John Shelton Wilder

John Shelton Wilder
48th Lieutenant Governor of Tennessee
Speaker of the Tennessee Senate
In office
January 7, 1971 – January 8, 2007
GovernorWinfield Dunn
Ray Blanton
Lamar Alexander
Ned McWherter
Don Sundquist
Phil Bredesen
Preceded byFrank Gorrell
Succeeded byRon Ramsey
Member of the Tennessee Senate
from the 26th district
In office
January 3, 1959 – January 2, 1961
January 6, 1967 – January 3, 2009
Succeeded byDolores Gresham
Personal details
Born(1921-06-03)June 3, 1921
Mason, Tennessee, U.S.
DiedJanuary 1, 2010(2010-01-01) (aged 88)
Memphis, Tennessee, U.S.
Political partyDemocratic
SpouseMarcelle (died 2004)
ChildrenJohn Shelton Wilder II, David Wilder
Military service
Allegiance United States
Branch/service United States Army
Battles/warsWorld War II

John Shelton Wilder (June 3, 1921 – January 1, 2010) was an American politician who was the 48th Lieutenant Governor of Tennessee for 36 years from January 1971 to January 2007, possibly the longest time anyone has served as Lieutenant Governor or a similar position in the history of the United States.[1][2] He was a Tennessee state senator from 1959 to 1961 and again from 1967 to 2009. Tennesseans do not elect their lieutenant governor; rather, the Speaker of the Senate, who is first in the line of succession to the governor, is granted the title by statute.

  1. ^ Tennessee Senate, Tennessee Blue Book 2007–2008, page 28
  2. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on April 28, 2012. Retrieved April 26, 2009.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)