Lawrence Wetherby

Who was Lawrence Wetherby?

Lawerence Winchester Wetherby was a politician from the US state of Kentucky. After graduating from the University of Louisville, he rose through the judicial system of Jefferson County and was elected lieutenant governor in 1947, serving under Governor Earle C. Clements. He was called Kentucky's first "working" lieutenant governor because, in addition to his constitutional duties in the Kentucky Senate, Clements also asked Wetherby to shoulder other duties such as preparing the state budget and attending the Southern Governors Conference. In 1950, Clements resigned as governor to assume a seat in the U.S. Senate, elevating Wetherby as the 48th Governor. He remains the only person born in Jefferson County to ascend to the governorship, despite the fact that Louisville, the county seat, is the state's most populous city.

Wetherby won immediate acclaim as governor by calling a special legislative session during which the state's budget surplus was used to increase funding for education and state benefits. In 1951, Wetherby won a full, four-year term as governor. He continued and expanded many of the programs begun under Governor Clements, including expanded road construction and industrial diversification. He endorsed the Supreme Court's 1954 desegregation order in the case of Brown v. Board of Education and appointed a bi-racial commission to oversee the successful integration of the state's schools. As chair of the Southern Governors Conference in 1954 and 1955, he encouraged other southern governors to also accept and implement desegregation.