Сэмюэл Марвин Гриффин: Губернатор Джорджии и сторонник сегрегации

American politician (1907–1982)

Samuel Marvin Griffin, Sr. (September 4, 1907 – June 13, 1982) was an American politician from the U. S. state of Georgia. A lifelong Democrat, Griffin was a native of Bainbridge, Georgia and publisher of the Bainbridge Post Searchlight. He served as the 72nd governor of Georgia from 1955 to 1959, where he supported educational segregation and opposed the integration of Georgia schools. After the end of his gubernatorial tenure, he returned to his native Bainbridge and entered the real estate business, helping to found Bainbridge College (later Bainbridge State College) in 1970. He served on the college's board of directors and died from lung cancer in 1982.

Griffin was born in Bainbridge, Georgia and graduated from The Citadel in 1929. At The Citadel, Griffin was a battalion commander and also played on the baseball team. He taught in Virginia for a short time before moving back to Bainbridge. Another primary candidate was the later Atlanta Mayor Ivan Allen, Jr. As governor, Griffin was a staunch segregationist. He spoke out against the Brown v. Board of Education decision and pledged to keep Georgia's schools segregated "come hell or high water."

In 1958, Griffin, who was a segregationist and accused of being racist, took advantage of the intense media coverage surrounding the Springhill mining disaster in Springhill, Nova Scotia, Canada to promote tourism to his state by offering a group of survivors free vacations to Jekyll Island. However, to the segregationist governor's chagrin, one of the rescued miners was black, resulting in a public relations nightmare.

Much controversy preceded the 1956 Sugar Bowl, where the Pitt Panthers, including African American player Bobby Grier, were scheduled to meet the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets. There was controversy over whether Grier should be allowed to play, and whether Georgia Tech should even play at all due to Governor Griffin's opposition to integration. Tech president Blake R. Van Leer and coach Dodd met with Governor Marvin Griffin privately who promised to not interfere with the game. However in December 1955, Griffin publicly sent a telegram to his state's Board of Regents in an attempt to pressure Georgia Tech's president Blake R. Van Leer to pull out. Griffin implored teams from Georgia not to engage in racially integrated events which had black citizens either as participants or as spectators. Van Leer rejected this request, which was not a stand to serve him well in the 1950s. Van Leer was already catching heat for pushing through a vote to allow women in Georgia Tech. Griffin also sent public telegrams to multiple news publications. Van Leer refused to back down during multiple meetings with the board of regents. In one meeting he would threaten to resign as a show of support when summoned by the board of regents. He was quoted: text=Either we’re going to the Sugar Bowl or you can find yourself another damn president of Georgia Tech. Griffin would later request that Van Leer and Georgia Tech's players be punished for student riots, followed up with an investigation request. Another state representative John P Drinkard recommended that all of Georgia Tech's state funding be cut off if they proceed and later Griffin suggested anyone who adhered to the principles of integration should not be admitted to Tech. Van Leer still stuck to his statements and later received a standing ovation from the faculty senate. Two weeks after the game, Van Leer died of a heart attack on January 24, 1956 at the Atlanta Veterans Hospital. A large contingent from the New Orleans community, as well as many related to Georgia Tech, openly fought to bar either Grier, Pitt, or the Yellow Jacket team from the game. However, students, football players and Georgia Tech's president, civil rights leaders, as well as a large number of the Pitt community, succeeded in ensuring that the game took place.

Griffin's term was marred by charges of corruption. According to Atlanta historian Frederick Allen, Griffin was "a man of prodigious charm and wit and also one of the most corrupt public officials ever to hold office in Georgia." Several administration members were found guilty of crimes and Griffin was investigated in 1960 by a grand jury, which returned no true bills.

In 1962, Griffin ran once more for governor but lost in the primary to a moderate candidate, Carl Sanders. Griffin received 332,746 votes (39 percent) to Sanders' 494,978 (58.7 percent). Part of the factor in Griffin's defeat was the abolishment of the county unit system, though one study found that Sanders would have won even if the county unit system had still been in place. Thereafter, Griffin largely retired from politics. After his loss, Griffin commented, "I retired for reasons of health: the voters were sick and tired of me." In 1968, Griffin was a stand in candidate for Vice President of the United States on George C. Wallace's American Independent Party ticket. Griffin was thereafter replaced in the second slot by United States Air Force General Curtis LeMay although Griffin's name stayed on the ballot in 27 states, mostly concentrated in the Midwest.

In 1946, Griffin's 14 year old daughter, Patricia Ann Griffin, died in the Winecoff Hotel fire. After the end of his gubernatorial tenure, Griffin returned to his hometown of Bainbridge and went into the real estate business. His first wife died in 1970, and Griffin, who was devastated by her death, remarried to Laura Jane Gibson. Griffin and his second wife both led active lives. He helped to found Bainbridge College in 1970, where classes began in 1973. He was a leading advocate and member of the college's board of directors. He also oversaw and directed the Decatur County Sesquicentennial in 1973, at which Georgia governor and future President Jimmy Carter was the honored guest. A lifelong smoker, Griffin was diagnosed with lung cancer, the disease which would eventually kill him. He was heartbroken by the death of his second wife who also died from lung cancer. He died on June 13, 1982, less than a week after his wife’s death.