Paul E. Patton
Paul Edward Patton is an American politician who served as the 59th governor of Kentucky from 1995 to 2003. He was the first governor eligible to run for a second term in office since James Garrard in 1800. Patton became wealthy operating coal mines for 20 years.
About Paul E. Patton in brief
Paul Edward Patton is an American politician who served as the 59th governor of Kentucky from 1995 to 2003. He was the first governor eligible to run for a second term in office since James Garrard in 1800. Since 2013, he has been the chancellor of the University of Pikeville in Pikeville, Kentucky after serving as its president from 2010 to 2013. Patton became wealthy operating coal mines for 20 years. 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. He made an unsuccessful bid for lieutenant governor in 1987, but was elected in 1991, serving concurrently as lieutenant governor and secretary of economic development under Governor Brereton Jones. Four years later, Patton was elected Governor over Larry Forgy. Patton was attacked for pardoning four of his political advisers who were indicted for violating Kentucky’s campaign finance laws and for allegedly abusing his patronage powers. In 2002, news of an extramarital affair and allegations of a sex-for-favors scandal broke. The economic prosperity that fueled Patton’s first term success faded into a recession in the early 2000s. Faced with a hostile legislature and a dire economic forecast, he was unable to enact much significant legislation in his second term, and his situation was exacerbated in 2002 when news of the affair broke. Patton later admitted to it, but continued to deny using his office to benefit his mistress. Patton borrowed money from his father-in-law to finish his education, and in 1959 earned a Bachelor of Science degree in mechanical engineering.
In 1961, he moved to Virgie and founded a coal company with his brother- in-law. In 1972, he purchased Chapperal Coal Company and became extremely wealthy during the coal boom that resulted in the 1973 oil crisis. He became a leader in the coal industry, serving on the board of the Kentucky Coal Association. He denounced the Federal Coal Mine Safety Act of 1969 as “right in its diagnosis of the problem, but wrong in prescription for the problem” He lamented the economic disadvantage imposed on Kentucky’s coal miners by the state’s severance tax. Patton is regarded as more moderate in his relationship with coal operators than his most moderate coal operators. He is married to Carol Cooley, daughter of a Floyd County, Kentucky, coal mine operator, and they have two children together – Nikki and Christopher. In 1951, he enrolled at Louisa High School in Louisa, Kentucky. The family moved often because Ward Patton, a teacher, was assigned to a different school every year. When he was hired by a railroad in Pike County, he and his wife agreed that she would remain in Fallsburg with the children until they finished school. In 1955, he graduated with the third-highest grade point average in his class of 73. He was active in the 4-H club, where he began to develop his public speaking ability. Later that year he unsuccessfully sought a seat in the Student Government Association.
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