Johnston Murray

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The state constitution prohibited him from seeking a second term and, in 1954, his wife Willie ran for governor but lost. In 1956, the couple divorced and Murray switched sides and joined the Republican Party. Murray later remarried and moved to Fort Worth, Texas, where he worked for an oil well servicing company and later a limousine service.<ref name="dowell" /> After returning to Oklahoma City, Murray formed a law partnership with Whit Pate in February 1960. He ran for Oklahoma State Treasurer in 1962, but finished last in the four-man Democratic primary field.<ref name="campaign">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Murray worked for the remainder of his career as a consulting attorney for the Oklahoma Department of Welfare.<ref name="NGA" />

Early life and educationEdit

Murray was born July 21, 1902, in the mansion of the Chickasaw Nation's Governor at Emet, Johnston County, Indian Territory. His mother, Mary Alice Hearrell Murray, was one-eighth Chickasaw and enrolled as a citizen in the nation. She was the niece of Douglas H. Johnston, the noted Chickasaw Governor for whom her husband William H. Murray was then working as a legal advisor.<ref name="EOHC-AlfalfaBill">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The senior Murray later served both with the 1905 convention that drafted a constitution for the State of Sequoyah, and as president of the 1906 convention that drafted Oklahoma's constitution prior to its admission. Following state and national offices, he was elected in 1930 as the ninth Governor of Oklahoma, serving 1931-1935.<ref name="EOHC-AlfalfaBill"/>

Johnston Murray was one of five children.<ref name = "TSHA">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Growing up in a doubly prominent political family, the younger Murray was educated in the public schools of Tishomingo, Oklahoma, the former capital of the Chickasaw Nation.<ref name="Waymarking">"Johnston Murray - Tishomingo Cemetery - Tishomingo, OK." Waymarking. June 6, 2017. Accessed August 6, 2018.</ref> He attended college at the Murray State School of Agriculture (now Murray State College), graduating in 1924.<ref name="dowell"/>

Unlike his mother, Johnston Murray never chose to enroll as a citizen of the Chickasaw Nation. When elected as state governor, Murray was the first person of Native American in the United States to hold a gubernatorial office. His status is controversial among some Chickasaw because he was not a citizen.

In 1923, Johnston Murray married Marion Draughon of Sulphur, Oklahoma. They had one child together before getting divorced six years later.<ref name="dowell"/>

Early careerEdit

After college, Murray traveled to Bolivia with his father and brothers and their families from Oklahoma. They were trying to establish a private colony, Aguairenda, there to develop a large ranching operation. They lived there for four years working on this project, but did not receive sufficient support from the government.<ref name="dowell">Dowell, Erin, "Murray, Johnston (1902–1974) Template:Webarchive," Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture Template:Webarchive (accessed May 27, 2010).</ref>

When Murray returned to Oklahoma, he worked in oil and gas fields, rising to the role of plant manager.<ref name="Myers">Myers, Jim L. "Johnston Murray Governor of Oklahoma 1951–1955." Fischer, LeRoy H., ed., Oklahoma's Governors, 1929–1955: Depression to Prosperity (Oklahoma Historical Society, 1983), pp 174–195. Template:ISBN</ref>

Murray divorced his wife Marion in 1929. He married again in 1933, to Willie Roberta Emerson. She was a concert pianist and known for her drive and ambition.<ref name="dowell"/>

Political careerEdit

Murray joined and became active in the Democratic Party, which dominated state politics. In 1940 he was elected as chairman of the Oklahoma Electoral College, and he served as a member of the Electoral College in 1948.<ref name="NGA">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> He had returned to graduate school, and in 1947 received his law degree from Oklahoma City University School of Law.

Murray also served as Democratic chair of Oklahoma's 8th congressional district and as chair of local political groups in Kay and Oklahoma counties.<ref name="Myers"/> He served as chair of the Oklahoma Election Board and secretary of the Oklahoma Land Commission.<ref name="Myers"/>

Governor of OklahomaEdit

Through these activities Johnston Murray had increased his own name recognition, and was also known as the son of the well-known, flamboyant politician and ninth governor of the state, William H. Murray. Johnston Murray was elected Governor of Oklahoma in November 1950 and sworn into office on January 21, 1951. His 81-year old father, "Alfalfa Bill" Murray, administered the oath of office.

