{{short description|American politician}} {{Use mdy dates|date=December 2016}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = Harlan Mathews | image = Senator Harlan Mathews (D-TN).jpg | jr/sr = United States Senator | state = Tennessee | party = Democratic | term_start = January 2, 1993 | term_end = December 1, 1994<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.senate.gov/states/TN/senators.htm#|title=States in the Senate}}</ref> | appointer = Ned McWherter | preceded = Al Gore | succeeded = Fred Thompson <!--Treasurer of Tennessee--> | order1 = 38th | office1 = Tennessee State Treasurer | term_start1 = March 31, 1974 | term_end1 = January 17, 1987 | governor1 = Winfield Dunn<br>Ray Blanton<br>Lamar Alexander | predecessor1 = Thomas A. Wiseman, Jr. | successor1 = Steve Adams <!--Personal details--> | birth_date = {{birth date|1927|1|17}} | birth_place = Sumiton, Alabama, U.S. | death_date = {{death date and age|2014|5|9|1927|1|17|mf=y}} | death_place = Nashville, Tennessee, U.S. | resting_place = Harpeth Hills Cemetery, Nashville, Tennessee | resting_place_coordinates = | spouse = Pat Jones | children = 3 | alma_mater = Jacksonville State University (BA)<br />Vanderbilt University (MPA) | profession = Lawyer | footnotes = <ref name="TNobit20140509"/><ref name="TN-Political History"/><ref name="TN BlueBook 1987-88">{{cite book | title=Tennessee Blue Book 1987-1988 | publisher=Secretary of State | year=1987 | location=Nashville, Tennessee| pages=v}}</ref> <!--Military service--> | allegiance = {{flag|United States|1912}} | branch = United States Navy | service_years = 1944–1946 | rank = | unit = | battles = | awards = }}
'''Harlan Mathews''' (January 17, 1927 – May 9, 2014) was an American politician who was an appointed interim Democratic United States Senator from Tennessee from 1993 to 1994. He previously served in the executive and legislative branches of state government in Tennessee for more than 40 years beginning in 1950.<ref name="TN-Political History">{{cite book |title=Tennessee: A Political History |publisher=Hillsboro Press |author=Langsdon, Phillip |year=2000 |isbn=978-1577361251}}</ref>
==Early life and education== Harlan Mathews was born on January 17, 1927, in Sumiton, Alabama, to John William Mathews and Lillian (Young) Mathews. After completing high school in 1944, he enlisted in the United States Navy and served until 1946.
Following his military service, Mathews returned to Alabama and earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Jacksonville State College (now Jacksonville State University) in 1949.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Tennessee Encyclopedia of History and Culture|publisher=Rutledge Hill Press|year=1998|editor-last=Van West|editor-first=Carroll|isbn=1-55853-588-1|location=Nashville}}{{rp|404}}</ref>
He subsequently earned a Master of Public Administration degree from Vanderbilt University in 1950.<ref name=bluebook>[https://books.google.com/books?id=KI0uAAAAIAAJ&pg=RA1-PA49 Harlan Mathews, State Treasurer], ''Tennessee Blue Book 1975–1978''</ref>{{rp|41}} Mathews began his public service career on the planning staff of Governor Gordon Browning. In 1954, following the election of Governor Frank G. Clement, he joined the state’s budget staff.
In 1961, Mathews was appointed commissioner of finance and administration. While serving in that role, he completed a law degree in 1962 from the YMCA Night Law School, now known as the Nashville School of Law.<ref name="TNobit20140509">{{Cite web |last=Cass |first=Michael |title=Former U.S. Sen. and Deputy Gov. Harlan Mathews dies |url=http://www.tennessean.com/story/news/politics/2014/05/09/former-us-sen-deputy-gov-harlan-mathews-dies/8890209/ |publisher=The Tennessean |date=May 9, 2014 |access-date=May 11, 2014}}</ref><ref name="TN-Political History"/>{{rp|404}}
==Early political career== Mathews joined the staff of the governor of Tennessee in 1950, serving governors Gordon Browning, Frank G. Clement and Buford Ellington.<ref name=bluebook/> From 1961 to 1971, he served as commissioner of finance and administration.
