Tennessee governors, as a lot, have been a hearty sort. In 226 years of Tennessee statehood, only one has died in office.
That one, Austin Peay, died from a cerebral hemorrhage (a type of stroke) on Oct. 2, 1927, months into his third term. He was only 51. Austin Peay State University in Clarksville is named in his memory.
Indeed, very few Tennessee governors even have left office before the end of their terms.
Sam Houston resigned six months before the end of his term in 1829 after divorcing his wife and then moving to the Arkansas Territory. The third term of Isham G. Harris summarily ended in 1862 when President Abraham Lincoln appointed Andrew Johnson to be the state’s military governor. Johnson’s term ended in 1865 when he was inaugurated as U.S. vice president.
William Brownlow resigned in 1869 before being inaugurated as a U.S. senator. James B. Frazier resigned just after the beginning of his second term in 1905 after being appointed a U.S. senator. And Ray Blanton left office three days early in 1979 after Lamar Alexander was sworn in early as governor to forestall the issuing by Blanton of any additional scandal-related pardons.
In spite of all that robust gubernatorial health, legislators want to be sure a process exists for someone to temporarily assume the powers and duties of the governor should the governor be unable to discharge those powers and duties.
Think, for instance, of the potential of a coma or incapacitating stroke or long-term medical treatment through which the governor might live but be unable to temporarily act in his or her usual capacity.
The result is constitutional amendment No. 2 on November’s ballot, which would allow the speaker of the Senate — or the speaker of the House if there is no speaker of the Senate — to temporarily assume the governor’s duties (upon a declaration by the governor or a majority of commissioners of administrative departments). It is a measure similar to part of the 25th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which provides for the temporary transfer of the U.S. president’s powers and duties to the vice president on the initiative of the president or on the initiative of the vice president together with a majority of the Cabinet.
The Tennessee amendment goes on to note that the speaker would not have to resign as speaker or from the legislature and would retain the speaker’s salary during the period of incapacitation.
We see no reason this amendment should not be approved by voters.
We have previously written on the other three amendments that will be before voters, and suggest that all be approved.
– Amendment No. 1: Makes it illegal to deny employment to anyone because of the employee’s membership in, affiliation with, resignation from or refusal to join or affiliate with any labor union or employee organization.
– Amendment No. 3: Deletes current language in the state constitution that essentially allows slavery and involuntary servitude as a punishment for someone convicted of a crime and replaces it with words that say slavery and voluntary servitude are forever prohibited and that an inmate is not prohibited from working after being convicted of a crime.
– Amendment No. 4: Deletes current language in the state constitution which prohibits “ministers of the gospel and priests of any denomination” from holding a seat in the legislature.
In the case of all four amendments, a “yes” vote is a signal to approve the amendments.
We suggest voters not skip over the constitutional amendment questions, which take up the largest portion of the November ballot. Here’s why.
First, the amendments must get more “yes” votes than “no” votes to pass.
Second, and equally important, the number of “yes” votes must be a majority of the total votes in the gubernatorial election. In other words, in 2018, 2,243,294 total votes were cast in the governor’s race. So, if the amendments were on the ballot that year, each would have to have had 1,121,648 “yes” (one more than half) votes to pass.
A Tennessee gubernatorial candidate, in theory, could win by a plurality of votes (less than 50% but more than the candidate’s opponents), but the constitutional amendments that pass have the higher standard of 50% plus one vote of the total votes cast.
Again, we urge ratification of all four amendments, including No. 2, which has gotten less publicity than the other three but nevertheless enshrines someone to assume the duties of the governor in case of temporary incapacitation. And even if our governors do seem to have had — throughout history — some remarkable health genes.