People from Lawrence County, Kentucky - Paul E. Patton, Fred M. Vinson, Ricky Skaggs, Richard Thompson (Paperback)

Chapters: Paul E. Patton, Fred M. Vinson, Ricky Skaggs, Richard Thompson. Source: Wikipedia. Pages: 45. Not illustrated. Free updates online. Purchase includes a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Excerpt: Paul Edward Patton (born May 26, 1937) was the 59th governor of Kentucky, serving from 1995 to 2003. Because of a 1992 amendment to the Kentucky Constitution, he was the first governor eligible to succeed himself in office since James Garrard in 1800. Presently, he is the president of Pikeville College in Pikeville, Kentucky and serves as chairman of the Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education. Patton received a degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Kentucky in 1959. His father-in-law gave him his start in the coal mining industry in eastern Kentucky. Over the next twenty years, he became wealthy as a coal mine operator and gained recognition for his leadership role in the coal industry. He sold most of his coal interests in the late 1970s and entered politics, serving briefly in the cabinet of Governor John Y. Brown, Jr. and chairing the state Democratic Party. In 1981, he was elected judge/executive of Pike County. He made an unsuccessful bid for lieutenant governor in 1987. In 1991 he tried again, and was elected to serve under Governor Brereton Jones. Jones appointed Patton secretary of economic development, making Patton the first lieutenant governor to serve as an appointed cabinet secretary. Four years later, Patton was elected governor over Republican Larry Forgy. He enjoyed a productive first term that included worker's compensation reform and improvements to the criminal justice system. His proudest achievement was a major overhaul of the higher education system. He made community colleges and technical schools independent of the University of Kentucky and organized them into the Kentucky Community and Techn...More: http://booksllc.net/?id=1301040