Well, they called it the Shelby dynasty. It amounted to two men. I never
did think it was a dynasty. But Clyde Hoey was not much of a governor in
terms of what he accomplished. He didn't do any harm, and by and large,
he really did some good. But the governors of North Carolina from the
turn of the century on were good governors. There's not a single bad
governor in the lot, which I think is remarkable. Not many of them were
great governors, not many of them were innovators, and not many of them
were too bold, but bold enough maybe for the times. Cameron Morrison
developed the first state-wide paved highway system in the country in
the early 20's, which was a radical move. He was
followed by Governor McLean who created I think the first budget control
act. At any rate, it became the model of virtually every other state in
the union. This is where the fundamental principle is that the governor
manages the budget. He cuts the budget, if necessary, to keep it in
balance and deficits aren't allowed. Well that, obviously if you look
back, has been one of the most substantial contributions to government.
If it had been applied in New York City and New York, they wouldn't be
in their problems today. But most states followed North Carolina
including, most recently when I was governor, the state of Alaska. And
you'll find most of the laws modeled after McLean's. law.
Then came Max Gardner, who was considered one of the better governors. He
didn't have too much of a chance to do too many things because he got
caught in the Depression. But he put the educational system in better
shape. He consolidated the university. He, in effect, picked Frank
Graham to be the president, which has to be, even if it wasn't planned
to be, one of the great contributions to North Carolina. He valued more
than anything else that he did, he said in his will, the creation of the
consolidated university. I think he did more substantial things than
that, and certainly he was a broad-based governor. But then he began to
dominate politics. He had lost to Cam Morrison in '20. He came back in
'28 to win without opposition to support Al Smith when nobody else
would, in spite of the fact I say nobody else, but when the so-called
political leader of the state, Senator Simmons, was voting for Hoover
and was defeated for his efforts two years later,
or three to four years later, Max Gardner went to be the undisputed
political leader of the state, and that's where the Shelby dynasty
business came in. He then picked an unknown man with an awkward name who
was a solicitor in northeastern North Carolina, J. C. B. Ehringhaus. and
elected him governor over substantial opposition and they were firmly
established. But Ehringhaus then became, in my opinion, the most
unappreciated governor for his substantial contributions. I would have
to consider him the very finest in the history of the state because he
caught the Depression head-on, he handled it like a man . . .