Miller, Zell 1932–

(Zell Bryan Miller)

PERSONAL: Born February 24, 1932 in Young Harris, GA; son of Stephen Grady and Birdie (an art teacher and mayor) Miller; married Shirley Carver, 1954; children: Murphy, Matthew. Education: University of Georgia, graduated, 1957, M.A., 1958. Hobbies and other interests: Baseball, country music.

ADDRESSES: Agent—c/o Author Mail, Stroud & Hall Publishers, P.O. Box 27210, Macon, GA 31221.

CAREER: Civil servant and educator. Young Harris, GA, mayor, 1959–60; elected to Georgia senate, 1960–64; State of Georgia, lieutenant governor, 1974–91, elected governor, 1991–99; elected to U.S. Senate, 2000–04. McKenna Long & Aldridge (law firm), member of staff, 2005–. Fox News Channel, com-mentator, 2004–. Has taught at Young Harris College, Emory University, and University of Georgia. Director emeritus, United Community Banks. Member of board of directors, Gray Television. Military service: U.S. Marine Corps, 1953–56, became sergeant.

AWARDS, HONORS: Governor of the Year designation, Governing magazine, 1998.

WRITINGS:

The Mountains within Me, Cherokee Publishing Company (Atlanta, GA), 1985.

Corps Values: Everything You Need to Know I Learned in the Marines, Longstreet Press (Atlanta, GA), 1996.

They Heard Georgia Singing, Mercer University Press (Macon, GA), 1996.

Listen to This Voice: Selected Speeches of Governor Zell Miller, Mercer University Press (Macon, GA), 1998.

A National Party No More: The Conscience of a Conservative Democrat, Stroud & Hall Publishers (Macon, GA), 2003.

A Deficit of Decency, Stroud & Hall Publishers (Macon, GA), 2005.

SIDELIGHTS: A former U.S. senator and governor of Georgia, Zell Miller is a controversial but stalwart figure in American politics. His mother, Birdie Miller, raised him after his father died when he was seventeen days old. As an art teacher and one of Georgia's earliest female members, Birdie Miller gave her son an example to follow of hard work and public dedication. After graduating from the University of Georgia, Miller became a history professor at Young Harris College. He entered politics in 1959, starting as the mayor of Young Harris, Georgia, and was elected to the state senate in 1960. Characterized as a conservative democrat, Miller held a number of key posts throughout his more-than-forty-five years in public office. From 1975 to 1991 he was lieutenant governor of Georgia. From 1991 to 1999 he served two terms as Georgia governor, where his contributions include the creation of the HOPE scholarship program that allowed high-school and continuing-education students greater opportunity to acquire a secondary education. The HOPE program was and continues to be financed entirely by the Georgia state lottery, which Miller also introduced in 1992. He also increased state education spending to new highs, funding vital educational programs for students at all levels, including a voluntary pre-kindergarten program for four year olds. Education continued to be a prime force behind his governorship. After his tenure in state government, Miller returned to teaching in a college setting in 1999, teaching at Emory University, Young Harris College, and the University of Georgia. He also served on a number of corporate boards.

In 2000, Miller was elected to the U.S. Senate to fill the position left by the late Paul Coverdell. A longtime democrat, Miller sparked controversy when he diverged from his party to support George W. Bush over John Kerry in the 2004 U.S. presidential election. Miller also became known for fiery speeches and blunt criticism aimed at what he perceived as problems within the Democratic Party. After one such speech, given at the 2004 Republican National Convention and in which he accused the Democratic Party of moving too far to the political left, he received a scathing letter from former president Jimmy Carter. The former president called Miller's speech "rabid and meanspirited," and accused him of "historically unprecedented disloyalty" that betrayed the Democratic Party's trust, noted a UPI Newstrack writer. In 2004, after leaving the senate, Miller became a commentator for Fox News, where he frequently appears on television programs such as Hannity and Colmes.

Miller has also been the author of several successful books. In Corps Values: Everything You Need to Know I Learned in the Marines, Miller describes how he used his enlistment in the Marine Corps to turn his life around when it hit a low point. A college dropout who felt inferior because of his rural background, Miller ended up in jail after getting drunk and crashing his car into a ditch. Desperate for a direction, he signed up for the Marines, and he credits his ninety days of boot camp on Parris Island with instilling in him the values and discipline necessary to succeed. Discipline, punctuality, and loyalty not only form the foundation of the Corps, they also underlie all human interaction in civilized society, Miller believes. In addition, individual goals can be pursued even as a person makes a contribution to the greater good of society.

A National Party No More: The Conscience of a Conservative Democrat is "part political memoir, part polemic, and all a rousing good read," noted a reviewer on the Brothers Judd Web site. Miller pulls no punches in his sharp criticism of the Democratic Party. To Miller, the Democratic Party has stopped being a national party—a party of the people—because it can no longer compete in the American south with candidates who are not southerners and not conservatives. He explains how he believes democrats' "views will cause the party to lose even more influence if they do not change their ways, and recognize what is good for the majority of Americans instead of supporting [the] special interest groups" that have exerted an increasing effect on the party, commented Ryan Thompson on the Rant Web site. He "examines every Democratic stereotype and declares them all true with a sharp, biting wit and a trademark southern charm," stated Matthew T. Joe on Townhall.com. Miller advocates that Democrats reduce their pandering to special-interest groups, become more in-tune with the average American and the American south, and move their politics more toward the centrist viewpoint. "A National Party No More should be read by political pundits on both side of the political debate, for Miller presents his case in a respectful, civil matter," remarked Tom Donelson for Blogcritics.org.

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Atlanta Business Chronicle, January 22, 2001.

Education Week, March 29, 2001, "Bio of Zell Miller."

M2 Best Books, December 12, 2003, review of A National Party No More: The Conscience of a Conservative Democrat.

Reason, December, 2004, Cathy Young, "Martial Vices: Zell Miller's Un-American View of the Armed Forces," p. 17.

UPI Newstrack, September 8, 2004, "Jimmy Carter Lashes out at Miller Speech."

ONLINE

Biographical Directory of the United States Congress Online, http://bioguide.congress.gov/ (September 3, 2005), biography of Zell Miller.

Blogcritics.org, http://www.blogcritics.org/ (October 12, 2004), Tom Donelson, review of A National Party No More.

Brothers Judd.com, http://www.brothersjudd.com/ (September 3, 2005), review of A National Party No More.

Carl Vinson Institute of Government Web Site, http://www.cviog.uga.edu/ (September 3, 2005), "A Brief Biography of Georgia Governor Zell Miller."

Rant.us, http://www.therant.us/ (January 25, 2004), Ryan Thompson, review of A National Party No More.

TownHall.com, http://www.townhall.com/ (September 3, 2005), Matthew T. Joe, review of A National Party No More; Roger Banks, review of A National Party No More.

U.S. Senate Web site, http://www.senate.gov/ (September 3, 2005), biography of Senator Zell Miller.