death_date birth_date alt term_end restingplace alma_mater death_place order term_start spouse image name relations predecessor birth_place party office successor article_title
16 april 1946 29 december 1871 a wearing a white shirt and black tie black-and-white photo of a man in his fifties 1916 maple grove cemetery bethel college russellville , kentucky 17th 1912 lillian clark thomas rhea.jpg thomas rhea brother of john stockdale rhea edwin farley russellville , kentucky democratic kentucky state treasurer sherman goodpaster thomas rhea

thomas rhea

thomas stockdale rhea -lrb- 1871 -- 1946 -rrb- was a democratic politician from the u.s. commonwealth of kentucky .
he served as kentucky state treasurer in 1912 and was state highway commissioner in the administration of governor ruby laffoon .
known as `` the sage of russellville '' or `` the gray fox '' , rhea was a powerful democratic political boss in the state .
he was an unsuccessful candidate for governor in 1935 , losing to a. b. `` happy '' chandler in the democratic primary .
