Gil Carmichael

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Gil Carmichael
Photograph of Gil Carmichael
Carmichael in 1974
Born(1927-06-27)June 27, 1927
Columbia, Mississippi, U.S.
DiedJanuary 31, 2016(2016-01-31) (aged 88)
Meridian, Mississippi, U.S.
Political partyRepublican

Gilbert Ellzey Carmichael (June 27, 1927 – January 31, 2016) was an American businessman and politician. Born in

U.S. Senate seat in 1972 and in 1975 ran for the office of Governor of Mississippi, the first serious Republican contender for the post in decades. He lost a narrow race and made another unsuccessful bid in 1979. He also launched an unsuccessful independent campaign in 1983 to be elected Lieutenant Governor of Mississippi
. From the 1970s to the 1990s he served on various national transportation advisory boards. He died in 2016.

Early life and business career

Gilbert Ellzey Carmichael was born on June 27, 1927, in

United States Military from 1945 to 1946. He thereafter attended Texas A&M University, where he graduated in 1950 with a business degree and a minor in petroleum engineering.[1] He married and had a son.[3] Carmichael was commissioned as an officer in the United States Coast Guard during the Korean War.[1] While serving at the rank of ensign in 1952, he participated in the rescue of crewmen from the sinking tanker SS Fort Mercer off the coast of Cape Cod, when the ship broke apart in a storm. He commanded a boat which retrieved two men off of the ship's bow, and for his efforts was awarded a Silver Lifesaving Medal for "heroic action".[4]

In June 1950, Carmichael was hired by the Dow Jones & Company to sell its newspaper, The Wall Street Journal. Assigned to a distribution area comprising southern Mississippi, southern Louisiana, and the city of New Orleans, he would go door-to-door in office buildings and pitch the paper and teach potential customers how it should be read. After eight years, he joined a friend in distributing Fiat cars in Shreveport, Louisiana. He later became a partner in a car dealership in Meridian, Mississippi, before buying out the entire business.[5] He established a Volkswagen dealership in 1961[3] and later expanded to sell Audi and Mercedes vehicles. He also acquired dealerships in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.[5] He sold his dealerships in Meridian upon his appointment to the Federal Railroad Administration, but retained their buildings and later used them as he became involved in his son's commercial real estate company, Missouth Properties.[3][6]

Political career

1972 U.S. Senate election

Main article: 1972 United States Senate election in Mississippi
1972

Carmichael was a member of the

U.S. Senate seat held by Democrat James Eastland. A group of Mississippi Republicans felt that Meredith was not a strong enough contender and did not want the party to become associated with another black candidate, and recruited Carmichael to run instead.[7][10] He won the Republican primary election, but faced opposition in his bid from national Republicans. President Richard Nixon, though a Republican, wanted to maintain good relations with Eastland so as to ease his political interests in the federal government. A Nixon campaign official visited Carmichael and told him that if he withdrew from the race, Nixon would appoint him as an ambassador. Carmichael refused.[7] When Vice President Spiro Agnew traveled to Mississippi to host a rally, he was instructed to specifically not invite Carmichael. This action backfired, as the press learned of the maneuvering and covered Carmichael as an underdog. Carmichael ultimately lost the general election to Eastland, taking only 39 percent of the vote.[11]

Gubernatorial campaigns

In 1975, Carmichael declared his candidacy for the office of Governor of Mississippi.[12] He was the first serious Republican candidate for gubernatorial office in decades.[13] In the general election he faced Democrat Cliff Finch.[12] A black politician, Henry J. Kirksey, also ran as an independent.[13] Finch largely ignored his opponents and espoused vague rhetoric. Carmichael offered specific proposals and stances.[14] He supported the creation of a new state constitution, the ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment, the supply of federal financial aid to New York City, gun registration,[15] reduced penalties for marijuana possession, and mandatory school attendance for children.[16] He believed that the Republican Party should be biracial, arguing that it was "the party of emancipation, the party of homeownership, the party of individual responsibility [...] the natural party for black people to be involved in."[17] Thus he attempted to appeal to black voters, placing black politician Robert G. Clark Jr. on his campaign strategy committee and visiting the all-black community of Mound Bayou;[16] these entreaties had minimal impact.[18] Carmichael ultimately lost but drew 47 percent of the vote, a high figure for a statewide Republican candidate at that time.[19] His largest support came from urban and suburban areas. Many Republicans felt he had staked out positions viewed as too liberal by Mississippians and would have won the election otherwise.[15] He served as a delegate at the 1976 Republican National Convention and backed Gerald Ford's candidacy.[20] The convention revealed significant conservative-moderate divisions in the party as well as disagreement over race, and Carmichael declared that he wanted to ensure that the party would not become "lily white and hard right".[21]

