It began in the latter half of 1965. After feeling enthralled through the Goldwater campaign in 1964, I made the decision to figure out a way to voice my opinion. The vehicle I selected is the Western Kentucky University Young Republicans. In their meeting of the organization I spoke in support of Goldwater conservatism. The Goldwater leadership had different opinions however they seemed to seek to placate me and so I was appointed the treasurer of the organization.
In the latter half of the 1960’s as well as the 1970’s in the latter part of 1960 and into 1970, College Young Republicans and the regular Young Republicans were taken over at the national level at the very least by the forces of conservatism. But it wasn’t the end of a long internal conflict. At the state level in Kentucky and elsewhere moderate forces maintained their power. This movement was able to push its ideas up into the party’s regular structure until it exploded in the Reagan Revolution of the 1980’s. Many prominent individuals from both the conservative and moderate camps have fought in the wars. Donald Lukens, Paul Manafort along with Roger Stone dominated the conservative group, as Karl Rove held down the moderate fort.
At a club gathering in the month of November, 1965 I had the pleasure of meeting Joan Ramey, a Young Republican activist from Owensboro. She explained that her group was looking for a person to take on Louis DeFalaise as state chairman of the College Young Republicans. The moderates were currently in charge, which meant that DeFalaise would be their next-of-kin. I offered my services to the battle. She promptly sent me on a trip to Lexington to meet with some University of Kentucky students who were managing my campaign. The head of my UK organization and the manager of my campaign was Eric Karnes. He was a very impressive person. Eric was knowledgeable, persuasive and never lost his cool. Mark Skillern was a good acquaintance of mine at Western. He was a highly educated and intelligent person who offered me with suggestions regarding a wide range of subjects. Another Western fan, though not a true friend was Tom Evans. Tom was a fan to congressman Tim Lee Carter whose conservative credentials were suspicious. Tom was a great speaker and, if you didn’t believe his claims all you had to do was inquire. He believed that he was second generation of William Jennings Bryan.
In January of 1966 , I went to an Lincoln Day Banquet in Owensboro. In the banquet, I got to meet Louie Nunn who had come close to becoming governor in 1963. He was later elected in the year 1967. He said he’d contribute $300 for my campaigns, however it was to be done secretly. In January, I also went to the Lincoln Banquet in Louisville where the former Vice President and current president Richard Nixon was the guest speaker. It was quite an experience. Tom delivered one of the speeches and was well-liked by Nixon. In February, I traveled in Murray for a conference with Murray State University Young Republicans. Murray State University Young Republicans. The group , along with its chairperson, Alan Youngman, pledged that they would support my candidature.
The College YR Convention, held in Louisville in March, DeFalaise and I made appearances together before a variety of college delegations. After about three or four sessions, Mark told me I required to be more aggressive and a bit more challenging. He stated, “You need to fight.” To this point, I had being a skeptic to all my opponent’s words. Then I attempted to frame the match as rural vs urban or small colleges versus big universities. My primary opposition came from the top leaders from The University of Louisville and the University of Kentucky. The most important factor to win was to secure the backing that of Jack Will who headed Tri-College Club that included Bellarmine and two smaller female colleges within the Louisville region. Eric worked hard behind the behind the scenes to achieve this. Another key person to be mentioned was Ron Meredith of Georgetown College. He was well-known throughout the state , and a close acquaintance of Joan. An appointment was set up between us and was very pleasant. Terry Loyd of the Henderson Community College was not a big force during the convention, however the college was a very likable patron and eventually became a close friend. I am mentioning him because he stayed with me for the following year, through the thick and thin.
In the morning of election, I noticed that a majority of the delegates were sporting “I’m for Larry” stickers. One of the delegates was Terry. Joan was the one who had donated the funds and Eric was the one who had organized it. All I needed to do was not make any errors. Prior to the vote the convention began, both DeFalaise along with I addressed the whole gathering. I tried to emulate the manner that was used by Richard Nixon by being very serious and serious. The whole thing went very well which led to my being elected. It’s safe to say that I was at the top of my game.
In the course of this campaign DeFalaise suggested that constitutions were necessary for the group. I backed this suggestion and during my time in the position of chairman I was responsible for the development of this document. Delegates gathered in Owensboro to meet for this purpose. The only thing I can remember about the gathering was a major disagreement in the presence of Jack Will. I don’t remember the details of the argument however he did get damaged and was very angry. He was so upset that he lobbied to the Tri-College Club to pass a resolution of censure against me.
