William Umstead and his leadership style
Rankin describes how he came to work for Governor Umstead, first as his press assistant in 1948 and later as his private secretary beginning in 1952. First describing what Umstead was like to work with on the campaign trail, Rankin offers some thoughts on Umstead's personal character and then on his style as a political leader once he was elected to the office of governor in the state of North Carolina
Citing this Excerpt
Oral History Interview with Edward L. Rankin, August 20, 1987. Interview C-0044. Southern Oral History Program Collection (#4007) in the Southern Oral History Program Collection, Southern Historical Collection, Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Full Text of the Excerpt
To make a long story short, John
called and said Sandy Graham needed some help and could I come up and
work with him at the highway commission. I jumped at the chance. I liked
the AP, I did, but I wanted to get back to North Carolina. So I was
there.
Mr. Umstead was in Washington. John set up an appointment, and I went up
and was interviewed by him. He hired me as his press assistant, writer,
baggage smasher, whatever
[laughter]
. When I walked in the office there in the United States Senate,
that was the first time I had ever seen this man, my first contact with
him. We spent about forty five minutes together, and he, right off the
bat, was kind enough to offer me the job. I accepted. It was an exciting
opportunity for me. So I stayed with him through that period, about
eighteen months. He was in Washington and, of course, most of the time
in North Carolina campaigning against former Governor Broughton who had
filed for the seat. The winner was, of course, Governor
Broughton - it was a surprisingly narrow
victory - but Governor Broughton did win. So Mr. Umstead
returned to private law practice, and I went with John Harden at
Burlington Industries, or Burlington Mills it was then.
- JAY JENKINS:
-
Around '48?
EDWARD L. RANKIN, Jr.:
Yeah, '48. Fran and I were married in '48. We were
married June 12 after the primary in May of '48, and moved to
Greensboro that fall. It was later because his term didn't
expire until the end of the year. So that's how I met Mr.
Umstead. Of course, working with him I developed a close friendship and
a tremendous admiration - just a remarkable human being, a man
of great intellectual ability, absolutely unshakeable character. One
thing about William Umstead, of course, everybody knew he
didn't smoke; he didn't drink; he
didn't curse. But these characteristics were very, they were
very much a part of the man.
- JAY JENKINS:
-
He did smoke.
EDWARD L. RANKIN, Jr.:
Oh, excuse me. I beg your pardon. Oh, he did smoke, yes.
That's another story. You're right. That was
different. He grew up on a tobacco farm. He helped work his way through
school priming tobacco and working in the fields. So that's
another story but that's how I met him. Of course, during the
campaign back in those days things were a lot different. I was his
driver, and we always shared a room together. I mean we slept in the
same room for all those months, what sleep you got, because
you're traveling a lot. His pattern was to campaign all day
and drive all night to the next place. So we would
frequently campaign or meet or go for dinner and this and that and the
other until 10:00, 10:30 P.M. I never will forget, we were in Reidsville
at a Democratic Party meeting. We came out of the meeting, and it was
about 10:30 P.M. I said, "Where are we going,
senator." He said, "Let's go to
Asheville." We had a long day. It started
like at 6:00 that morning. That's the kind of thing that the
candidates and their staff have to put up with. But to make a long story
short, he, of course, returned to private law practice, and I went to
Greensboro. I stayed there four years. John Harden was the vice
president of public relations, and I was his right hand man and ran the
department and whatever. I was very happy with it. We loved Greensboro
and enjoyed being at Burlington. Mr. Umstead then ran for governor, and
of course, as a volunteer I helped him, and I did some writing.
- JAY JENKINS:
-
This was 1952.
EDWARD L. RANKIN, Jr.:
Right. That's right, 1952. So I did what I could to help him
from Greensboro. Then I was delighted to see him win the nomination,
delighted to see him elected in the fall. That was it as far as I was
concerned. One day I got a call, and Mr. Umstead said he wanted to see
me. So I went to Durham, and he said he wanted me to be his private
secretary. It had never crossed my mind. I didn't know
exactly what a private secretary did. I had a long talk with John
Harden. I talked with the president of the company, J. C. Cowan, at
Burlington and decided to accept. I never will forget, John said,
"Ed, I really don't want to lose you but I know
enough about the job to tell you it's
like a post-graduate course in North Carolina [history]. After four
years in the governor's office, you will know more about
North Carolina than anyone. It's a unique opportunity to
learn something about the government and the people of the
state." He was very generous. Of course, I accepted, and we
started looking for a place to live in Raleigh.
The inauguration date came up and we went up for that and spent the day
which was Thursday. Then Friday morning it was very hectic in the
governor's office. People just packed in, you know. Of
course, when you are a winner, nobody ever voted against you, you know.
After you win, that's the way it is
[laughter].
They packed into the office, and all wanted to shake hands and
get in an early word of advice. Very busy day, and at the end of the
day, maybe something like 5:30 or something, Mr. Umstead called me in
and said, "We've got to get organized here for next
week. We've got to go to the inauguration of President
Eisenhower." We've got to do this, and
we've got to do that. I made a long list of all these things
we had to do. Plus the fact that he had been so busy, and William
Umstead found it difficult to delegate lots of things. He was a lawyer
by training, and he wanted to dot every "i" and cross
every "t". This plagued him, really. As governor, for
example, you simply must depend on other people. You cannot look at
every document. You cannot read everything. That was a problem that he
had.