Ernest Vandiver was the only child of Vanna Bowers and Samuel Ernest Vandiver.
22 Facts About Ernest Vandiver
2.
Ernest Vandiver's mother had two children from a previous marriage, which ended with the death of her first husband.
3.
Ernest Vandiver's father was a prominent businessman, farmer, and landowner in Franklin County.
4.
Ernest Vandiver attended public schools in Lavonia and the Darlington School in Rome, Georgia.
5.
Ernest Vandiver graduated from the University of Georgia and the University of Georgia School of Law, both in Athens.
6.
In 1948, Talmadge appointed Ernest Vandiver to be the state's adjutant general.
7.
Ernest Vandiver ran for governor in 1958 and promised to restore the state's image, which had been tarnished by scandals under Governor Marvin Griffin under whom he had served in the second position.
8.
Ernest Vandiver succeeded Griffin as both lieutenant governor and governor.
9.
Ernest Vandiver had pledged to defend segregation, using the campaign motto, "No, not one," meaning not one black child in a white school.
10.
Ernest Vandiver worked behind the scenes with Kennedy and his brother Robert and ultimately played a role in obtaining the release of Martin Luther King Jr.
11.
Ernest Vandiver might have told him that he would get him appointed federal judge or something.
12.
Ernest Vandiver changed from his "No, not one" stance on segregation.
13.
Ernest Vandiver appointed banker John A Sibley to head a state commission designed to prepare for the court-ordered school desegregation.
14.
Ernest Vandiver pledged to maintain the County Unit System, a type of electoral college that had been employed to elect Georgia governors, but it was struck down by a decision of the United States Supreme Court as unconstitutional.
15.
Ernest Vandiver then ordered the Democratic State Central Committee to conduct the 1962 primary by popular vote.
16.
In 1966, Ernest Vandiver was initially a candidate for governor and had been expected to compete with another former governor, Ellis Arnall.
17.
When Vandiver looked like a potential Democratic nominee, Callaway asked William R Bowdoin Sr.
18.
In 1972, at the age of fifty-four, Ernest Vandiver ran for the United States Senate for a full term to replace his wife's uncle, veteran Senator Richard Russell Jr.
19.
Ernest Vandiver was married to Betty Russell, a niece of Senator Russell, who had served earlier as governor.
20.
Ernest Vandiver was a son in law of Judge Robert Lee Russell and grandson-in-law of Judge Richard Russell Sr.
21.
Ernest Vandiver died on February 21,2005, at the age of eighty-six at his home in Lavonia, Georgia.
22.
Ernest Vandiver had worked to make sure the highway traversed Franklin County, instead of proceeding further north as originally planned.