Was Ray More Corrupt Than Rod?

It certainly seems like the scandal involving Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich is setting a new standard for brazen, in-your-face political corruption, at least at the gubernatorial level. So brazen, in fact, the speculation in the Illinois media and on the blogosphere today is that the man is clinically insane. People will tend to think that about a person, who, knowing he’s under federal investigation, shouts, “I want money!” into a telephone he must have suspected was tapped. One psychiatrist interviewed by a Chicago TV station said Blagojevich exhibits sociopathic traits, but that he might not be a full-blown sociopath, which is actually the nicest thing anybody has said about him since this thing broke.

But there was another case of corruption by a governor that I think rivals the Blagojevich mess, in sleaziness if not in scope. Ray Blanton was governor of Tennessee from 1975 to 1979. During the latter part of his term, I was a newbie reporter at a TV station in Kingsport, Tennessee, and the Blanton case was one of the first big stories, at least on a regional basis, I ever worked on.

Blanton, a democrat and former congressman from a part of rural Tennessee that borders Alabama and Mississippi (think “Walking Tall”) first started running into serious trouble over a little matter involving a prisoner in the state penitentiary named Roger Humphreys. Blanton made Humphreys a trustee, which allowed him to leave jail and even work as a state photographer. His father was a former county chairman for Blanton, so people saw a conflict of interest with the trustee designation, especially since Humphreys WAS A CONVICTED DOUBLE MURDERER! He’d been found guilty only three years earlier. The governor let a guy who recently killed two people out of jail, because his daddy once rounded up some votes for him. Now that, ladies and gentlemen, is cronyism.

But that’s not what brought Ray Blanton down. Next came a much larger scandal, one in which two of his top aides were convicted of systematically selling pardons and paroles. It was a pretty simple scam.. If the family of ol' Booger Johnson from Hardin County could come up with the cash to set him free after that armed robbery thing up there near Sweetbriar, then, by God, Booger was comin’ home. There’s an interesting pop culture connection to this; Peter Maas, the author of “Serpico” wrote a book about the woman who headed the State Board of Pardons and Paroles, Marie Ragghianti, who blew the whistle on the scheme. They made a movie of it in 1985. “Marie” starred Sissy Spacek, and it really wasn’t very good. But it did mark the acting debut of the lawyer who represented Ragghianti and played himself in the movie. Later, of course, Fred Thompson would go on to a bigger acting career, as well as a stint as U.S. Senator and for a very brief time and to very bad reviews, a presidential candidate.

The people who want Rod Blagojevich out of office should study up on this next part. Even after charges were brought in the scandal, Blanton kept on issuing pardons during the waning days of his administration, including one for Roger Humphreys. With a rogue governor still in charge, legislators from both parties actually moved up by three days the date of the inauguration of Blanton’s successor. Late at night on January 17, 1979, Lamar Alexander was hurriedly sworn in during an impromptu ceremony at the state capitol (Alexander served two terms as governor and is currently a U.S. Senator).

But even that isn't what finished off Ray Blanton, at least not legally. That didn't happen until 1981, when he was convicted of selling --- are you ready for it? could it POSSIBLY get sleazier? --- selling state liquor licenses while he was governor. Blanton ended up serving 22-months in federal prison.

Pardoning murderers, turning the parole board into a cash machine, selling liquor licenses to the highest bidders; I'd say it’s a Blagojevich-worthy resume! Ray Blanton actually ran for Congress a few years later (spoiler alert: he lost) and in his final years worked as a used car salesman. I am not making this up. Blanton died of liver failure in 1996 at the age of 66. Too young, but he squeezed an awful lot of corruption into the years he had on this earth. No doubt if all this had happened in a world of 24-hour news channels, the dishonorable gentleman from Tennessee would be just as renowned/infamous as Governor Blagojevich is today – perhaps more so, since his name is so much easier to say.