21 Facts About Clifford Allen

Clifford Robertson Allen was a Tennessee attorney and Democratic politician.

Clifford Allen was elected to a first term in the Tennessee State Senate in 1948.

Clifford Allen was seen by some as the representative of the urban and progressive forces as opposed to those whose support was largely rural, such as Clement.

Clifford Allen was a staunch opponent of Boss Crump of Memphis, and was invariably opposed by the Crump political machine.

Clifford Allen was elected to the State Senate again in 1954 where he was a strong advocate for teachers and the public schools.

Fulton had run for the office in the place of his popular older brother Lyle, who had died of cancer shortly after entering the race to succeed Clifford Allen, but was several weeks short of having reached the constitutionally required age of 30 prior to the beginning of the legislative session, and Clifford Allen was appointed back to this seat again.

In 1960 Clifford Allen was elected Assessor of Property for Davidson County, Tennessee.

However, Clifford Allen was to make it his political base for the next 15 years.

Clifford Allen finished second behind long-time rival Beverly Briley, the last county judge of Davidson County.

Clifford Allen long had positioned himself as a populist, a defender of the rights of the elderly, impoverished, and "average people".

Clifford Allen worked to make a certain amount of property held by elderly homeowners with low incomes exempt from property tax.

Clifford Allen began to shape the 1971 convention to suit his principal issue.

Clifford Allen managed to explain this difficult and confusing issue in such a way as to win a large majority for the holding of a constitutional convention in which it would be discussed.

Clifford Allen was aided by the existence of the six-year limit between such events; opponents of a state income tax were aware that if a convention were to be held and limited to the property tax issue, another one at which an income tax might be proposed could not be held for at least another six years.

Once in Congress, Clifford Allen tried immediately to establish a high profile for a freshman legislator, to the consternation of some and the disdain of others.

Clifford Allen called for the adoption by the TVA of "lifeline rates", a low, subsidized rate for low-income, low-volume electric users who would essentially be subsidized by the utility's major customers.

TVA management objected vehemently to Clifford Allen's proposal, stating that it violated provisions of the TVA Self-Financing Act of 1959 which required all of the agency's power operations to be self-financing and unsubsidized, and would further dissuade new large customers from moving into its service area as opposed to adjoining areas where they would not be subject to such a scheme.

The idea apparently was well received by a majority of Nashville-area voters, however; Clifford Allen was elected to a full term in November 1976.

However, Clifford Allen was regarded by many as increasingly a relic of an earlier era; he tended to address all issues at discursive length in the tradition of Southern country lawyers.

However, only days before the deadline for withdrawing from the primary race, Clifford Allen suffered a massive heart attack.

Clifford Allen died at St Thomas Hospital from complications of a heart attack on June 18,1978.