Former Tennessee Gov. Ned McWherter’s death Monday brought back memories of a time when I was working at the Chattanooga Free Press and attended the dedication of a new clock in front of the downtown Krystal in 1992.
The restaurant chain had installed the large timepiece by its landmark eatery at Seventh and Cherry streets as a gift to Chattanooga in honor of the firm’s 60th anniversary.
The featured speaker at the dedication was Gov. McWherter.
He did not just congratulate Krystal, but he also told a personal story worthy of the Krystal Lovers’ Hall of Fame.
The self-made businessman and later politician remembered that when he was a young salesman, he would often stop at a Krystal in Memphis for a meal. I think he was implying that Krystal met his budget at the time.
He was also simply admitting in his homespun style that he was a fan of the restaurant.
Gov. McWherter, a Democrat who served as governor from 1987-95, certainly had a down-to-earth personality and appearance – even though he was considered a very effective governor and legislator.
I remember hearing former Free Press political writer Jeff Powell discussing him after or about the time the governor took office. Jeff
had attended some kind of reception in the legislator’s honor and had
apparently talked with Gov. McWherter one on one for a period.
I remember he was taken aback at how approachable and regular Gov. McWherter was going to be as governor, and remarked that he realized the new governor was apparently taking a different approach from the outgoing Republican governor, Lamar Alexander, whose tenure was also praised.
I think Jeff said that Gov. McWherter even told him to stop by and visit with him some.
Gov. McWherter did visit Chattanooga often while governor, including when he was here to help the city unveil its new riverfront, highlighted by the opening of the Tennessee Aquarium in 1992.
However, not every visit to the Scenic City was for political reasons. As many Chattanoogans remember, the widowed governor also dated Coca-Cola bottling executive Clara Lane of Chattanooga.
While I did not cover politics and rarely crossed paths with Gov. McWherter, I do distinctly remember working at the paper one Saturday afternoon shortly before voters were to choose between him and former Tennessee Gov. Winfield Dunn, the Republican.
I answered the phone, and then-U.S. Sen. Al Gore was on the other line. He had called the paper’s nearly vacant newsroom from the site of a Democratic rally for Gov. McWherter somewhere in Chattanooga and was wondering if we were going to have a reporter there.
Sen. Gore – who later became vice president and nearly president – said he knew the Free Press did not generally support Democratic political candidates, but he hoped we would still cover the event. He also said that he and the other Democrats could feel a big win coming in the following week’s election.
I was unaware the event was happening, but as the situation developed, fellow reporter John McGee was actually already planning to cover the rally and had just not arrived yet.
Sen. Gore’s prediction turned out to be correct as, in somewhat of a surprise, Gov. McWherter walloped former Gov. Dunn.
What followed were eight years of mostly happy times in Tennessee led
by a jolly and unique man who – in contrast to the perception some had
of Sen. Gore - was anything but stiff.
Jcshearer2@comcast.net