Carmichael decided to run for governor again

Mississippi state flag later in his life.[3]

Later life and death

In 1973 Carmichael was appointed to the National Highway Safety Advisory Committee as a consolation for the Nixon administration's lack of support for him in the 1972 Senate race.

U.S. Congress on ways to improve the financial viability of Amtrak.[31] From 1993 to 2002 he wrote a column for Progressive Railroading.[30] Carmichael died of a heart attack at Anderson Regional Medical Center in Meridian, Mississippi on January 31, 2016.[4] A funeral was held for him at St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Meridian on February 5.[32]

References

Citations

  1. ^ a b c "Gilbert Carmichael". The Clarion Ledger. February 3, 2016. Retrieved May 23, 2022.
  2. ^ Danielson 2011, p. 90.
  3. ^ a b c d e Bonney, Joseph (February 2, 2016). "Gil Carmichael, transportation policy leader, dies at 88". Journal of Commerce Online. Retrieved May 20, 2022.
  4. ^ a b c d e f "Former gubernatorial candidate Gil Carmichael dies". Hattiesburg American. Associated Press. February 1, 2016. Retrieved May 20, 2022.
  5. ^ a b Davidson & Putnam 2013, p. 62.
  6. ^ Davidson & Putnam 2013, p. 63.
  7. ^ a b c Nash & Taggart 2009, p. 51.
  8. ^ Hathorn 1985, p. 249.
  9. ^ Danielson 2011, pp. 83–84.
  10. ^ Danielson 2011, p. 84.
  11. ^ Nash & Taggart 2009, pp. 51–52.
  12. ^ a b c Nash & Taggart 2009, p. 53.
  13. ^ a b Foster 1983, p. 190.
  14. ^ Danielson 2019, pp. 124–125.
  15. ^ a b Nash & Taggart 2009, pp. 53–54.
  16. ^ a b Danielson 2019, p. 125.
  17. ^ Danielson 2011, pp. 85, 91.
  18. ^ Danielson 2019, pp. 125–126.
  19. ^ Bass 1995, pp. 215–216.
  20. ^ Danielson 2011, p. 126.
  21. ^ Danielson 2011, p. 128.
  22. ^ Nash & Taggart 2009, p. 88.
  23. ^ Nash & Taggart 2009, pp. 88–89.
  24. ^ Nash & Taggart 2009, p. 91.
  25. ^ Danielson 2011, pp. 134, 176.
  26. ^ a b Bullock & Rozell 2010, p. 104.
  27. ^ "Carmichael, Gandy decline to run". The Greenwood Commonwealth. June 3, 1987. p. 4.
  28. ^ Brown, Ida (February 2, 2016). "Gil Carmichael remembered as visionary". The Meridian Star. Retrieved May 20, 2022.
  29. ProQuest 312992884
  30. ^ a b Foran, Pat (March 2016). "The vision and grace of Gil Carmichael". Progressive Railroading. Retrieved May 20, 2022.
  31. ^ "Brief History of the Amtrak Reform Council". Amtrak Reform Council. Retrieved May 23, 2022 – via CyberCemetery.
  32. ^ "Gilbert Ellzey (Gil) Carmichael". The Clarke County Tribune. February 9, 2016. Retrieved May 23, 2022.

Sources

Party political offices
Preceded by
Class 2)
1972
 Succeeded by
Vacant
Title last held by
Rubel Phillips
Governor of Mississippi
1975, 1979
 Succeeded by
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