Murray's main campaign theme had been to reduce spending by the state government and reduce taxes. His program included continuing to consolidate schools to improve education (begun under his predecessor, Governor Roy J. Turner), changing the ad valorem tax to return more of the property taxes to local school districts, and expanding highway and toll road systems.<ref name="Gibson">Template:Cite book</ref>

Murray received an honorary degree of Doctor of Law on 7 July 1952 from Sequoia University, which had established legal headquarters in Oklahoma at the time.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Although working with a Democratic-majority legislature, Murray vetoed forty bills in four years, the highest number in forty years of Oklahoma politics.<ref>Gibson, p. 241</ref> He had some notable successes: he was the first Oklahoma governor to be elected as Chairman of the Southern Governors Conference. He funding of the Turner Turnpike, which had been authorized by the legislature in 1947 and was completed in 1953, during his administration. He was instrumental in the state purchase of fairgrounds in Oklahoma City. In 1954 Murray toured Central and South American countries on behalf of the United States Information Service. He also served as chairman of the Interstate Oil Compact Commission.<ref name="Waymarking"/>Template:Efn

Johnston and WillieEdit

Murray's wife and first lady of Oklahoma, Willie Murray, was noted for her charm and intelligence. She also had ambition and drive.Template:Efn Her first action after Murray's inauguration was to open the governor's mansion to public visitors every Thursday. She welcomed up to 3,000 people weekly, who lined up at the door for entrance.<ref name = "Cronley"/>

Being in office resulted in new tensions between Murray and his wife, and he began to chafe against their differences. Willie complained that he drank too much. He responded that she was too bossy. According to a 2015 account, he reportedly said during his tenure, “Damn it, I got elected, not her.”<ref name = "Cronley">Cronley, Connie. "Much Love Lost," This Land Press, 8 February 2015. Accessed 6 August 2018.</ref>

The state constitution prohibited successive terms in the governor's office, so Murray could not run again in 1954. Before his term was up, his wife Willie Murray announced that she would run for the office in 1954. The campaign was considered a farce. When she was the first state-wide candidate to campaign for office by helicopter, one reporter wrote that the helicopter, "... was the only thing that got off the ground."<ref name="Cronley"/>

After the 1954 election, Murray filed for divorce. Willie fought back, asking for separate maintenance and alleging grounds of adultery and public drunkenness by him. Their brawl went public. Murray asked for another chance; she named another woman as co-respondent, and published letters from Murray declaring his intention to divorce. He said these were lies. Their divorce on grounds of incompatibility was made final in 1956. His settlement included making a $75,000 payment to Willie, deeding her the family's home in Oklahoma City and a Ford automobile, and giving her a copy of the movie of her gubernatorial campaign. Willie also got the last word. When Murray announced that he had changed his political affiliation and supported Republican Dwight Eisenhower for President in 1956, Willie reportedly said, “He never has been much of a Democrat.”<ref name="Cronley"/>

Later years and deathEdit

Murray married a third time, to Helen Shutt in 1956. He lived and worked for a period in Fort Worth, Texas, where he worked for an oil well servicing firm, and then a limousine service.<ref name="dowell"/>

After returning to Oklahoma City, Murray set up a law partnership with Whit Pate in 1960.<ref name="dowell"/> He ran for the Democratic nomination for State Treasurer in 1962, but Murray finished last in the four-man primary, gaining 18.24% of the vote (77,881 votes).<ref name="campaign"/>

Murray later served as a consulting attorney with the Oklahoma Department of Public Welfare until his death on April 16, 1974, 8 days after a surgery for a ruptured abdominal blood vessel.<ref name="govbio">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="nytimes">Template:Cite news</ref> He is buried in Tishomingo, Oklahoma, where both his parents were also buried.<ref name="govbio"/>