James D. Porter Jr.

James Davis Porter (born December 7, 1827 in Paris , Tennessee , † May 18, 1912 ) was an American politician and governor of the state of Tennessee.

biography

Early years and political advancement

James Porter graduated from the University of Nashville in 1846 . He then studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1851. From 1859 he was a member of the House of Representatives from Tennessee . When the civil war broke out , he joined the south. He spent the entire wartime on Benjamin Franklin Cheatham's staff . After the war ended, he practiced as a lawyer and was a judge in the Tennessee 12th District Judge for four years. Porter was a member of the Democratic Party and in 1874 became its candidate for the upcoming gubernatorial election, which he won against his Republican challenger Horace Maynard .

Governor of Tennessee

During his four-year tenure as Governor of Tennessee from 1875 to 1879, deleveraging was a key issue. Porter failed to get this problem under control. He was more successful with his education policy. It was then that the first medical school for black people was founded. The governor also played a prominent role in founding George Peabody College for teachers in Nashville .

Further career

In 1879 he became president of a local railway company. Then he turned to federal politics and was from 1885 to 1887 the 16th Assistant Secretary of State (Deputy Secretary of State ) at the time of US President Grover Cleveland under Secretary of State Thomas F. Bayard . In 1893 Cleveland appointed him Ambassador of the United States to Chile , a post he filled for two years.

After he was already president of the board of directors of the University of Nashville, he became chancellor of this institution in 1901. At the same time he was president of Peabody College ; when the two schools merged, he became president of the new institution called George Peabody College until 1909 . He then retired to his hometown Paris, where he died on May 18, 1912.

Porter was married to Susannah Dunlap, with whom he had four children.

literature

Robert Sobel and John Raimo (Eds.): Biographical Directory of the Governors of the United States, 1789–1978 . Volume 4, Meckler Books, Westport, CT 1978. 4 volumes
The National Cyclopaedia of American Biography. Vol. 7. James T. White & Company, New York.

Web links

personal data
SURNAME	Porter, James D. Jr.
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Porter, James Davis
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	American politician
DATE OF BIRTH	December 7, 1827
PLACE OF BIRTH	Paris , Tennessee
DATE OF DEATH	May 18, 1912
Place of death	Paris , Tennessee