Confederate Lt. Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest’s days in the State Capitol could be numbered. Lt. Gov. Randy McNally, an Oak Ridge Republican, says he could support a move to rotate Forrest’s bust out of the Capitol and make sure Capitol displays are “more reflective of the entire history of Tennessee.”

2. Attorney, Former Political Activist Lewis Donelson Dies at 100 - Thursday, January 4, 2018

In a century of life that began in Memphis, Lewis Donelson was many things including an attorney, politician and strategist. In all of those pursuits and others, he was one of the city’s most influential citizens and a force in some of the most historic moments in the city’s history as well as the state’s history.

3. Last Word: The Run, 70 Million Gallons a Day and More Shipping Containers - Monday, November 6, 2017

This will be another busy week on the political front with more candidates declaring their intentions in advance of Thanksgiving. Meanwhile, Republican contender for governor Randy Boyd ends his run across the state Tuesday morning on Mud Island – a variation on Lamar Alexander’s walk across the state in the 1978 Republican primary for Governor that remains a part of the state’s political folklore almost 40 years later.

4. Attorney Lewis Donelson Marks 100th Birthday - Saturday, October 14, 2017

Memphis attorney Lewis Donelson marked his 100th birthday Monday, Oct. 9.

The senior counsel and co-founder of Baker Donelson has had a 70-year career in the law and had been active in politics before he founded the law firm in 1954, including the founding of the modern Republican Party in Tennessee and Shelby County at a time when political boss E.H. Crump would not even allow the party to hold primaries in Shelby County.

5. Attorney Lewis Donelson Marks 100th Birthday - Tuesday, October 10, 2017

Memphis attorney Lewis Donelson marked his 100th birthday Monday, Oct. 9.

The senior counsel and co-founder of Baker Donelson has had a 70-year career in the law and had been active in politics before he founded the law firm in 1954, including the founding of the modern Republican Party in Tennessee and Shelby County at a time when political boss E.H. Crump would not even allow the party to hold primaries in Shelby County.

6. Haslam Less Clear Than Usual On Run for US Senate - Thursday, September 28, 2017

Gov. Bill Haslam usually gives an answer to every question, even if his subjects and verbs don’t agree. But when it comes to a potential run for the U.S. Senate, he stumbles.

In fact, his response was almost inaudible just a week before his pal U.S. Sen. Bob Corker said he wouldn’t seek another term at the end of 2018.

7. Last Word: Kustoff at Rotary, Royal's Vibe and The Terms of MEMPOWER - Wednesday, August 2, 2017

The investment group that renovated the Chisca resurfaced Tuesday evening with a plan for the Wonder Bread factory, vacant for the last four years. But don’t look for a return of the bread smell to the Edge area. And if you look at what has started to happen in that particular corridor since Wonder Bread shut down, the mixed-use plan has some precedent. Throw in the move to sell The Commercial Appeal property just a few blocks away and if the economy remains this good, the transformation in this area could be radical in another four years.

8. January 13-19, 2017: This week in Memphis history - Saturday, January 14, 2017

1977: On the front page of The Daily News, the Memphis City Council considers a resolution honoring undercover police officer Joe Hoing for his role in the federal investigation of the Memphis Playgirl strip clubs owned by Art Baldwin of Nashville.
And council members are considering their own investigation to follow up on allegations that Baldwin was paying off some Memphis police officers. “We have prided ourselves on having no organized crime in Memphis,” council member Andy Alissandratos says during the council discussion. “But apparently it has been accused of benefiting from it.”
Hoing worked his way into Baldwin’s organization starting as Baldwin’s driver and becoming a manager of the Memphis nightclubs – he brought in another undercover officer who took his place as Baldwin’s driver.
The investigation of Baldwin would branch off into a federal probe of the administration of then-Tennessee Gov. Ray Blanton for the selling of prison pardons and paroles by those in Blanton’s inner circle. Blanton himself would be convicted and serve jail time for selling liquor licenses.

9. Why is It So Difficult for Tennessee To Oust Indicted Politicians? - Thursday, November 10, 2016

Tennessee is lagging much of the nation when it comes to the ability to remove scoundrels from public office.

