Seigenthaler shoved her into his car before being hit behind the left ear with a pipe. Knocked unconscious, he was not picked up until police arrived 10 minutes later, with Montgomery Police Commissioner Lester B. Sullivan noting, "We have no intention of standing police guard for a bunch of troublemakers coming into our city.
A brief transition period followed, during which long-time Tennessean reporter John Nye served as publisher. On March 20, , the newspaper made the announcement that Evans' brother, Amon Carter Evans, would be the new publisher. One of the new Evans' first duties would be to bring back Seigenthaler as editor.
The two had worked together before at the paper, when Seigenthaler served as assistant city editor and Evans was an aspiring journalist. On one occasion during that era, the two nearly came to blows over Seigenthaler's assignment of Evans to a story. Evans named Seigenthaler editor of The Tennessean on March 21, With this new team in place, The Tennessean quickly regained its hard-hitting reputation.
One example of the paper's resurgence came following a Democratic primary in August , when The Tennessean found documented evidence of voter fraud based on absentee ballots in the city's second ward. Seigenthaler's friendship with Kennedy became one of the focal points of Jimmy Hoffa's bid to shift his jury tampering trial from Nashville.
Citing "one-sided, defamatory" coverage from the newspaper, Hoffa's lawyers were able to get Seigenthaler to admit he personally wanted Hoffa convicted. However, the journalist noted that he hadn't conveyed those sentiments to his reporters. Hoffa's lawyers gained a minor victory when the trial was moved to Chattanooga in a change of venue, but Hoffa was nonetheless convicted in after a day trial.
The following year, Seigenthaler led a fight for access to the Tennessee state senate chamber in Nashville after a resolution was passed revoking the floor privileges of Tennessean reporter Bill Kovach.
The action came after Kovach had refused to leave a committee hearing following a call for executive session. In December , Seigenthaler and Richard Goodwin represented the Kennedy family when controversy developed about historian William Manchester's book about the John F.
Kennedy assassination , Death of a President. How much of John Seigenthaler's work have you seen? Movie Character Wisdom See more polls ». See more awards ». Known For. Truth in Numbers? Everything, According to Wikipedia Self. Freedom Riders Self - Nashville resident. Show all Hide all Show by Jump to: Actor Thanks Self Archive footage. Hide Show Actor 1 credit. Eugene 'Bull' Connor voice. North Carolina Law voice. When Seigenthaler went to work for Kennedy, race riots and violence were becoming widespread.
Groups of Freedom Riders were boarding buses at Southern universities to spread the nonviolent protest message they were using to desegregate lunch counters. They would drive to a city's bus station, go inside and try to use the segregated restrooms and buy food.
In May , it wasn't going well at all. The first group of Freedom Riders left Washington, D. Their buses were burned. In Birmingham, Freedom Riders were jailed. Bobby Kennedy got word that another group, including Fisk and Peabody students, planned to leave from Nashville the next weekend. Kennedy asked Seigenthaler to try to talk them out of it, but to no avail.
So Seigenthaler, at Kennedy's direction, negotiated a deal with then-Alabama Gov. John Patterson that state troopers would protect the group between Birmingham and Montgomery. Local police were supposed to take over from there. There were troopers in cars guarding the bus, helicopters in the air and men with guns on the roadside.
Seigenthaler said he believed it would be a "walk in the park," with no problems. But the bus driver was terrified and "made it an express run. When Seigenthaler and Doar pulled into town, they noticed there were no police to be seen.
Later, all local law enforcement and every ambulance driver would swear they were "on call" and unavailable. Doar and Seigenthaler pulled up near the bus station, rolled down the car windows, and "you can hear the screaming. I can see baggage being tossed," Seigenthaler remembered. It is a teeming anthill of violence. These kids were just getting the hell beat out of them. The screams and shouts — you've never heard anything like it. They were wild. I almost ran over some black student.
I'm in shock. I'm thinking, 'What in the hell am I going to tell Bob? Seigenthaler saw two black girls get in a cab, but the black driver would not let their white friend get in.
As Seigenthaler rushed down the sidewalk, he saw a man with a cigarette pack rolled up in his sleeve. As she turns, I see she is bleeding from the mouth. I thought, 'I can get them out,' " Seigenthaler said. Seigenthaler was kicked in the ribs and fell to the ground.
That's all he remembered, thanks to the lead pipe used to crack him on the head. Never felt the blow. I didn't come to until I was in the front seat of the car. Kennedy sent federal marshals to Montgomery, while Seigenthaler was taken to a hospital, drifting in and out of consciousness. A week later, more students headed out on the Freedom Rides, including 14 from Tennessee State University.
Tennessee's governor expelled them, and they never graduated. The Tennessean turned in , and Seigenthaler captured the essence of his agenda as its editor and publisher — a position he assumed in — in a piece he wrote for the commemorative edition. Beginning in , the paper pushed an editorial agenda designed to enrich the quality of life for the Midstate region, he wrote, presenting on the editorial pages each day a list of prioritized challenges identified for extensive news coverage and editorial support.
That agenda changed over the years but included strong and integrated public schools, merging city and county governments, smog from the days of coal burning to new EPA regulations , development of the Tennessee Valley Authority, recreational opportunities, interstate highways and organized labor. And, always, an involvement in elections and politics.
Roberts, the retired opinion editor, said Seigenthaler had a commitment to a vital and involved editorial page. No matter how busy he was, "He made the time to go over editorials, line by line, to have the editorials read to him when he was out of town, to work with the editorial board on crafting positions, to write many editorials himself, even to quibble about the use of specific words," she said.
His influence on issues, from key tax hikes to education reform, was unsurpassed by any other newspaper in the state. But Seigenthaler also changed the lives of individuals, time after time. Former Mayor and Congressman Richard Fulton owed his first election to The Tennessean's dogged investigation of a corrupt ballot box scam. Tennessee Sen. Lamar Alexander was the first Republican whom Seigenthaler ever endorsed, in the governor's race.
Probably no one else living today has seen their life change more than Albert Gore Jr. Gore, from Carthage, Tenn.
Albert Gore Sr. He was disgusted by politics after seeing his father lose his re-election campaign because he voted against the Vietnam War. His wife, Tipper Gore, was working as a photographer at The Tennessean. She showed Seigenthaler some articles Gore had written while serving in the Army, which led to a reporting job offer. Some of the things that had earlier caused me to feel disillusioned began to appear in my mind as things that needed to be exposed and fixed. It was because of John Seigenthaler that I really came back to thinking that maybe I had some contribution to make in that field.
Gore began writing editorials and taking classes at divinity and law school. Seigenthaler didn't mention politics to him until And he was that influential to me because of the respect he commanded and because of the force for good he represented. Polk ". He had a deep and abiding relationship with other writers that led to a weekly public television show for Nashville Public Television called A Word on Words.
It began in , when A Search for Justice was released. American Archive of Public Broadcasting. John engaged our audiences with intelligent, thoughtful and surprising discussions about literature and the lives of authors.
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