Current:Home > BackFormer Tennessee Gov. Winfield Dunn, who left dentistry to win as a first-time candidate, dies at 97-InfoLens
Former Tennessee Gov. Winfield Dunn, who left dentistry to win as a first-time candidate, dies at 97
View Date:2024-12-23 10:40:38
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Former Tennessee Gov. Winfield Dunn, who left dentistry to make a successful run for office in 1970 without having previously held public office, has died. He was 97.
The Republican from Memphis died Saturday, Gov. Bill Lee’s office announced. Dunn became the state’s first GOP governor in 50 years, helping usher in a two-party system. He was barred from succeeding himself as governor — a law that later was changed — and ran unsuccessfully for a second term in 1986.
Dunn’s achievements include expanding public kindergartens to every Tennessee school. He also created a regional prison program, a new Department of Economic and Community Development and a state housing agency to help middle- and low-income families obtain mortgages.
“I’ve never really thought about a legacy,” Dunn said in an interview in 1998. “But I would say it was a time when more good people, for all the right reasons, became a part of the process than ever before. I think I helped create a change in the political climate in Tennessee.”
Born Bryant Winfield Culberson Dunn on July 1, 1927, in Meridian, Mississippi, he was a virtual unknown in Tennessee when he mounted the state Capitol steps in the spring of 1970 to announce a run for governor. Only two reporters were present.
Through extensive traveling around the state, and with the support of Sen. Howard Baker, R-Tenn., and Rep. Dan Kuykendall, a Memphis Republican, Dunn won a four-man primary and went on to defeat Democrat John Jay Hooker Jr. in the general election.
Dunn’s campaign manager was 30-year-old Lamar Alexander, who later would become governor, U.S. senator, U.S. education secretary and a presidential candidate.
Dunn opposed a medical school at East Tennessee State University in 1974, which was approved anyway by the Legislature. He also tried to force a regional prison on Morristown, but the project was halted because of local opposition.
Both those cost him support in Republican east Tennessee, hurting him in 1986 when he ran for governor again and was defeated by Democrat Ned McWherter.
During that race, McWherter said about Dunn: “I like him, and he’s a good, honest man.”
In his first year as governor, Dunn asked the Legislature to increase the state sales tax to 4% from 3%. The Democratic Legislature approved 3.5%.
Dunn recalled in 1998 that Democrats opposed him generally.
“They gave me a hard time,” he said. “That first year was a learning year for me.”
Dunn earned degrees in finance from the University of Mississippi and dental surgery from the University of Tennessee at Memphis.
He took a job with Hospital Corporation of America shortly after leaving office in 1975 and was a vice president with the company when he ran for governor the second time.
“I feel I was a part of altering the political history of the state,” Dunn said in 1998. “And it can never be taken away. I know I was a child of fate. I was in the right place, at the right time.”
veryGood! (2572)
Related
- NCT DREAM enters the 'DREAMSCAPE': Members on new album, its concept and songwriting
- Ukraine celebrates Christmas on Dec. 25 for the first time, distancing itself from Russia
- Taylor Swift spends Christmas cheering on Travis Kelce as Chiefs take on Raiders
- Kane Brown and Wife Katelyn Brown Expecting Baby No. 3
- DWTS' Sasha Farber Claps Back at Diss From Jenn Tran's Ex Devin Strader
- NFL on Christmas: One of the greatest playoff games in league history was played on Dec. 25
- Could a suspected murder victim — back from the dead — really be an impostor?
- Whisky wooing young Chinese away from ‘baijiu’ as top distillers target a growing market
- Disney x Lululemon Limited-Edition Collection: Shop Before It Sells Out
- U.N. votes to ramp up Gaza aid, demand release of hostages; U.S. abstains, allowing passage after days of negotiations
Ranking
- College Football Playoff snubs: Georgia among teams with beef after second rankings
- Israeli man whose parents were killed on Oct. 7 calls for peace: We must break this pattern of violence
- A Turkish parliamentary committee resumes debate on Sweden’s NATO bid
- You Don't Think AI Could Do Your Job. What If You're Wrong?
- Mechanic dies after being 'trapped' under Amazon delivery van at Florida-based center
- Lakers give fans Kobe Bryant 'That's Mamba' shirts for Christmas game against Celtics
- Ukraine says it shot down Russian fighter jets and drones as the country officially marks Christmas
- Five dead in four Las Vegas area crashes over 12-hour holiday period
Recommendation
-
Is the stock market open on Veterans Day? What to know ahead of the federal holiday
-
25 Secrets About The Santa Clause You'll Enjoy—Even If You're Lactose Intolerant
-
Beyoncé's childhood home in flames on Christmas Day: local reports
-
Powerball lottery jackpot is over $600 million on Christmas Day: When is the next drawing?
-
Denver district attorney is investigating the leak of voting passwords in Colorado
-
California police seek a suspect in the hit-and-run deaths of 2 young siblings
-
Liverpool star Mohamed Salah ‘shares pain’ of grieving families at Christmas amid Israel-Hamas war
-
Morocoin Trading Exchange: Now is a Good Time to Join the Web3 Industry