- Collection:
- Harold Paulk (Hal) Henderson, Sr. oral history collection. 1981, 1985-1988
- Title:
- Ellis G. Arnall interviewed via telephone by Harold Paulk (Hal) Henderson, Sr., 31 July 1988?
- Creator:
- Arnall, Ellis Gibbs, 1907-1992
Henderson, Harold P. - Date of Original:
- 1988-07-31
- Subject:
- Georgia--Politics and government
Politics and government
Georgia - People:
- Arnall, Ellis Gibbs, 1907-1992
- Location:
- United States, Georgia, 32.75042, -83.50018
- Medium:
- interviews
oral histories (literary works) - Type:
- Text
- Format:
- text/plain
- Description:
- Ellis Gibbs Arnall was born in 1907 and attended public school in Newnan until college. Arnall attended Mercer University in Macon, Georgia, and transferred to the University of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee. He graduated in 1928 and attended University of Georgia Law School. After graduating in 1931, Arnall returned to Newnan to practice law. He began his political career in 1932, when he was elected to the Georgia House of Representatives to represent Coweta County. As a freshman legislator, he was elected to Speaker pro tempore , a position to which he was reelected in 1935. In 1937, Governor Eurith D. (E.D.) Rivers appointed him as assistant attorney general and in 1939, to attorney general. In 1939, Arnall was the youngest attorney general in the country at thirty-one years old. In 1940, he was elected attorney general. In 1942, Arnall was elected governor, defeating Eugene Talmadge. He was the youngest governor in the country at that time. Arnall served from 1943 to 1947 with a progressive program that included reforming the prison system, repealing the poll tax, lowering the voting age, revising the state constitution (1945), establishing a teachers' retirement system, and paying off the state debt, as well as helping Georgia colleges regain accreditation. Arnall's reforms brought attention to the South, and his fight against discriminatory railroad freight rates helped boost the region's industrialization and economic prominence on the national scene. Unable to serve more than one successive term as governor by mandate of the state constitution, Arnall started a book lecture tour around the country after leaving office, marketing his books The Shore Dimly Seen (1946) and What the People Want (1948). He eventually returned to law practice and started the firm of Arnall, Golden, and Gregory, LLP, in Atlanta in 1949. In 1952, President Harry S. Truman appointed Arnall director of the Office of Price Stabilization, a position in which he served for six months. Arnall also became involved in the insurance business, serving as president of Dixie Life Insurance Company, chairman of the board of Coastal States Life Insurance, and vice chairman of the Sun Life Group of America. Arnall re-entered Georgia politics in 1966 when he ran for governor. While he did not win the Democratic primary, which after a run-off between Arnall and Lester Maddox went to Maddox, supporters created a substantial write-in campaign for him. Arnall served as the president of the Society of Independent Motion Picture Producers (1948-1963) and belonged to the Capital City Club, Piedmont Driving Club, and Central Baptist Church of Newnan. He was married to Mildred Slemons Arnall, who died in 1980, for forty-five years. They had two children, Alvan and Alice. In 1981, Arnall married Ruby Hamilton McCord. Ellis Arnall died on December 13, 1992.
Interviewed by Harold Paulk (Hal) Henderson.
Topics include Arnall’s opinions on the case against John E. Whitley (1939), his experiences when attorney general under Governor Ed Rivers (1939-1941), and Henderson’s drafts of his biography about Arnall. - Metadata URL:
- https://dlg.usg.edu/record/gych_rbrl096hph_oharn20-0023#text
- Language:
- eng
- Additional Rights Information:
- Resources may be used under the guidelines described by the U.S. Copyright Office in Section 107, Title 17, United States Code (Fair use). Parties interested in production or commercial use of the resources should contact the Russell Library for a fee schedule.
- Bibliographic Citation (Cite As):
- Harold Paulk (Hal) Henderson, Sr. Oral History Collection. Series 1. Ellis Arnall Interviews, OHARN 20, Richard B. Russell Library for Political Research and Studies, University of Georgia Libraries, Athens, Georgia, 30602-1641.
- Extent:
- 1 transcript (9 leaves)
- Original Collection:
- Harold Paulk (Hal) Henderson, Sr. oral history collection.
- Holding Institution:
- Richard B. Russell Library for Political Research and Studies
- Rights:
-
Harold Paulk (Hal) Henderson, Sr. Oral History Collection
Series I: Ellis Arnall
OH ARN 20
Ellis G. Arnall Interviewed via telephone by Harold Paulk (Hal) Henderson, Sr.
Date: July 31, 198?
Cassette: OH ARN 20, 0:09:46 minutes, Side One Only
HENDERSON: [discusses recording equipment] Back in 1939, according to this issue of the Atlanta Constitution [Atlanta, Georgia], Governor [Eurith Dickinson] Rivers had brought this up to you to see if you would initiate the suit and you were declined and they didnt give any reason for it back then.
ARNALL: I didnt think we had a good case.
