Gordon Browning

Gordon Browning
38th Governor of Tennessee
In office
January 16, 1949 – January 15, 1953
Preceded byJim Nance McCord
Succeeded byFrank G. Clement
In office
January 15, 1937 – January 16, 1939
Preceded byHill McAlister
Succeeded byPrentice Cooper
Member of the
U.S. House of Representatives
from Tennessee's 7th district
In office
March 4, 1933 – January 3, 1935
Preceded byWilla Eslick
Succeeded byHerron C. Pearson
Member of the
U.S. House of Representatives
from Tennessee's 8th district
In office
March 4, 1923 – March 3, 1933
Preceded byLon Scott
Succeeded byJere Cooper
Personal details
Born(1889-11-22)November 22, 1889
Carroll County, Tennessee, U.S.
DiedMay 23, 1976(1976-05-23) (aged 86)
Huntingdon, Tennessee, U.S.
Resting placeOak Hill Cemetery, Huntingdon, Tennessee
Political partyDemocratic
Spouse
Ida Leach
(m. 1920)
ProfessionAttorney
Awards Legion of Merit[1]
Military service
Allegiance United States
Branch/service United States Army
Years of service1917–1919
1943–1947[2]
Rank Lieutenant colonel
Battles/warsWorld War I
World War II

Gordon Weaver Browning (November 22, 1889 – May 23, 1976) was an American politician who served as the 38th governor of Tennessee from 1937 to 1939, and again from 1949 to 1953. He also served six terms in the U.S. House of Representatives, from 1923 to 1935, and was Chancellor of Tennessee's Eighth Chancery District in the 1940s. As governor, he stabilized state finances, doubled the state's mileage of paved roads, and enacted legislation to curb voter fraud. His victory in the hard-fought 1948 gubernatorial campaign helped break the power of Memphis political boss E. H. Crump.[3]

In the years following World War II, Browning served in the Allied occupational government in Germany, and was a civil affairs advisor on the staff of General Dwight D. Eisenhower.[2]

  1. ^ Carroll County Historical Society, Carroll County, sequicentennial booklet printed by the McKenzie Banner, 1972, pp. 33-36.
  2. ^ a b Gordon Browning, Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Retrieved: 12 December 2012.
  3. ^ Fred Rolater, "Gordon Weaver Browning," Tennessee Encyclopedia of History and Culture, 2009. Retrieved: 12 December 2012.