Editor’s note: third in a series.
Chattanooga’s Estes Kefauver was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1939, after campaigning as a progressive supporting President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal. Within a week after winning a special election for the seat vacated at the death of Rep. Sam D. McReynolds, Kefauver was in Washington, D.C., advocating for his 3rd Congressional District.
He quickly separated himself from Tennessee’s conservative delegation and pursued his own agenda.
What issues garnered the congressman’s attention?
First, now that the Chickamauga Dam and other structures controlled the Tennessee River’s depth, the congressman recognized the need for bridges across the river. While ferries had served the area well for decades, bridges improved economic cooperation and growth while uniting the citizens of his district.