling, ordinary, hardworking folks. Some of the more strident—Eugene Talmadge of Georgia, Theodore “The Man” Bilbo in Mississippi—were foul-mouthed racists who poisoned the political environments in their states. Others, notably North Carolina’s Senator Bob Reynolds (1933–45), provided loud, entertaining rhetoric and did minimal harm. Immediately after World War II, two committed neopopulists sought the highest positions in their respective states—James “Kissin’ Jim” Folsom , who was elected as Alabama’s governor in 1946, and Kerr (pronounced “car”) Scott, who was elected North Carolina’s governor in 1948. Both attracted an almost fanatical following based largely on their rural appeal. Both were rough-hewn and occasionally crude politicians. Both met resistance from economically conservative legislatures wanting to maintain the status quo. Folsom and Scott were racial moderates by the standards of their day, taking segregation for granted while favoring steps that would enhance the economic status of African Americans. But there were differences. Folsom was a heavy drinker and womanizer whose appetites became a bigger story than his forward-thinking policies. Scott was a devout and straitlaced Presbyterian whose vices were tobacco and earthy language. Folsom could find humor in nearly every situation. Scott’s greatest flaws were his temper and unforgiving spirit. the campaign of ’48 Economic populists had sought the North Carolina governorship earlier in the twentieth century. All were defeated. Scott was a latecomer to the 16 / Uprisings nomination fight. At the campaign’s onset, liberals looked to R. Mayne Albright , a young and liberal Raleigh attorney who announced his candidacy in August 1947. A war veteran, he had been the state director of the United World Federalists, not considered a radical organization in the immediate aftermath of the carnage of World War II. Albright proclaimed himself the “antimachine candidate” as he toured the state in a Ford, pulling a campaign trailer. He favored repeal of the state sales tax. Albright was a serious candidate but was unlikely to beat the organization’s choice, state treasurer Charles Johnson, a native of the Burgaw area of Pender County in southeastern North Carolina. Governor O. Max Gardner had named Johnson to head the state treasurer ’s office when a vacancy occurred in 1932. Since then, Johnson had won election at four-year intervals and so was one of the state’s more seasoned officials. The white-haired Johnson possessed an understanding of the intricacies of state government matched by few others, but critics thought him pompous. A majority of the legislators endorsed Johnson, as did myriad state officials, county commissioners, and Democratic Party activists. The state’s 1947–48 Speaker of the House, Thomas Pearsall of Rocky Mount, served as Johnson’s campaign manager, and he had the support of most business leaders. Among the most prominent were tobacco magnate James Gray of Winston-Salem, textile giant Charles Cannon of Kannapolis, and banker Robert Hanes of Winston-Salem, then the most astute and politically powerful of corporate leaders. Political kingpin Gardner had died early in 1947, just before he was to depart for England to serve as the U.S. ambassador there. The Johnson apparatus, however, was one of the greatest assemblages of former Gardner people ever seen. Johnson was about as close to being a crown prince as any North Carolina politician had ever been. The hint of another scenario came when Scott spoke at the annual wild game dinner on January 9 at Raleigh’s Carolina Hotel, an event sponsored by the state agriculture department. Amid the aroma of cooked rabbit, squirrel, and venison, Scott announced that he would not seek reelection as agriculture commissioner but instead return to tending the two hundred cows on his dairy farm in the Hawfields community of Haw River, just east of Burlington in piedmont Alamance County. In reality, however, he had other plans. At a February 3 appearance in Asheville, Scott delivered a passionate oration calling for paved farm-to-market roads, more extensive rural electric and phone service, and an improved state school system. It sounded like a campaign appeal. At a Burlington press conference three days later, Scott made his candidacy official, adding, “I shall Uprisings / 17 resign immediately from the office of...