Those Wild and Crazy Talmadges

Here is picture of Herman Talmadge that I took in the late ‘70s while he was making a political speech.

His grandson, Herman Talmadge, III was arrested last week for whipping a pizza delivery man with a gun. I do not know if he pistol whipped or rifle whipped the poor guy. Whichever, it hurt, so the delivery man and filed a complaint, which he should have.

That reminds of a time when my father was in the Georgia National Guard and Herman’s father Gene Talmadge was Governor. Some kind of trouble was brewing and my father’s duty one night was to guard the Governor’s Mansion and had strict orders from his superiors not to let anyone, regardless of what they said, in. The Governor’s Mansion was in Ansley Park at the time. Now it is on West Paces Ferry Road.

So, on into the night here comes Herman strolling up drunk. Daddy would not let him pass. Herman was very mad. Daddy had his orders and Herman said he lived there, he was the Governor’s son. Daddy stood his ground and obeyed his orders. Herman stormed away mad.

The next evening Daddy was reassigned someplace else. He didn’t know ALLOW NO ONE IN actually came with exceptions.

I was glued to the TV watching the Watergate Hearings, which Herman was on the investigation committee and I thought he asked some fair and tough questions. He seemed honest enough.

Shortly after the Watergate Hearings I read that Herman entered a rehab farm to treat his alcoholism. You mean all those sincere things he said during the hearing were inspired fire water?

However, he and his father both are well known for having the all the citizens in the larger cemeteries come to life vote for them.

They also designed the County Unit system. The County Unit System was where a person’s vote in a rural county of Georgia would count more than a man in an urban county, such as Fulton County which Atlanta is in. It was supposedly a math thing, to keep the counties equal. Because most blacks lived in urban areas, they were outvoted on everything.

It allowed the racists to rule.

That is only part of the Talmadge family’s pilfering. It is said that they would get inside information of the federal highway future routes, like the I-75, I-85, and the I-20. and buy land at cheap prices miles ahead of the road gangs laying leveling and paving and making eminent domain. They got to buy land cheap and resale the land at a higher price, because of their inside information.

I could go on but won't - now.