Taylor, Robert Love, 1850–1912, U.S. politician, governor of Tennessee (1887–91, 1897–99), b. Carter co., Tenn. A lawyer, he was a Democrat in Congress (1879–81) and in 1886 defeated his brother Alfred Alexander Taylor (1848–1931), a Republican, for the governorship. The brothers toured the state together in that campaign, called the “war of the roses.” As governor, Bob Taylor's greatest contribution was as a conciliator among the old-line states' rights Democrats, the rising industrialist class, and the forces of agrarian unrest which brought him to power. The farmers' revolt in Tennessee was thus not so bitter as in other Southern states. He also was a popular lecturer and writer, and later was a U.S. senator (1907–12). His brother Alf finally served as governor in 1921–23.
See study by D. M. Robison (1935).
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