Another concept I learned from DeFalaise was the creation to create “Cooper Clubs.” John Sherman Cooper was who was a Republican Senator from Kentucky was seeking an election in 1966. I placed DeFalaise as the head of this endeavor and helped with some of the specifics. The idea was a sort of unintentional public relations gimmick. It was essentially a gimmick on paper. I was not enthusiastic about Cooper because he was one of the most liberal senators that Kentucky, Republican as well as Democratic, Kentucky has ever had. But, I was determined to do everything I could to ensure his reelection as my name was submitted by Joan to work as an employee at his bureau. However, it did not matter since Ron Meredith was the one who was selected for the position. A source told me that I wasn’t selected because the staff of the senator’s office discovered several old letters I written to his office which were in a negative way towards his. This was true and I’m not regretting the words I wrote. In the end, Ron was a good person and I felt happy to be his friend.
As the college’s chairman, As the chairman of my college, I became an automatic part on the Young Republican Board. I presented a resolution that the group be recorded as being in support of the reunification process of Germany. The proposal was met with strong opposition and was put back on the table. Evidently, the Board did not know the future in 1990.
There was an attorney who practiced in Bowling Green by the name of Ray White. He, along with others Republican members of the community offered their time as advisers for the group of college students. I used to go to his office to “shoot the breeze” on different issues, mostly politics. Cooper told me Cooper along with Kentucky’s second senator Thruston Morton, would sometimes drink the bottle a bit too often. He told me that Morton once met tourists in a stupor. Ray was somewhat of moderate, and later elected senator from Kentucky. Being a fan of his it was quite surprising that I later discovered that he was the leader of an organization that was in opposition to legalized gambling as well as the right to abortion in Kentucky.
At Western the conservative faction I was in charge of nominated Mark Skillern to succeed Mike Houston, the moderate chairman. Mark’s running co-chair was Tom Evans. The effort failed when Houston was elected again. Tom however was elected vice-chairman when the moderate candidate for reelection quit due to academic issues. Tom started to establish himself with moderates and eventually he lost the race to the conservatives. He was later an moderate contender to succeed me as the state chairman the opponent of his was not a different person then Eric Karnes, my former campaign manager. Tom was very critical of me and said some extremely harsh things about me during my campaign.
The Evans-Karnes competition was a fiery conflict. The day of the convention, Mark and I nearly got into an argument against Mike Houston. In the course of the argument, Mike spoke a line that has stuck with me. Mike stated, “You guys have it right here” while Mike pound his heart. Then I was close to a fight with Alan Youngman who had transferred to the UK in the past and had been a fan of Eric. The situation was nothing to be related to politics. It was purely personal. To his credit, Alan was a successful person in his life even though he didn’t quite adhere to his original style of conservatism. He enjoyed a long and distinguished career in the armed forces . He was made Adjutant General of Kentucky National Guard by Paul Patton who was a Democratic governor. After stepping down from his post in 2017 he made somewhat scathing remarks regarding Trump. Donald Trump.
Eric won and the college team was in the hands of conservatives like it was in later years. In the year Louie Nunn was elected governor, Eric became a part of his staff. However, I was informed by an unreliable person that Eric was dismissed abruptly after having done something that was a snub to the governor. According to me, Eric hasn’t done anything that is of any significance to the political scene since the 1960’s. I find this to be a little odd considering that he was an incredible organizational and intellectual skills.
Joan Ramey became the campaign manager for Doug Ford who ran a unsuccessful campaign in the race for Congress in 1966 against William H. Natcher in 1966. Doug as well as Joan later divorced and married. In 1966, she unsuccessfully ran for the position of state chairmanship in members of the traditional Young Republicans. Following the year 1966, Joan went missing from the political arena and passed away in early this year. Louie DeFalaise was elected state representative in the 1970’s and was appointed U. S. Attorney in the 1980s through President Reagan. Reagan also named Ron Meredith to be a district court judge. Unfortunately, Ron passed away in the early 1990’s, when the judge was still a young man. Tom Evans was elected in the latter half of the 60’s to be State Chairman of the Regular Young Republicans. After that, he didn’t do anything noteworthy in terms of politics. Mark and I broke up following college. I’m not sure the circumstances surrounding his disappearance however, I’m certain he was very successful. He was among the most compassionate and intelligent people with whom I’ve ever had the pleasure of being associated. For me I’m still passionate about politics, and I’m the same conservatism as ever. Reagan along with Trump are my idols. But I haven’t been active in political groups since my small excursion in 1966.
