>>>
>>> IF
>>> IF THE PRESIDENTIAL TRANSITION GETS ROUGH IN
JANUARY, ONE CAN LOOK TO
GEORGIA FOR HOW IT COULD TURN
OUT FOR BETTER OR WORSE.
IN THE MIDDLE OF THE 20th
CENTURY, THREE MEN CLAIM TO BE
GOVERNOR OF OUR SAY THE AT THE
SAME TIME.
SAME TIME. IT WAS A NATIONAL SENSATION.
IT WAS AN EMBARRASSMENT AND IT
IS THE SUBJECT THAT PEOPLE
STILL TALK ABOUT DEPENDING ON
WHICH CIRCLES YOU RUN IN.
HERE'S 11ALIVE'S DOUG RICHARDS.
>> BUT CAMPAIGNS ARE HELPFUL.
>> Reporter: IT
EUGENE TALMADGE, A WHITE
SUPREMACIST WITH AN ALMOST
CULTLIKE FOLLOWING.
CULTLIKE FOLLOWING. >> A LOT OF PEOPLE HAD VERY
DEVOUT LOYALTY TO THIS
GOVERNOR.
GOVERNOR.
GOVERNOR. >> HE WAS A DOMINANT FIGURE IN
GEORGIA POLITICS FOR A
GENERATION.
GENERATION. >> Reporter: IN 1946TALMAGDE
WAS ELECTED GOVERNOR A FOURTH
TIME, BUT HIS HEALTH WAS POOR.
HE DIED BEFORE HE COULD TAKE
OFFICE.
OFFICE.
OFFICE. >> THE BATTLE OF THE GEORGIA
GOVERNORS FOR THE SEAT LEFT
VACANT BY
VACANT BY
VACANT BY TALMADGE BRINGS GOVERNOR ARNOLD
POST HASTE TO THE STATE
CAPITOL.
CAPITOL.
CAPITOL. >> Reporter: THE CONTROVERSY
OF THE THREE GOVERNORS PLAYED
OUT IN NEWS REELS SHOT AT THE
STATE CAPITOL WHEN THREE MEN AT
THE SAME TIME CLAIMED TO
RIGHTFULLY OCCUPY THE OFFICE OF
GOVERNOR.
GOVERNOR.
GOVERNOR. >> THE REASON FOR THE DISPUTE,
YOU THINK EVERYONE IS A
GOVERNOR DOWN IN GEORGIA.
>> Reporter: JUST SO HAPPENS
THAT PRIOR TO THE 1946 ELECTION
GEORGIA CREATED THE OFFICE OF
LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR.
LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR. MELVIN THOMPSON WAS THE FIRST
TO WIN IT.
WHEN GENE TA LMADGE
COMPTON CLIMBED THE GOVERNOR
NORSHIPSHIP.
NORSHIPSHIP. >> IN '46 THEY WERE DESPERATE
TO GET BACK INTO POWER.
>> Reporter: THE LEGISLATURE
HAD POWER TO RATIFY
ELECTION.
ELECTION.
ELECTION. TALMADGE FOLLOWERS WANTED
HERMAN TALMADGE TO BECOME
GOVERNOR OF GEORGIA AND USE
THEIR PULL WITH LAWMAKERS.
>> THERE'S A LOT OF DRINKING
GOING.
GOING.
GOING. SOME OF THEM BROUGHT THEIR PORT
BOTTLES WITH THEM.
SO BOTH FORCES SET UP OUT OF A
MEDICAL UNIT TO KEEP MEMBERS
SOBER SO THAT THEY'LL BE ABLE
TO VOTE.
TO VOTE.
TO VOTE. >> Reporter: THE LEGISLATURE
VOTED TO ANOINT HERMAN TALMADGE
AS GOVERNOR.
AS GOVERNOR. THE LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR TOOK IT
TO COURT AND THE OUTGOING
GOVERNOR ANNOUNCED HE WOULD NOT
LEAVE OFFICE UNTIL THE DISPUTE
WAS RESOLVED.
WAS RESOLVED. ALL THREE MEN CLAIMED THE
GOVERNOR'S OFFICE.
GOVERNOR'S OFFICE. >> DURING THE NIGHT, HOWEVER,
TALMADGEITES TOOK OVER ARNOLD'S
IMPROVISED OFFICE AS WELL.
>> Reporter: ON JANUARY 16th,
1947, HERMAN TALMADGE'S BACKERS
SEIZED THE GOVERNOR'S OFFICE
AND CHANGED THE DOOR'S LOCKS.
HERMAN TALMADGE HAD SO MUCH
SUPPORT IN THE LEGISLATURE THAT
HE HAD PEOPLE WELL PLANTED IN
THE CAPITOL WHO BASICALLY LET
HIM IN THE OFFICE.
>> Reporter: HE SET UP A
GOVERNMENT IN A KIOSK IN THE
HALLWAY WHICH IS STILL THERE
OUTSIDE THE GOVERNOR'S OFFICE.
>> HE CLAIMS OFFICE PURELY BY
INHERITANCE AND GEORGIA IS NOT
A MONARCHY YET.
>> Reporter: MEANTIME THE
CAPITOL WAS IN CHAOS AS
TALMADGE AND TOWNSEND BOTH MADE
APPOINTMENTS IN GEORGIA
BUREAUCRACY.
BUREAUCRACY. AFTER TWO MONTHS THE GEORGIA
SUPREME COURT RULED THAT
THOMPSON, THE NEWLY ELECTED
LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR, WAS, IN
FACT, THE RIGHTFUL GOVERNOR.
IT WAS VERY WEIRD.
EVERYBODY IN THE COUNTRY WAS
TALKING ABOUT THE THREE
GOVERNORS CONTROVERSY IN
GEORGIA AND, IN FACT, THEY WERE
TALKING ABOUT IT AROUND THE
WORLD.
WORLD.
WORLD. >>
WORLD. >> BY THE WAY, I HOPE YOU'RE
FOLLOWING THIS.
FOLLOWING THIS. I'M SURE THE PEOPLE OF GEORGIA
DIDN'T KNOW HOW MANY GOVERNORS
THEY HAD AT THIS POINT.
>> Reporter: AFTER 63 DAYS
HERMAN TALMADGE STEPPED ASIDE.
HE BEGAN PLOTTING WHAT WOULD
BECOME A SUCCESSFUL RUN FOR
GOVERNOR IN THE NEXT ELECTION
LAUNCHING HIS OWN 30-YEAR
CAREER IN POLITICS.
THERE'S A STATUE OF HIM ACROSS
FROM THE CAPITOL.
THERE'S ALSO A STATUE OF GENE
TALMADGE, THE WINNING CANDIDATE
WHO DIED, AND A STATUE OF ELLIS
ARNOLD WHO TRIED TO GOVERN FROM
A HALLWAY, BUT THERE IS NO
STATUE OF MELVIN