In January 1971, Mathews left the cabinet and entered the private sector for two years, working for Amcon International in Memphis.<ref name=bluebook/> In 1973, he became the legislative assistant to longtime Tennessee Comptroller of the Treasury Bill Snodgrass. In 1974, Mathews was elected state treasurer by the Tennessee General Assembly after his predecessor, Tom Wiseman, resigned to run for governor. The Tennessee General Assembly elected Mathews to his first full two-year term as treasurer in 1975,<ref name=bluebook/> where he served until January 1987, when he became deputy to Governor Ned R. McWherter.
==U.S. Senate== In 1993, Tennessee Governor Ned McWherter appointed Mathews to the U.S. Senate following the resignation of Al Gore, who resigned to serve as Vice President of the United States. Upon appointing Mathews to the senate, McWherter announced Mathews’ role would be one of caretaker, to allow those who wanted to run for the position to prepare their campaigns.<ref>{{Cite web|date=29 December 1992|title=Gore's Senate replacement named|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=IT9TAAAAIBAJ&dq=harlan-mathews&pg=1538%2C5987303}}</ref>
In mid-1993, Mathews expressed a desire to run in November 1994 for election to the remainder of Gore's senate term. "Hardly a day goes by that I don't get encouraged to get in there and offer myself" for next year's election, he said in July 1993.<ref>The Wall Street Journal, July 9, 1993, p. A12, "While Many Outsiders Call Washington a Swamp, Appointed Sen. Mathews Sees Comforts of Home," by John Harwood</ref> Mathews ultimately decided not to run in the special election and in December 1994, after Fred Thompson was elected to the seat, Mathews left office and resumed a law practice in Nashville, Tennessee.
==Death== Mathews died of brain cancer on May 9, 2014, at a hospice in Nashville.<ref name="nashvillescene2014-0509">{{Cite web | last = CAVENDISH | first = Steve | title = Former Senator Harlan Mathews Dies at 87 | url = http://www.nashvillescene.com/pitw/archives/2014/05/09/former-senator-harlan-mathews-dies-at-87 | date = May 9, 2014 | access-date = May 11, 2014 | archive-date = May 12, 2014 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140512222633/http://www.nashvillescene.com/pitw/archives/2014/05/09/former-senator-harlan-mathews-dies-at-87 | url-status = dead }}</ref> He was survived by his wife, Pat, and two sons. A third son, Richard Mathews, preceded him in death.<ref name="TNobit20140509"/>
==References== {{CongBio|M000236}} * Tennessee Blue Book, 2001-02 Edition {{reflist|30em}}
==External links== * [https://sos.tn.gov/products/tsla/senator-harlan-mathews-papers-1993-1994 Senator Harlan Mathews Papers, 1993-1994], Tennessee State Library and Archives. * [https://sos.tn.gov/products/tsla/mathews-senator-harlan-papers-addition-1992-1994 Senator Harlan Mathews Papers Addition, 1992-1994], Tennessee State Library and Archives. *{{C-SPAN|27215}}
{{s-start}} {{s-par|us-sen}} {{U.S. Senator box| before=Al Gore| state=Tennessee| class=2| years=1993–1994| after=Fred Thompson| alongside=Jim Sasser|}} {{s-end}}
{{USSenTN}} {{USCongRep-start|congresses= 103rd United States Congress |state=Tennessee}} {{USCongRep/TN/103}} {{USCongRep-end}} {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mathews, Harlan}} Category:1927 births Category:2014 deaths Category:People from Walker County, Alabama Category:Jacksonville State University alumni Category:Nashville School of Law alumni Category:Vanderbilt University alumni Category:Democratic Party United States senators from Tennessee Category:Tennessee lawyers Category:State cabinet secretaries of Tennessee Category:Tennessee Democrats Category:State treasurers of Tennessee Category:Deaths from brain cancer in Tennessee Category:20th-century American lawyers Category:United States Navy personnel of World War II Category:20th-century United States senators