Griffin Bell oral history interview, June 12, 1990

Item — othertype: Oral History

Identifier: BellG_19900612_P1990-04

Staff Only

Griffin Bell oral history interview

Go to file

Scope and Contents

Interviwed by Cliff Kuhn and William Bost. Among topics discussed: Family background; education; early legal career; King and Spalding; changes in legal profession; the Georgia Bar Association; Ernest Vandiver; Robert Jordan; Vandiver's 1954 lieutenant governor campaign; King and Spalding support for Fred Hand in 1954 governor's race; protecting clients' interests; potential governors in the late 1950s; "No, not one" decision; Cooper v. Aaron; Bell becomes Governor Vandiver's chief of staff; Holcombe Perry; school desegregation; Bell's role in creating the Sibley Commission; George Busbee; HOPE; changes in black leadership; meetings during the University desegregation crisis; 1960 Democratic National Convention; Bobby Troutman; Bell's role as Georgia Kennedy campaign co‑chair; presidential campaign tactics in Georgia; Kennedy supporters in Georgia; Martin Luther King, Jr.'s arrest; Bobby Kennedy involvement in King case; Kennedy campaign organization; county unit system decision while Bell on bench; redistricting cases; importance of school desegregation issue to the public; Bell's view of solution to desegregation issue.

Dates

Creation: June 12, 1990

Creator

Bell, Griffin B., 1918-2009 (Interviewee, Person)

Restrictions on Access

Oral history available for research.

Biographical Note

Griffin Bell (1918-2009) served as Chief of Staff under Governor Ernest Vandiver, was a judge on the U. S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals from 1961 to 1976, and was United States Attorney General from 1977 to 1979. After leaving Carter's cabinet, Bell served on numerous commissions as well as practicing law.