And, make no mistake, the Volunteer State has had its fair share of ne’er-do-well politicians who would likely have been thrown out of office if the proper procedures had been in place. 

10. The Crooked Path to Durham’s Ouster - Thursday, September 22, 2016

State Rep. Kevin Brooks set the tone for Jeremy Durham’s ouster in prayer, of all places. Quoting from Luke, the Cleveland Republican opened the recent extraordinary session of the General Assembly saying, “Heavenly Father, you’re very clear in your word when you say that every valley will be filled, every mountain and hill brought low and the crooked places made straight and the rough places made smooth.

11. Former Senator Fred Thompson Dies - Monday, November 2, 2015

Former U.S. Sen. and one-time presidential contender Fred Thompson was in many ways a reluctant politician. But he was also a lobbyist with an envious arsenal of political skills honed both by his calling as an attorney and by his service as a lawyer during unprecedented political crises.

12. Haslam, Alexander Look to Boost Republican Turnout - Wednesday, August 6, 2014

U.S. Rep. Stephen Fincher remembers the first time that he talked with U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander.

Fincher had been elected to Congress long enough to have made several votes after a 2008 campaign in which he touted his conservative values and stances. And in the process, Fincher admitted to Alexander that he had been critical of Alexander’s voting record during the campaign.

13. Alexander Preps Base For March Republican Primary - Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Political gatherings are often places of unlikely coexistence.

The 37th annual Lincoln Day Gala of the Shelby County Republican Party included an auction as the group of 600 party faithful at the University of Memphis Holiday Inn ate dinner.

14. Haslam: Patronage Threat Doesn’t Match Realities - Tuesday, February 7, 2012

Political patronage is not the threat to state employees that it once was because state government is bigger and has a broader scope of services, Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam says.

Haslam has been making the point as he tours the state to push priorities launched last month in his State of the State address.

15. Sen. Alexander Recalls Early Days of Governorship - Monday, October 3, 2011

U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander of Tennessee said he tends to favor the trio of governors in the still forming field for the Republican presidential nomination.

“I like the governors,” Alexander, a former governor of Tennessee, told more than 100 students last week at the University of Memphis Cecil C. Humphries School of Law. “I think President Obama has many admirable qualities and some policies I agree with. But I think what’s not as strong is (his) executive leadership.”

16. APNewsBreak: FBI Probes Never Entangled McWherter - Tuesday, June 28, 2011

NASHVILLE (AP) – Ned McWherter, one of the most powerful Tennessee Democrats during his quarter century in public life, never got caught up in any of the FBI undercover investigations that pushed another governor out of office early and led to several prison sentences and suicides for others in his party.

17. Justices, AWA Celebrate 30 Years Of Women in Law - Thursday, November 5, 2009

The Association for Women Attorneys is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year, and in a commemoration of the goals women in the law have achieved, the organization Tuesday hosted the three female Tennessee Supreme Court justices – Chief Justice Janice M. Holder, Justice Cornelia A. Clark and Justice Sharon G. Lee – at a continuing legal education seminar at the Memphis Botanic Garden.

18. Wilder’s Farewell Letter Written in Usual Style - Wednesday, June 25, 2008

After 44 years in the Tennessee Senate, John Wilder has penned a farewell letter that is a mix of the political and the existential.

For years, Wilder has blended the two in speeches parsed by other political leaders in the state wary of Wilder’s power but often puzzled by his frequent references to “the cosmos.”

19. Republican Fred Thompson Quits Presidential Race - Wednesday, January 23, 2008

NAPLES, Fla. (AP) - Republican Fred Thompson, the actor-politician who attracted more attention as a potential presidential candidate than as a real one, quit the race for the White House on Tuesday after a string of poor finishes in early primary and caucus states.

20. Archived Article: Yacoubian - Friday, November 22, 1996
Public trust vs Public trust vs. private gain By Berje Yacoubian Special to The Daily News The Canonical view holds that the laws of nature are real and changeless. What also appears changeless is manís ability to succumb to corrupting influe...