Kentucky. Governor (1919-1923 : Morrow)

Edwin P. Morrow, a Republican, served as governor of Kentucky from 1919-1923. His administration achieved a number of progressive reforms and was characterized by a strong commitment to law enforcement, the equal treatment of blacks, women's suffrage, and by improvements in education and transportation.

Born in Somerset, Kentucky in 1877, Morrow was educated in the public schools of Pulaski County. He later attended St. Mary's and Cumberland Colleges. In 1898, he enlisted as an army private in the Spanish-American War, but did not see active service before being mustered out as a second lieutenant the following year. He received his law degree from the University of Cincinnati in 1902, married, and established a law practice in Lexington. Starting in 1904, he served a four-year term as the City Attorney for Somerset, and in 1910, was appointed by President Taft to be the United States District Attorney for Eastern Kentucky. He ran unsuccessfully for the United States Senate in 1913, and in the same year was removed from his district attorneyship when Woodrow Wilson succeeded Taft in the White House. In 1915, Morrow ran as the Republican candidate for governor against Democrat, Augustus Stanley, and lost by a margin of 471 votes out of more than 440,000 cast. It was the closest gubernatorial election in state history. In the election of 1919, Morrow defeated James D. Black, Stanley's lieutenant governor, who succeeded to the office when Stanley became a United States Senator.

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