As a politician, Zell Miller has always been flexible. So it shouldn't have been a surprise to see the lifelong Democrat address the Republican National Convention on this date in The man who served Georgians as mayor, state senator, lieutenant governor, governor and U.
He always credited his success to the independence he learned from his widowed mother, Birdie, and the discipline taught by the U. Marine Corps. Miller was teaching at Young Harris College when he entered politics, and he never looked back. He served 16 years as lieutenant governor before his election as governor in He lost bids for the U. House of Representatives in and and for the Senate in He won, but he still had to convince a majority of Georgia voters to pass a constitutional amendment to establish it.
That process was not without complications. In , voters approved the lottery, and the governor and his team launched HOPE. Miller insisted that the scholarship be merit-based, arguing it would reward hard-working students and encourage them to earn their degrees in Georgia.
He laid out the goals of the program: to enhance the academic performances of Georgia students, to keep the best-performing students in the state, and to address socioeconomic disparities in college enrollment.
It was a plan he knew would have a real impact on the people of Georgia. Twenty-five years later, the impact of HOPE has crossed generations. Erica Gwyn was a promising student with a lot of options when she received the HOPE Scholarship in the early years of the program. In 25 years, the university has seen a steady rise in its academic rankings. While HOPE has continued to evolve since its implementation, it retains the fingerprints of its groundbreaking creator, and it continues to reward Georgians who strive for excellence through higher education.
Georgia Gov. Zell Miller sitting on the porch of the home his mother built in Young Harris with his two beloved yellow labs, Gus and Woodrow.
In he was appointed executive director of the Democratic Party in Georgia and served in this capacity until , when he became a member of the State Board of Pardons and Paroles. He served on the board until Beginning in , Miller spent sixteen years as lieutenant governor of Georgia, longer than anyone else. In , bolstered by winning his second race for statewide office, he ran for the U. Senate but lost the Democratic primary to incumbent senator Herman Talmadge. Over the next ten years as lieutenant governor, Miller worked to build his leadership skills.
As presiding officer of the state senate he made both friends and enemies, and he regularly sparred with Tom Murphy , the longtime Speaker of the state house. While both Miller and Murphy were Democrats, they often clashed over issues. Miller was sometimes able to rally bipartisan support for his side, and as lieutenant governor he appointed some Republicans to committee chairmanships. In Miller ran for governor. Miller and Young were ultimately forced into a runoff, from which Miller emerged as the Democratic nominee.
As a candidate Miller focused on education and pledged that he would only serve one term if elected governor. In the general election, he beat his Republican opponent, state senator Johnny Isakson, by more than , votes.
As governor, Miller campaigned to establish a state lottery. He supported legislation that restricted lottery proceeds to funding for pre-kindergarten programs, capital and technology enhancements for Georgia schools, and most significant, the HOPE Scholarship program. HOPE scholarships provide full tuition at any state college or university to any Georgia resident who graduates from high school with at least a B average.
In voters ratified the lottery amendment, and the lottery-funded programs were launched in Miller also signed legislation that gave Georgia the toughest repeat offender sentencing guidelines in the nation.
Miller and Clinton seemed to be natural allies—both were active, moderate governors of southern states who had won office by promising to improve education. Further, they shared political advisors. After Clinton won the presidential primary in Georgia, he invited Miller to give one of the three keynote speeches at the Democratic National Convention.
Later that year, Miller again actively campaigned for Clinton, who carried Georgia in his win of the November presidential election. In spite of his accomplishments, Miller had made political enemies. He had tried, unsuccessfully, to have the Confederate battle emblem removed from the state flag.
Finally, the fact that Miller had retreated on his pledge to serve only one term as governor irked some voters. His Republican opponent in was Guy Millner, a millionaire who was willing to spend his own fortune to finance his campaign. Miller ultimately prevailed but only by a narrow margin—he received During his second term as governor, Miller continued his efforts to improve all levels of education in Georgia by making investments in technology, buildings, and human resources.
In the last year of his governorship, he secured private funding to distribute classical music CDs to the family of every baby born in the state. At the time, research indicated that playing classical music to newborns may increase their intelligence.
Miller also ordered state agencies to make budget cuts and redistributions—unusual for a state in good financial shape. His reasoning was that state agencies likely had become wasteful in their spending during the prosperous s. Miller left office in early with an 85 percent approval rating from Georgians—a record high for a Georgia governor and a rating that made him the most popular governor in the nation.
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