Richard Hyatt: Deciphering a bizarre moment in history

J. Robert Elliott was no stranger to history.

He was a federal judge for 38 years, and when he retired in 2000 he was the oldest sitting judge in the country. He died six years later at the age of 96.

From a courthouse in Columbus, Elliott put Martin Luther King Jr. in jail, overturned the conviction of Lt. William Calley, locked up aging nuns who came to protest at Fort Benning and confronted leaders of corporate America.

President John F. Kennedy appointed him in 1962 and few people understood why a Catholic playboy from Massachusetts got involved with the son of a Methodist minister who kept a portrait of Gen. Robert E. Lee hanging in his chambers.

Now comes a book co-authored by a former Columbus State University political science professor that connects the dots on the judge, the president and a U.S. senator whose family was political royalty in Georgia. Scott Buchanan and colleagues Charles Bullock and Ronald Keith Gaddie have written "The Three Governors Controversy," ($32.95, University of Georgia Press).

Their overdue study delves into the most bizarre moment in the history of Georgia politics. Voters elected Gene Talmadge, but he died in 1946 before becoming governor for the fourth time. The General Assembly handed the job to his son, Herman. Lt. Gov. M.E. Thompson claimed he was the rightful successor and sitting Gov. Ellis Arnall refused to budge. Elliott was the floor leader for the Talmadge faction, and as Buchanan describes, the Muscogee County legislator helped Herman prevail.

"Judge Elliott was the muscle behind an important resolution that called for legislators to tally only the votes for governor. It won by two votes. If it had gone the other way, Thompson would have had a stronger claim," said Buchanan, a professor at The Citadel.

Courts later ruled for Thompson who served for two years. Herman Talmadge trounced him in 1948, setting the stage for six years as governor and 24 years in the Senate.

Talmadge supported many old henchmen in statewide elections and he remembered Elliott when a federal judgeship opened up in 1962. "He always looked for ways to help his friends," Buchanan said.

J. Robert Elliott helped Herman Talmadge survive in 1947 and altered the course of Georgia politics, and the senator's loyalty to an old friend will never be forgotten on 12th Street.

-- Richard Hyatt is an independent correspondent. Reach him hyatt31906@knology.net.

This story was originally published November 14, 2015 at 6:00 PM with the headline "Richard Hyatt: Deciphering a bizarre moment in history ."