Hoyt Patrick Taylor Jr. - Misplaced Pages

(Redirected from Hoyt Patrick Taylor, Jr.) American politician and attorney (1924–2018)

Hoyt Patrick Taylor Jr.


26th Lieutenant Governor of North Carolina
In office January 3, 1969 – January 6, 1973
Governor	Robert W. Scott
Preceded by	Robert W. Scott
Succeeded by	James B. Hunt Jr.
Speaker of the North Carolina House of Representatives
In office 1965–1966
Preceded by	H. Clifton Blue
Succeeded by	David M. Britt
Member of the North Carolina House of Representatives from Anson County
In office 1955–1967
Preceded by	Hal W. Little
Succeeded by	District abolished

Personal details
Born	(1924-04-01)April 1, 1924 Wadesboro, North Carolina
Died	April 22, 2018(2018-04-22) (aged 94) Wadesboro, North Carolina
Political party	Democratic
Alma mater	University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Profession	Lawyer
Nickname	Pat
Military service
Allegiance	United States of America
Battles/wars	World War II, Korean War.

Hoyt Patrick "Pat" Taylor Jr. (April 1, 1924 – April 22, 2018) was an American politician and attorney who served as Speaker of the North Carolina House of Representatives and as the 26th Lieutenant Governor of North Carolina.

Early life and career

Taylor was born in Wadesboro, North Carolina, on April 1, 1924, the son of Hoyt Patrick Taylor, who also served as Lieutenant Governor of the state. The two are the only father-son pair to have held the office. The younger Taylor went on to receive undergraduate and law degrees from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and to serve in the Marine Corps in both World War II and the Korean War. He subsequently practiced law in Wadesboro.

Political career

In 1955, he was elected to represent Anson County in the North Carolina House of Representatives and served through 1967, the two last years as speaker.

In May 1968, Taylor won the Democratic primary for Lieutenant Governor over Margaret Harper, the first woman to campaign for a major party's nomination for the post. He then went on to defeat State Rep. Don H. Garren in the general election of 1968 by the narrowest margin in decades (55-45%). He served as Lieutenant Governor for Governor Bob Scott from 1969 to 1973. He was close to the governor and assisted with the legislative agenda. To pay for increased spending on education and infrastructure, the administration favored increased taxes, including tobacco taxes. The period was marked by racial unrest, especially at the universities. Taylor opposed segregation and other racial inequalities, but did not at the time speak so clearly against racism as he would later do.

Scott was constitutionally prevented from running for another term as governor, and Taylor chose to become a candidate for the Democratic nomination for new governor. His prime opponents for the nomination were Skipper Bowles, a wealthy businessman who also had political and administrative experience, and Wilbur Hobby of the AFL-CIO. In the May 1972 primary, Bowles received about 372,000 votes to Taylor's about 310,000 The tax hikes had been unpopular and contributed to Taylor's relatively weak result. And while Taylor had run a traditional campaign, Bowles had introduced more sophisticated methods with regard to focus groups, opinion polls and television commercials with the help of political consultant Walter DeVries.

Taylor was defeated in the 1972 primary runoff by Bowles after a tough race where Taylor was supported by the Scott wing of the party, while Bowles was supported by much of the old Terry Sanford wing, as well as making inroads with black voters.

As one of many people, Taylor received a couple of votes for the Democratic Vice-Presidential nomination at the 1972 Democratic National Convention.

In his 2014 book The Making of a Southern Democracy, political scientist Tom Eamon describes Taylor as a calm and reasonable politician, but lacking somewhat in hunger for political power and sometimes informally described by contemporaries as being a little lazy.

Later life, personal life and legacy

After the defeat in 1972, he retired from electoral politics and resumed the practice of law in Wadesboro. He was a member of several boards.

In 2005, Taylor published the book Fourth Down & Goal to Go where he wrote about life and politics in Anson County and North Carolina generally.

Taylor was married to Elizabeth Lockhart Taylor for over sixty years. They had three children and four grandchildren. In his older days, Taylor suffered from dementia. He died on April 22, 2018, at the age of 94 in Wadesboro, North Carolina. He was a member of the Calvary Episcopal Church of Wadesboro, a Rotarian and a Freemason.

The North Carolina General Assembly honored Taylor and his father in a resolution in 2010. South Piedmont Community College named a center after him and his wife and part of a local road has got his name.

References

^ Abby Cavenaugh (29 July 2015) Former lieutenant governor Pat Taylor turns 91 Richmond County Daily Journal. Retrieved 24 April 2018
^ Former North Carolina Lt. Gov. Pat Taylor Jr. dies at 94 Associated Press / Los Angeles Times 23 April 2018.
NC Lt. Governor - D Primary Ourcampaigns.com. Retrieved 24 April 2018
NC Lt. Governor Ourcampaigns.com. Retrieved 24 April 2018
^ Tom Eamon (2014) The Making of a Southern Democracy: North Carolina Politics from Kerr Scott to Pat McCrory. The University of North Carolina Press
^ Tom Eamon 2014) The Making of a Southern Democracy: North Carolina Politics from Kerr Scott to Pat McCrory, pp. 140-142 The University of North Carolina Press.
"Hoyt Patrick Taylor, Jr. Obituary". Archived from the original on 2018-04-24. Retrieved 2018-04-23.
Hoyt Patrick "Pat" Taylor Jr. (1924 - 2018) Charlotte Observer/Legacy.com. Retrieved 26 April 2018

Party political offices
Preceded byRobert W. Scott	Democratic nominee for Lieutenant Governor of North Carolina 1968	Succeeded byJim Hunt
Political offices
Preceded byRobert W. Scott	26th Lieutenant Governor of North Carolina 1969–1973	Succeeded byJames B. Hunt Jr.
Preceded byH. Clifton Blue	Speaker of the North Carolina House of Representatives 1965–1966	Succeeded byDavid M. Britt

v t e Governors and lieutenant governors of North Carolina
Governors	Caswell Nash Burke A. Martin Caswell Johnston A. Martin Spaight Sr. Ashe Davie Williams Turner Alexander Williams Stone Smith Hawkins Miller Branch Franklin Holmes Burton Iredell Owen Stokes Swain Spaight Jr. Dudley Morehead Graham Manly Reid Winslow Bragg Ellis Clark Vance Holden Worth Holden Caldwell Brogden Vance Jarvis Scales Fowle Holt Carr Russell Aycock Glenn Kitchin Craig Bickett Morrison McLean O. M. Gardner Ehringhaus Hoey Broughton Cherry W. K. Scott Umstead Hodges Sanford Moore R. W. Scott Holshouser Hunt J. G. Martin Hunt Easley Perdue McCrory Cooper Stein (elect)
Lieutenant governors	Caldwell Brogden Jarvis Robinson Stedman Holt Doughton Reynolds Turner Winston Newland Daughtridge O. M. Gardner Cooper Long Fountain Graham Horton Harris Ballentine Taylor Sr. Hodges Barnhardt Philpott R. W. Scott Taylor Jr. Hunt Green Jordan J. Gardner Wicker Perdue Dalton Forest Robinson Hunt (elect)

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