Triumph of Good Will: How Terry Sanford Beat a Champion of Segregation and Reshaped the South

by John Drescher

In the spring of 1960 two talented, capable men, each with great passion and conviction, opposed each other in a pivotal governor's race that was to shake North Carolina and change southern politics forever. Both Terry Sanford and I. Beverly Lake were Democrats in the one-party South of that era. Yet they were different in almost every other way. Lake, a middle-aged law professor, was committed to segregation. Sanford, an ambitious young politician and lawyer, believed in expanding opportunities for all citizens. In their run-off Lake wanted the contest to be a referendum on preserving segregation. Sanford's platform rested on the improvement of public schools. It was a heated struggle that would bind them together for the rest of their lives. With unparalleled access to both sides and an objective correspondent's hindsight view, John Drescher has written the biography of a campaign that set the winning strategy for many who followed, and of a winning candidate, a governor rated as one of the finest of the twentieth century. Sanford, the moderate, won, and his victory is an oddity, for in the civil rights period from 1957 to 1973 only twice in the South did racial moderates defeat strong segregationists in a governor's race. In a gamble that almost cost Sanford the election, he became the first major politician in the Bible Belt to endorse the Catholic John F. Kennedy for president. In the November vote he defeated his Republican opponent in what was then the closest North Carolina governor's race of the century. His win validated his belief in the triumph of good will among North Carolina's people. Sanford became a bold, aggressive governor of unusual energy and creativity. His school program added teachers and dramatically raised teacher pay. He helped establish a statewide system of community colleges and started an anti-poverty fund later emulated by LBJ as a model for the War on Poverty. He was the first southern governor to call for employment without regard to race or creed. Sanford became the model for other southern governors who stressed education and a moderate stand on race relations. He influenced other gubernatorial candidates across Dixie -- Jim Hunt in his own state, William Winter in Mississippi, Dick Riley in South Carolina, Bill Clinton in Arkansas. The effects of that 1960 race continue to be felt in North Carolina, in the South, and across the nation.

Genres: Politics, American History

Hardcover

First published August 22, 2000

Reviews

[Christy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book starts off very slowly but is well researched and written.

[Dylan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Drescher starts this book, about one the most important figures of American 20th century history, fully out of his element. He begins by stumbling through Stanford's young life with more quotes than substance and no real thesis. If it were not for the lack of Sanford biographies I would have put this down after the first 10 pages. But, to my delight, as I read on Drescher found his form. If not excellent, the writing that followed-- covering Sanford's race for Governor of North Carolina in 1960 against a strict segregationist-- grew increasingly tolerable.

In 1950 Terry Sanford worked as a member of Frank Porter Graham's campaign for the US Senate. In those days North Carolina was a one party state and if no single candidate garnered over 50% of the democratic primary vote then they ran against the runner up in a second primary. Graham received 49% to Willis Smith's 41% and so the stage was set for what looked to be an easy road to the nomination for Graham. Then Smith, running a campaign largely based upon the preservation of white supremacy, distributed pamphlets purporting to be from black supporters of Graham's. In that day of Jim Crow the voting black population was quite small and the white prejudice still dominant. Unable to rebound from libelous attacks, Graham lost the runoff to a campaign founded on fear. It was an important moment for Sanford, he said from that day forward that he would never again let such tactics go unanswered.

Terry Sanford was a man of incredible ambition. Even in law school in his early 20s he had already decided that he would be Governor of North Carolina one day. After graduating from UNC's law school he chose where to live and work all with an eye towards an eventual race for the governor's office. Ambition is, of course, not always a bad thing. In fact, ambition combined with good intentions is a noble and necessary part of the American political landscape. Terry Sanford was one of those people to whom we should be thankful for his ambition.

Drescher spends the majority of the book on the Governor's race in 1960 between I. Beverly Lake and Sanford. Lake had worked for the State Attorney General's office and had argued against integration 3 separate times in front of the Supreme Court. Sanford, on the other hand, was a silent supporter of African American civil rights. As the campaigns started the Greensboro 4 began what would be the first in a long line of sit-ins for the equal treatment of African American citizens.

Sanford was a good man and a great politician. His greatness was rooted in his recognition that to voice his liberal position on Brown v. the Board of Education would have been political suicide. Drescher accurately points out, however, that many modern day observers consider Stanford's rejection of integration and moderate stand on the issue during the campaign as a failure of character and a disappointment to African Americans. But what those observers mistake for cowardice was, in fact, an act of necessary political savvy.

The truth is that Sanford knew well that endorsement of integration and African American civil rights would have been the end of his political career (tellingly, he waited to endorse John Kennedy for President until he had secured the Democratic party nomination for Governor). Instead, he campaigned on promises of hope and improved schooling for all, including 25% teacher salary increases. He was not scared of admitting that his proposals would require tax increases, he was labeled “high tax Terry” but a more apt name would have been honest or realistic Terry. He avoided the question of race while campaigning, so that he could, while in office, chip away at the antiquated prejudice of the Beverly Lake supporters. We all owe a debt of gratitude to Terry Sanford for taking, what was then, a courageous political stand and shaping the modern day politics of the American south.

[Marc · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful book which testifies to how North Carolina was once marvelously progressive. Those North Carolinians who have travelled extensively through the state will be transported to various corners, particularly those from Down East. We owe a tremendous debt of gratitude to Terry Sanford for the North Carolina into folks of my era were born.