Oral history interview with Terry Sanford, date unknown
Subtitle: interview A-0140, Southern Oral History Program Collection (#4007)
Contributors: De Vries, Walter, interviewer; Bass, Jack, interviewer; Southern Oral History Program; University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Documenting the American South (Project); University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library
Edition: Electronic ed.
Publisher: University Library, UNC-Chapel Hill
Published: 2006
Place of publication: [Chapel Hill, N.C.]
Language: eng
Subjects: Interviews; Politicians; Politics and government; Political parties; Political campaigns; Race relations; Political aspects; Democratic Party (N.C.)
Other titles: Interview A-0140, Southern Oral History Program Collection (#4007); Interview with Terry Sanford, date unknown; Oral histories of the American South.
Description: Sanford assesses the progressivism of North Carolina politics, arguing that though North Carolinians as a whole are not solidly progressive, they do tend to embrace progressive ideas. Sanford points to Chapel Hill as the beacon of North Carolina politics, where progressivism dominated the political discourse. He also discusses the potency of race in political campaigns, highlighting the 1950 Frank Graham-Willis Smith Senate race and his 1960 gubernatorial campaign against I. Beverley Lake. Sanford contends that racially charged campaigns often determined the direction and fate of politicians' careers. His work with established Democratic Party organizations taught him important lessons on how to divert the public's attention from racial matters to other campaign issues.  Sanford explains that North Carolina did not support machine politics, although the state was dominated by the Democratic Party for nearly a century. Bert Bennett's integral role as political campaigner helped ensure Democratic rule over the state. However, as the Republican Party began to challenge the Democratic Party, North Carolina's one-party domination system was abandoned. Sanford asserts that the realignment of political parties was able to occur because unfavorable public memories about Republicans faded and internal fighting among Democrats increased. With his 1972 presidential bid, Sanford realized that Republicans' use of conservative political ideology and rhetoric heavily influenced the future of North Carolina politics. Sanford contends that Southern distinctiveness no longer divides the nation, as ideology replaced race as important campaign issues in the 1970s. Sanford finishes the interview by emphasizing the importance of ethics and credibility in political campaigns. He discusses how the increased use of television ads changes campaign strategies and how they impact the ethics of politicians.
Notes: Title from menu page (viewed on June 26, 2008).

Interview participants: Terry Sanford, interviewee; Jack Bass, interviewer; Walter DeVries, interviewer.

Duration: 02:02:36.

This electronic edition is part of the UNC-CH digital library, Documenting the American South.  It is a part of the collection Oral histories of the American South.

Text encoded by Mike Millner.  Sound recordings digitized by Aaron Smithers.

Text (HTML and XML/TEI source file) and audio (MP3); 2 files: ca. 112 kilobytes, 111 megabytes.

Original version: Southern Oral History Program Collection, (#4007), Series A, Southern politics, interview A-0140, Manuscripts Department, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Original transcript: 53 p.

Funding from the Institute of Museum and Library Services supported the electronic publication of this interview.

Mode of access: World Wide Web.

System requirements:  Web browser with Javascript enabled and multimedia player.