Former Senator Harlan Mathews Dies at 87

From the Post:

Harlan Mathews, the one-time U.S. Senator who spent much of his life behind the curtain of Tennessee state government, died today. He was 87. Doctors recently diagnosed Mathews with a brain tumor. He died at Alive Hospice. Funeral services have not yet been finalized.

Mathews’ political history spanned nearly half a century, winding throughout much of the executive branch of state government before eventually leading him to replace Al Gore as Tennessee’s U.S. Senator in 1993.

Appointed to the post by Gov. Ned McWherter, Mathews served in the Senate for two years. He never sought election to political office.