Tennessee libraries and schools to get their own edition of COUP
A group of generous donors interested in the story has ensured that every Tennessee library, college, and middle and high school receives a copy of a new book about a dramatic event in Tennessee history, Coup: The Day the Democrats Ousted Their Governor, Put Republican Lamar Alexander in Office Early, and Stopped a Pardon Scandal by Nashvillian Keel Hunt, with a foreword by John L. Seigenthaler.
Nashville attorneys Hal Hardin and Lew Conner headed up the donor drive. In the spirit of the story told in the new book—a tale of extraordinary bipartisanship—the diverse donor group includes individuals and families from both sides of the political aisle. COUP, published by Vanderbilt University Press, will go on sale in June, with an official publication date in August.
COUP is the behind-the-scenes story of an abrupt political transition, unprecedented in US history. Based on 163 interviews, Hunt describes how collaborators came together from opposite sides of the political aisle. In an extraordinary few hours, they reached agreement that the corruption and madness of the sitting Governor of Tennessee, Ray Blanton, must be stopped. The sudden transfer of power that caught Blanton unawares was deemed necessary because of what one FBI agent called “the state’s most heinous political crime in half a century”—selling pardons for cash.
On January 17, 1979, driven by new information that some of the worst criminals in the state’s penitentiaries were about to be released (and fears that James Earl Ray might be one of them), a small bipartisan group chose to take charge. Senior Democratic leaders, friends of the sitting governor, together with the Republican governor-elect Lamar Alexander (now US Senator from Tennessee), agreed to oust Blanton from office before another night fell. It was a maneuver unique in American political history—Coup is an insider’s account of that momentous day.
The story told in COUP is an example of how leadership of differing parties can come together—as compared to today’s political gridlock in Washington—especially since action was taken by the then political leadership of Tennessee when no one believed it was in their best political or personal interests, but all having set their preferences aside in the best interest of the citizens of Tennessee.
Among the special events planned for the book’s release is the Chancellor’s Lecture Series at Vanderbilt University, which will feature Keel Hunt in early fall. In addition, events are planned for the Nashville Public Library, the First Amendment Center, the Southern Festival of Books, and more all around the state. For information about scheduling a book event, please contact Sue Havlish at Vanderbilt University Press, 615-343-2446, sue.havlish@vanderbilt.edu.