John Y. Brown, Sr.

John Young Brown (February 1, 1900 – June 16, 1985) was an American attorney and Democratic Party politician from Kentucky. His son, John Y. Brown Jr., purchased KFC from Harlan Sanders and governor of Kentucky from 1979 to 1983.

Brown was born near Geiger Lake in Union County, Kentucky to tenant farmers who named him after former governor John Young Brown. He graduated from Centre College, where he played football, and University of Kentucky College of Law. He practiced law in Lexington from 1926 to 1985. His practice involved representing coal miners. In 1929, he was elected to the Kentucky House of Representatives, and in 1932, he was elected to the United States House of Representatives. However, in 1934, his at-large seat was eliminated, and he lost the Democratic nomination in the newly drawn 6th congressional district to Virgil Chapman. He ran unsuccessfully for United States Senate in 1936, losing to incumbent M. M. Logan, and governor in 1939, losing to Keen Johnson.

Although Brown was elected sporadically to the Kentucky House over the next three decades, he never returned to the United States Congress. He lost the 1942 Democratic primary for Senate to incumbent Happy Chandler by a wide margin. He returned to prominence by winning the 1946 Senate special election primary over Phil Ardery, but he lost the general election to John Sherman Cooper. He lost to Chapman again in the 1948 Senate primary and lost to Johnson again in the 1960 Senate primary; each lost to Cooper in the general election. In 1966, he won the Democratic nomination but lost to Cooper again in a landslide. Finally, he ran for an open seat in the 1968 Democratic primary but lost to Katherine Peden, after which he retired from politics.

Biography

Brown was the son of tenant farmers Jesse C. and Lucy Keeper Brown, who named him after John Young Brown, a former governor and neighbor. He was born on a farm near Geiger Lake, Union County, Kentucky, attended Union County schools and graduated from the high school at Sturgis, Kentucky. He graduated from Centre College at Danville, Kentucky

Brown sponsored much legislation in the state House including the state's first sales-tax and civil-rights laws. He was recognized on many occasions as the most effective legislator in the House. He lost to Richard P. "Dick" Moloney in a 1951 primary for the state Senate.

Personal life Brown married Dorothy Inman in March 1929 in New Albany, Indiana. They had five children: Dorothy Ann, Betty, John Y. Jr., Diana, and Pamela. They divorced in 1973 after repeated political campaigns strained their relationship. Their son, John Y. Brown Jr., made a large fortune as the owner of Kentucky Fried Chicken and was Kentucky governor from 1979 to 1983. Their daughter Pamela died in 1970 in an ill-fated attempt to cross the Atlantic Ocean in a balloon dubbed "The Free Life." He is also the grandfather of former Kentucky Secretary of State John Y. Brown III, news anchor Pamela Brown and philanthropist Lincoln Brown.

Brown died of pneumonia in Louisville, six months after being paralyzed from the waist down in an automobile accident.

Legacy Brown is a member of the University of Kentucky College of Law's Hall of Fame and the Phi Kappa Tau Hall of Fame.