Johnston Murray

Johnston Murray (born July 21, 1902 in Emet , Johnston County , Oklahoma , †  April 16, 1974 in Oklahoma City , Oklahoma) was an American politician and from 1951 to 1955 the 14th  governor of the state of Oklahoma.

Early years and political advancement

Johnston Murray was the son of William H. Murray , who was governor of Oklahoma between 1931 and 1935. He attended Murray State School of Agriculture until 1924 . In the following years he worked in many professions. Among other things, he accompanied his father to Bolivia , where he worked as a cattle breeder in the 1920s. Johnston Murray then worked in the newspaper business and then in the oil business. At times he also worked for the Douglas aircraft factory. In 1946 he made his law exam at the University of Oklahoma . He then also appeared as a lawyer in criminal proceedings.

Like his father, Johnston Murray was a member of the Democratic Party . He served on the party's county board in Kay County . In 1940 and 1948 he was a member of the Electoral College for the presidential election. In 1950 he was elected the new governor of his state, where he prevailed with 51.1 percent of the vote against the Republican Jo O. Ferguson.

Governor of Oklahoma

Johnston Murray took office on January 8, 1951. As governor, he was against tax increases. He wanted to run his state more economically than his predecessors. For this reason, the government apparatus was reorganized from the point of view of economic efficiency. In doing so, he primarily took action against wasting money. During his tenure, Oklahoma lost two seats in Congress due to a population decline . Therefore the constituencies for the congressional elections had to be redistributed. At that time, women were also given the right to serve as juries in court.

After his four-year tenure ended, Johnson served as a lawyer in Texas and Oklahoma. He was also a legal advisor to the Oklahoma Department of Welfare. Johnston Murray died in 1974. He was married to Willie Roberta Emerson and the couple had one child.

Web links

• Johnston Murray at the National Governors Association (English)
• The governors of Oklahoma (English)
• Johnston Murray in the nndb (English)
• Johnston Murray in the database of Find a Grave (English)