Marvin Griffin

Samuel Marvin Griffin (born September 4, 1907 in Bainbridge , Georgia - † June 13, 1982 ) was an American politician and Governor of Georgia.

Early years and political advancement

Griffin graduated from The Citadel Military School in Charleston , South Carolina in 1929 . He then taught at the Randolph-Macon Academy in Front Royal , Virginia . There he married Mary Elizabeth Smith, with whom he would have two children. When his father fell ill in 1933, the family returned to Bainbridge; he became the editor of the family's own newspaper “Post Searchlight”. In 1934 he took his first political steps by being elected to the general assembly of Georgia. Two years later, his attempt to be elected to the United States House of Representatives failed . Instead, he received an administrative post in his government from Governor Eurith Rivers .

In World War II he joined the army and made it up to lieutenant colonel. He was the commander of a unit in the South Pacific. In 1944, Governor Ellis Arnall appointed him as a staff officer in the leadership corps of the National Guard. He held this office until 1947. In 1948 Georgia held new gubernatorial elections due to a previous constitutional crisis. Griffin was elected lieutenant governor , in 1950 he was confirmed in this office in the next regular elections. Griffin was the first lieutenant governor of Georgia to actually exercise this recently established constitutional office.

Georgia Governor

In 1954 he ran for the office of governor himself and was elected to succeed Herman Talmadge . As governor, he raised income tax to compensate for shortfalls in income. The money was used to promote road construction in Georgia. A total of 12,000 miles of paved roads were paved in rural areas. The education system has also been expanded and the budget for this area increased by 50%. On the other hand, Griffin was a strict racist. Although the US Supreme Court was in Brown v. Board of Education , shortly before Griffin's election as governor, which had ruled segregation in schools unconstitutional, Griffin refused to implement the ruling. Nevertheless, he made sure that his educational reform also benefited his black fellow citizens. However, white schools for blacks were still banned. The process of overcoming this condition only began slowly in 1961, when Griffin was no longer in office.

In the further course of his tenure, his government came more and more under suspicion of corruption. Some of his ministers have been found guilty of various offenses, including the governor's brother allegedly involved in illegal activities. A commission also investigated the governor himself; but there was no charge. Because of these grievances, he was unable to be re-elected in 1958. He resigned from office in early 1959.

Old age and death

In 1962, Griffin ran again for governor. But since the corruption affairs had not yet been forgotten during his tenure and were also mentioned by his opponents in the election campaign, he had no chance of winning the elections. In 1968 he was at the American Independent Party , a third, hopeless, party in the upcoming presidential election, temporarily as a candidate for the vice presidency. In the end, he wasn't nominated. In the 1970s, the former Democrat Griffin was drawn more and more to the Republicans . He supported the election campaigns of Gerald Ford and Ronald Reagan . On June 13, 1982, Marvin Griffin died of lung cancer .

literature

James F. Cook: The Governors of Georgia, 1754-2004 . 3rd edition, Mercer University Press, Macon (Georgia) 2005.
Harold P. Henderson and Gary L. Roberts (Eds.): Georgia Governors in an Age of Change: From Ellis Arnall to George Busbee University of Georgia Press, Athens 1988.

Web links

personal data
SURNAME	Griffin, Marvin
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	American politician
DATE OF BIRTH	4th September 1907
PLACE OF BIRTH	Bainbridge , Georgia
DATE OF DEATH	June 13, 1982