Lawrence Wetherby

Lawrence Wetherby
48th Governor of Kentucky
In office November 27, 1950 – December 13, 1955
Lieutenant	Emerson Beauchamp
Preceded by	Earle Clements
Succeeded by	A. B. "Happy" Chandler
40th Lieutenant Governor of Kentucky
In office December 9, 1947 – November 27, 1950
Governor	Earle Clements
Preceded by	Kenneth H. Tuggle
Succeeded by	Emerson Beauchamp
Member of the Kentucky Senate from the 20th district
In office January 1, 1966 – January 1, 1970
Preceded by	Marvin Edwards
Succeeded by	Mack G. Walters
Personal details
Born	Lawrence Winchester Wetherby (1908-01-02)January 2, 1908 Middletown, Kentucky, U.S.
Died	March 27, 1994(1994-03-27) (aged 86) Frankfort, Kentucky, U.S.
Resting place	Frankfort Cemetery
Political party	Democratic
Spouse	Helen Dwyer
Alma mater	University of Louisville (LLB)
Profession	Lawyer

Lawrence Winchester Wetherby (January 2, 1908 – March 27, 1994) was an American politician who served as Lieutenant Governor and Governor of Kentucky. He was the first of only two Kentucky governors born in Jefferson County, despite the fact that Louisville (the county seat) is the state's most populous city. The second governor born in Jefferson County is the incumbent governor, Andy Beshear, who grew up in the Lexington area. Two other governors have been elected when residents of Jefferson: Augustus Willson, 1907-11, and Matt Bevin, 2015-19.

After graduating from the University of Louisville, Wetherby held several offices in the Jefferson County judicial system before being elected lieutenant governor in 1947 as the choice of 2nd District U.S. Rep. Earle C. Clements, D-Morganfield, who won the primary for the top job. Wetherby was called Kentucky's first "working" lieutenant governor because Clements had him to carry out duties beyond his constitutional responsibility to preside over the state Senate, such as preparing the state budget and attending the Southern Governors Conference. In 1950, Clements was elected to the U.S. Senate, elevating Wetherby to governor. Wetherby won immediate acclaim by calling a special legislative session to increase funding for education and government benefits from the state's budget surplus. In 1951, campaigning as a "Middletown farmer" in a largely rural state, he won a four-year full term as governor, during which he continued and expanded many of Clements' programs, including increased 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 biracial commission to oversee the successful integration of the state's schools. As chairman of the Southern Governors Conference in 1954 and 1955, he encouraged other Southern governors to accept and implement desegregation.

Limited to one term by the state constitution, Wetherby joined Clements and Lt. Gov. Emerson Beauchamp in supporting Bert Combs for governor, but Combs lost in the Democratic primary to former governor A. B. "Happy" Chandler, their factional adversary. When Democratic Sen. Alben Barkley died in April 1956, Clements refused to compromise with Chandler on selection of a Democrat for the special election to fill the vacancy, and got the state Democratic committee to nominate Wetherby. Due in large measure to Chandler's opposition, Wetherby lost to Republican John Sherman Cooper, a former senator who had lost to Barkley in 1954, and Clements narrowly lost to Republican Thruston Morton.

From 1964 to 1966, Wetherby served on a commission that proposed a new state constitution, and in 1965 he was elected to the state Senate, where he provided leadership in drafting the state budget. Following this, he retired from politics and served as a consultant for Brighton Engineering. Wetherby died on March 27, 1994, of complications from a broken hip and was buried in Frankfort Cemetery in Frankfort, Kentucky.