Mack Francis Mattingly (born January 7, 1931) is an American diplomat and politician from Georgia who served as a member of the United States Senate for one term from 1981 to 1987. He was the first Republican to have served in the U.S. Senate from that state since the Reconstruction era, and was also the first Republican ever to have been elected to the United States Senate from Georgia by popular vote.
Mattingly first became active in politics in 1964 when he served as chairman of U.S. Senator Barry Goldwater's campaign for President in Georgia's 8th congressional district.[2] Goldwater carried Georgia. Two years later, Mattingly would help Bo Callaway organize the Georgia Republican Party and joined his ticket as a candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives against Congressman W. S. Stuckey Jr. Mattingly lost the race but was elected a member of the Georgia Republican Party State Executive Committee and served as Vice Chairman from 1968 until 1975. He served as Chairman of the Georgia Republican Party from 1975 to 1977 when he began exploring a race for the U.S. Senate.
Mattingly also garnered attention in 1981 when he submitted a budget proposal that would remove several sections of Playboy Magazine if the magazine wished to continue receiving federal funding for its Braille edition.[4] While the motion would fail, a 1986 amendment from Representative Chalmers Wylie would successfully defund Playboy's Braille edition.[5] This would be later reversed by a 1986 ruling in federal district court from Judge Thomas Hogan, who ruled that Congress' actions were a violation of the First Amendment. Production of the Playboy braille edition resumed in January 1987.[6]
Mattingly remains active on several corporate and nonprofit boards.[citation needed] Mattingly ran against Democrat Zell Miller in the 2000 special election to replace the deceased Senator Paul Coverdell, but Miller succeeded in holding the seat to which he had been appointed by Governor Roy Barnes.[7]
Mattingly endorsed Fred Thompson for President in the 2008 Republican primary,[8] and John McCain in the general. He would support Newt Gingrich for President in the 2012 Republican primary,[9] and Mitt Romney in the general. He initially supported Jeb Bush but later Donald Trump for President in the 2016 Republican primary after Bush dropped out,[10] and he supported Trump again in 2020.
Personal life
Mattingly married Carolyn Longcamp in 1957, and they had two daughters, Jane and Anne. Carolyn Mattingly died in 1997. In 1998, he married Leslie Davisson, a lawyer, mediator and former judge. He currently lives on St. Simons Island, Georgia. He continues to be active in Republican politics, and he serves on a number of corporate boards.[citation needed]
References
^Dowis, Richard: The lost art of the great speech: how to write it, how to deliver it. See page 207.
^Lee Cokorinos, The Assault on Diversity: An Organized Challenge to Racial and Gender Justice, p. 108.
