Edward T. Breathitt

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Edward Thompson "Ned" Breathitt Jr. (born in Hopkinsville, Kentucky on November 26, 1924, died in Lexington, Kentucky on October 11, 2003) was a United States politician. He was elected governor of Kentucky in 1963.

Breathitt served in the U.S. Army Air Force from 1942-1945 and then received a bachelor's and a law degree, both from the University of Kentucky. Breathitt practiced law in Hopkinsville and won election to the Kentucky House of Representatives. He held appointed office during the gubernatorial administration of Bert T. Combs and was the Democratic nominee for governor in 1963, defeating former governor Happy Chandler in the primary and Republican Louie B. Nunn in the general election. In that 1963 race Breathitt became the first candidate to win a statewide race in Kentucky largely on the strength of a television campaign.

As governor, Breathitt was a strong advocate for civil rights. He successfully sought anti-discrimination and civil rights legislation from the General Assembly, making Kentucky the first southern state to enact such laws. Breathitt also won increased funding for roads, public schools, state universities, the state park system and delivery of government services. Breathitt established the Kentucky Educational Television network and Kentucky's vocational education system. Breathitt also won important conservation measures from the General Assembly, but failed in his bid to have a new, modernized state constitution approved in a referendum to replace the 1891 Kentucky Constitution.

After his single term as governor (he could not run to succeed himself under Kentucky's constitution at that time) Breathitt worked for many years as a railroad lobbyist. In 2000, the Pennyrile Parkway in western Kentucky was named for him. He died in October 2003, and is buried at the Riverside Cemetery, Hopkinsville, Kentucky.

v • d • e Governors of Kentucky Shelby • Garrard • Greenup • Scott • Shelby • Madison • Slaughter • Adair • Desha • Metcalfe • J. Breathitt • J. Morehead • Clark • Wickliffe • Letcher • Owsley • Crittenden • Helm • Powell • C. Morehead • Magoffin • Robinson • Bramlette • Helm • Stevenson • Leslie • McCreary • Blackburn • Knott • Buckner • Brown • Bradley • Taylor • Goebel • Beckham • Willson • McCreary • Stanley • Black • Morrow • Fields • Sampson • Laffoon • Chandler • Johnson • Willis • Clements • Wetherby • Chandler • Combs • E. Breathitt • Nunn • Ford • Carroll • Brown Jr. • Collins • Wilkinson • Jones • Patton • Fletcher • Beshear Kentucky also had two Confederate Governors: George W. Johnson and Richard Hawes.