This week the Nunn Center has uploaded oral History interviews with former Kentucky Governor Edward T. Breathitt. Governor Breathitt served as Governor from 1963-1967, a pivotal time in Kentucky’s as well as this nation’s history. The major accomplishment of his administration was the passage of the 1964 Kentucky Civil Rights Act which was the first to be passed by a southern state. Edward T. Breathitt was born in Hopkinsville, Kentucky in 1924. In 1951 he won the first of three consecutive terms in the Kentucky House of Representatives. During Governor Bert Combs’ administration (1959-1963) he was Commissioner of Personnel. He defeated former Governor Albert Chandler in the 1963 state primary and then went on to defeat Republican Louie Nunn to become governor. He served as Governor of the Commonwealth of Kentucky from 1963 to 1967. Breathitt discusses his work as governor as well as his life before and after the governorship and the circumstances that surrounded his initial involvement in politics.
The Breathitt interviews are full-text searchable on the Kentuckiana Digital Library and can be accessed here.