George Oakes - Political Career

Political Career

Oakes was a prominent figure in Tennessee politics. He attended the 1892 Democratic National Convention held in Chicago as an elected delegate, seconding on behalf of his state the nomination of Grover Cleveland; and in 1896 he was appointed delegate-at-large from Tennessee to the Palmer-Buckner Gold Democratic Convention held at Indianapolis in that year. In 1894 Oakes was elected mayor of Chattanooga, Tennessee, was reelected in 1896, and received a unanimous renomination in 1898, but declined it. He was elected vice-president and member of the executive board of the National Municipal League. For six years he held the presidency of the Chattanooga Library Association; for two years that of the Southern Associated Press; for three years that of the Chattanooga Board of Education; and for one year that of the Chattanooga Chamber of Commerce.