Herman Talmadge

Herman Talmadge

Herman Eugene Talmadge, Sr. (August 9, 1913 – March 21, 2002), was an American politician and white supremacist from the state of Georgia. He served as the 70th Governor of Georgia briefly in 1947 and again from 1948 to 1955. His term was marked by his segregationist policies. After leaving office Talmadge was elected to the U.S. Senate, serving from 1957 until 1981.

Talmadge was born in McRae in Telfair County in south central Georgia, the only son of Eugene Talmadge, who served as Governor of Georgia during much of the 1930s and the 1940s. He earned a degree from the University of Georgia School of Law in 1936, where he had been a member of the Demosthenian Literary Society and Sigma Nu fraternity.