Political Leadership in the Governor's Office

During the ten year period from 1950 to 1960 the governors of the southern states gained considerably in stature as political leaders. This increase in prominence cannot be attributed to any substantial change in the legal position of the governor, although Tennessee increased the governor's term from two to four years during this decade. On the whole, the legal position of the governor in most southern states remained weak, although there is a wide variation in his legal position. The increasing role of the governor in providing the state with political leadership stems primarily from the fact that the unwieldy, poorly-organized, and non-representative legislatures of the southern states make leadership from these bodies virtually impossible. In the South, as in any other section of the country, the legislatures “make” the laws. However, their function is largely that of the ratification or rejectio of the governor's proposals. Furthermore it seems to be the nature of legislatures to cut down any aspiring single legislator who tries to assert leadership. When such a legislator occasionally does arise he is suspected, perhaps with good cause, to have designs on the governorship and hence is rejected as overly ambitious by his fellow legislators. He may be suspected also of the same ambitions by the incumbent governor who may assist in blocking the legislator's proposals.