35 Facts About Ruby Laffoon

Ruby Laffoon was an American attorney and politician who served as the 43rd Governor of Kentucky from 1931 to 1935.

Ruby Laffoon developed an interest in politics and returned to Kentucky, where he compiled a mixed record of victories and defeats in elections at the county and state levels.

Ruby Laffoon rushed back to the state to invalidate the call, but the Kentucky Court of Appeals upheld it as constitutional, and the primary law was passed.

Ruby Laffoon was born on January 15,1869, in a log cabin in Madisonville, Kentucky.

Ruby Laffoon was the third child and only son of John Bledsoe Laffoon Jr.

When he was a young child, Laffoon chose the name "Ruby" after John Edwin Ruby, a local businessman whose grocery store he frequently visited.

At age 15, while plowing a field, Ruby Laffoon was kicked in the hip by a mule, requiring a six-week stay in a Nashville hospital.

In 1886, Ruby Laffoon moved to Washington, DC to live with his uncle, US Representative Polk Ruby Laffoon.

Ruby Laffoon returned to Madisonville, was admitted to the bar, and began practicing in the office of Judge William H Yost.

Ruby Laffoon became active in the Democratic Party and served as a county election officer.

Ruby Laffoon married Mary "May" Bryant Nisbet on January 31,1894, at, the Lucille Hotel in Madisonville.

Ruby Laffoon was a delegate-at-large to every Democratic National Convention between 1932 and 1960, and actively campaigned for Franklin D Roosevelt during his first run for the presidency.

Ruby Laffoon sold his interest in the company in 1901, the same year he made a second bid to become county attorney.

Ruby Laffoon won the election over Thomas E Finley by a vote of 3,335 to 2,910.

Ruby Laffoon faced no opposition in the Democratic primary, but the entire Democratic ticket was defeated in the general election.

In 1915, Ruby Laffoon sought the post of Commonwealth's Attorney for the Fourth Judicial District, which comprised Hopkins, Caldwell, Crittenden, and Livingston counties.

Ruby Laffoon lost in the primary to J Elliott Baker, but the Republican candidate, Charles Ferguson, won the general election.

In September 1918, Ruby Laffoon moved to San Antonio, Texas, where he opened a law practice and managed a citrus fruit business near Galveston.

Ruby Laffoon was re-elected for a second six-year term in 1927.

Ruby Laffoon was selected in a landslide over a myriad of candidates, including sitting lieutenant governor James Breathitt Jr.

Ruby Laffoon cited the failed administration of Governor Sampson and the problem-filled presidency of Herbert Hoover as reasons to elect a Democrat.

Shortly after taking office, Ruby Laffoon organized the Honorable Order of Kentucky Colonels, a charitable organization of people who had been commissioned as honorary Kentucky colonels.

Ruby Laffoon's best known commission was to Harland Sanders, who used the title "Colonel" when he opened his chain of Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurants.

Ruby Laffoon's administration was confronted by the economic difficulties of the Great Depression.

In retaliation, Ruby Laffoon vetoed $7 million in appropriations and a measure to cut property taxes at the end of the legislative session.

Ruby Laffoon responded to the economic crisis by declaring a four-day banking holiday to begin on March 1,1933.

Johnson and Chandler again led the opposition to Laffoon's plan; Laffoon called them, along with Allie Young and US Representative John Y Brown Sr.

The General Assembly passed the requested cuts, and in July 1934, Ruby Laffoon called another special session to consider the sales tax.

On January 5,1935, Ruby Laffoon traveled to Washington, DC to meet with President Roosevelt.

Beckham, who Ruby Laffoon believed would challenge Rhea for the Democratic nomination.

Supporters of a single primary found they did not have the votes in the legislature to pass it, so they agreed to a double primary, which Ruby Laffoon signed into law on February 27,1935.

Ruby Laffoon vigorously defended the commissions he had issued and those issued by his predecessors.

Ruby Laffoon was a member of the Democratic National Committee in 1936, but decided not to attend the national convention.

Ruby Laffoon chose Urey Woodson to serve as his proxy, but Woodson declined to attend as well and turned the proxy over to Fred M Vinson.

Ruby Laffoon was a delegate to the Democratic National Convention in 1940, and despite his differences with President Roosevelt during his gubernatorial term, he supported Roosevelt's re-election.