HENDERSON: OK.
ARNALL: That was the answer to that.
HENDERSON: All right. OK. And so in 1940, youre saying that the case would have been dismissed because the attorney general had not been brought in to it?
ARNALL: Only the attorney general can represent the state and since someone filed a case in the name of the state, they had no authority to do so. So the court would have dismissed the case.
HENDERSON: All right, now, you couldnt have still intervened even though Rivers had not consulted you if youd wanted to?
ARNALL: Well, if Id wanted to I could have come in and taken over the case. Yep.
HENDERSON: But you thought it was a situation where the state could not win even if you were there?
ARNALL: Right, right. Thats the story.
HENDERSON: OK. All right. Now, one other thing. How--when attorney generals are evaluated--and Ive never seen any evaluations of attorney generals--is it a fair assessment to look at the number of cases that you argue before the Supreme Court and see the win-loss ratio there, or is that an improper was to assess an attorney general?
ARNALL: Theres no proper way to do it. It depends on many factors. The fact that you get into cases dont always mean that youre a good lawyer. You try to keep them down. Do you follow what Im saying?
HENDERSON: Right.
ARNALL: In other words, the last thing you want to do is litigate. We--practicing law privately--we try to get our people together without running to court. But I dont think theres any way you can evaluate the effectiveness of the attorney general except I would say those whod been elected governor must have had the approval of the people.
HENDERSON: Now, you never did keep any record of say, win or losses before the Supreme Court?
ARNALL: Oh no. No. Never did. Although in the back of thatyouve got that attorney generals opinion. In the back of it lists the cases that were handled in the Supreme Court. In the back it lists the cases we handled, in federal court, state court and all that. [telephone rings in background]
HENDERSON: But now if
ARNALL: Hold on a minute, hold on.
HENDERSON: Right.
ARNALL: [To someone else] Hello. [To HENDERSON] OK.
HENDERSON: Say a case was started down here if Tift County [Georgia] Superior Court that you didnt know about but the prosecuting attorney was prosecuting it. And then if it were appealed to the Georgia Supreme Court, your office would have to take over that appeal wouldnt it?
ARNALL: No.
HENDERSON: No?
ARNALL: No. Only in capital offenses.
HENDERSON: Only in capital offenses.
ARNALL: Right.
HENDERSON: [pause] Well, then, is there any way to get at those capital offenses cases back then that you argued?
ARNALL: Ohno. It could be done if you took all the Georgia Supreme Court reports for the four years and looked up every criminal case and whether we were in it or not, capital offense. But I really dont think, I hate to say this, I dont think thats very material to what were talking about doing.
HENDERSON: Right. OK.
ARNALL: Its a detail that I dont think anybody would be interested in.
HENDERSON: OK.
ARNALL: I think the fact that all you can say is my record as attorney general must have been real good because the people elected[HENDERSON and ARNALL laugh]. And I was the youngest attorney general the state ever had.
HENDERSON: All right.
ARNALL: Thirty-one.
HENDERSON: All right. So, the only time your office would represent the state before the Georgia Supreme Court would be in capital cases?
ARNALL: Capital offenses. Right.
HENDERSON: All right. OK. Well. OK.
ARNALL: We had to do it. In other matters, sometimes, and its done everyday now by [Michael Joseph] Mike Bowers the attorney general, he appoints a special assistant attorney general to handle cases and he never appears in them. But if its a capital offense, he has to.
HENDERSON: OK. All right.
ARNALL: In the Supreme Court.
HENDERSON: All right, one other thing. When Rivers appointed you assistant state attorney general, I understand he could appoint so many assistants and the attorney general could appoint so many. Is that the way it was?
ARNALL: It used to be that the attorney general could appoint so many without the approval of the governor. The governor could appoint so many without the approval of the attorney general. And then there was another group that they could agree on if they needed more lawyers.
HENDERSON: OK.
ARNALL: Thats the story.
HENDERSON: OK. Well, those few questions came up, and I thought Id just call you and find out.
ARNALL: Any time, any time, my friend.
HENDERSON: All right, sir.
ARNALL: I like that first chapter, just for your information. Im revising it a little bit with a few suggestions, and Im putting it on word processing.
HENDERSON: All right. Thats fine.
ARNALL: So, when we get together we can check it all out.
HENDERSON: All right.
ARNALL: Let me see, in other words, I havent added much to it [or] taken much from it but a few little things occurred to me and when we get together we can see how we want to do it.
HENDERSON: All right. And the typist said shell be through with my last hoorah tomorrow, and Ill get you a copy I the mail as soon as I can, hear?
ARNALL: Thatll be great.
HENDERSON: All right, you have a nice day, Governor.
ARNALL: Same to you.
HENDERSON: OK. Bye.
[End of interview]
Name Index
B
Bowers, Michael Joseph (Mike), 5
R
Rivers, Eurith Dickinson (Ed), 1, 2, 6
2