G.I.s Fighting Corruption: Breaking Down 'The Battle of Athens, Tennessee' August 1-2, 1946

G.I.s Fighting Corruption: Breaking Down 'The Battle of Athens, Tennessee'

BACKGROUND
In 1936, Malcolm Paul Cantrell was elected as McMinn county Sheriff and eventually rose to the level of State Senator and Chairman of both the McMinn County Court and McMinn Democratic Party. Cantrell used this power to allow his deputies to intimidate and attack his political opposition by allowing ineligible people to vote, and prevent otherwise eligible people from voting. In addition, Cantrell allowed gambling and other illegal activities to take place under his watch and actively profited from this during his time in office. This came to a head during the election of 1946 where Cantrell would attempt to pass on his position as Senator to a man named Pat Mansfield. This transition would allow Cantrell to return to his position as Sheriff before his ultimate plan to run for the Governor of Tennessee.

US serviceman serving during the war received letters from home from their families regarding the abuse of power that was taking place at home and things only became worse as the war ended and these men started to return home only to be arrested for public drunkenness or simply having a beer since they were not a part of the established group paying off Sheriffs for the privilege. This unwelcome return home by fellow countrymen drove these veterans to start organizing and meeting in order to oust this corrupt machine.

Most of the information on this short breakdown was gleaned from the pages of the recently released book by Chris DeRose The Fighting Bunch. It is one of the best books that I have had the pleasure of reading in recent memory and was the impetus for this article. Let us know down in the comments what other domestic battles you’d like to see covered.

[link to www.thefirearmblog.com (secure)]

Last Edited by Vicious Deplorable dollop on 04/21/2021 12:54 AM