Bob Shaw (Georgia politician)

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Robert Jennings Shaw (born August 21st, 1929) is a retired American gospel music singer and political leader.

Early life[edit]

Bob Shaw was born to Robert Edwards Shaw and Vesta (Jennings) Shaw in Bronwood, Georgia in Terrell County, Georgia. ^[1] During the Great Depression, his father worked as a sharecropper, service station owner, and mechanic before moving the family to Marietta, Georgia in 1934 when his father found work as a truck driver for the Brumby Chair Company.

Shaw's religious life in his youth was shaped by the influence of his mother who maintained a devoutly Christian household. His parents would take him to gospel music shows where he developed a passion for music and singing. Through the exposure to music, he learned how to read the shape notes in hymnals before he learned how to read words.^[2][3]

Shaw described his youth as one of happiness, but one of struggle as well. "We never had anything that was new. Our furniture was secondhand. Our clothes were hand-me-downs or from the Army surplus store. Mother made most of our shirts. We had to repair our own shoes."^[1] He credited his father for helping them make it through the Great Depression better than many families. He said his father, "...was the hardest working man I've ever known. He never wondered if he could do a job, he just waded in and did it."

In 1946, Shaw graduated from Marietta High School (Georgia) where he competed in American football and baseball. His nickname in high school was "Cowboy". Upon graduating, he attended the Georgia Institute of Technology, where he was a member of the 1947 Georgia Tech baseball team during his freshman year.^[3] After leaving the baseball team, he transferred to The University of Georgia in Atlanta, now Georgia State University, where he studied accounting.^[3]

After graduating from high school, Shaw joined the Georgia Air National Guard, where he was a member of the 116th Air Force Group at Dobbins Air Reserve Base.^[2][3] At the outbreak of the Korean War, he was placed on active duty on October 18th, 1950, where he would remain for the next three years.^[2][3] During the Korean War, Bob was stationed at Misawa Air Base in Misawa, Japan, on the northern end of the Honshu Island, working as an administrator at a military hospital. During is time in the service, he achieved the rank of Sergeant Major.^[3] He was honorably discharged from military service in May, 1952.

Gospel music career[edit]

In 1949, Shaw became the lead singer in The Homeland Harmony Quartet Southern gospel music group, which had been formed in 1935. He estimated that he and his fellow musicians traveled, "as many as 100,000 miles on the road in a single year," in a 1948 Packard station wagon.^[4][5][6]

In 1952, after returning from the Korean War, Shaw would become the lead singer for the newly formed The Revelaires Quartet, formed in Atlanta, along with Dan Huskey, Tommy Rainer, "Big" Jim Waits, and Jerry Briggs. The Revelaires traveled through the Southeastern United States and released multiple albums throughout their short career.^[1] With a newborn child at home and following the death of several friends in the gospel music industry who had died travelling on the gospel music circuit, he decided it was time to leave The Revelaires. In 1955, after The Revelaires appeared on the television show Arthur Godfrey and His Friends, he informed the members of the band he would be departing.^[1]

In 1953, The Revelaires were performing at a show on the same bill as The Jordanaires, who became famous as the backup band for Elvis Presley. The Jordanaires asked Shaw to become a permanent member of the band, but wanting to remain closer to home he turned down the opportunity.^[4][7]

In 1956, Shaw became the director of music at First Baptist Chattahoochee in the Whittier Mill Village neighborhood of Atlanta.^[4] He served in his position of Minister of Music for nearly sixty years until December 28, 2015.<^[4]

In 1992, Shaw joined The Harmoneers Quartet following the death of the group's founding member Fred Calvin Maples. The Harmoneers Quartet, which had been formed in 1943 in Knoxville, Tennessee, had moved to Atlanta in 1948, and had been one of the most successful gospel music acts in the South for more than four decades.^[8]

In 1996, Shaw joined The Sunshine Boys, a long-running Georgia based gospel group that had originally formed in 1938.^[9]

In 2002, Shaw was inducted into the Georgia Music Hall of Fame for his work with The Harmoneers Quartet.^[10][11] In 2005, he was part of The Sunshine Boys for their induction in the Georgia Music Hall of Fame, receiving the Mary Tallent "Pioneer" Award.^[12] In 2006, he was inducted into the Atlanta Country Music Hall of Fame.

Political career[edit]

By 1961, while working as an insurance agent in the Atlanta area, Shaw began to believe the government was encroaching on the growth of small businesses in the nation. He also opposed the growing trend towards reliance on the government and supported the belief in self-determination through hard work.^[2][3]

In 1960, Shaw visited several Republican offices throughout the Atlanta area hoping to become involved in the party and help with the Nixon campaign, but was often turned away ^[1]. In 1961, he met fellow insurance agent and future state legislator Rodney Mims Cook Sr.. Cook and future federal court Judge Richard Cameron Freeman were attempting to build an organized state Republican Party. Shaw credits Cook for taking him to the Fulton County Republican Party headquarters and demanding that they, "Put him to work."^[1]

Republican participation in Georgia had remained exceptionally low since the conclusion of the American Civil War. In the 1960 United States presidential election in Georgia, Republican Presidential Candidate Richard Nixon only received 37% of the state's popular vote. Shaw credits the 1964 United States presidential election in Georgia campaign of Barry Goldwater for giving the Republican Party the motivation to better organize as a party.^[3] It would be the 1966 Georgia gubernatorial election before the Republicans would nominate a candidate for the first time since the Reconstruction era.^[13] In the 1972 United States presidential election in Georgia, Shaw's first year as Chairman of the Georgia Republican Party, more than 75% of the state of Georgia voted for Richard Nixon in the Presidential election.

In 1964, Shaw ran an unsuccessful campaign for the Georgia State Senate against future United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia judge Horace Ward.^[3] He learned from the campaign that the Republican Party needed to do a better job of connecting with voters and getting them out to vote.^[3]

In 1966, Shaw was elected as the First Vice Chairman of the Fulton County Republican Party, and by 1968, he was elected to his first term as Chairman.^[3][4][14] In 1970, he was reelected to the position of Chairman of the Fulton County Republican Party and would eventually serve six terms as county party chairman. He would serve as chairman from 1968-1970, 1970-1971, 1978-1979, 1992-1995, and 1995-1998.

In 1971, Shaw began his first term as Chairman of the Georgia Republican Party following the resignation of the previous chairman, Wiley Wasden.^[2][3] It was during these years that he began a long-term friendship with former U.S. Representative and Secretary of the Army Bo Callaway. Callaway was the first Republican elected to serve in the U.S. Congress from Georgia since Reconstruction. Shaw realized one challenge facing the state party was the election of a party chairman just months before the general election. He convinced the party leadership to amend the party bylaws to elect chairmen in off-election years so they could have time to implement a campaign strategy.^[3]

When Shaw took over the party, there were only 22 organized county parties (out of 159 counties) in the entire state, and the state party was more than $50,000 in debt.^[1][15] His primary focus as leader of the party was to establish functioning local parties in every county and help the party overcome the financial difficulties it was facing. By eliminating unnecessary positions, moving the party to more affordable headquarters, aggressive fundraising, and taking on more responsibilities he was able to return the party to profitability in one year. Over the next four years he traveled to every county in the state of Georgia to help organize local parties, campaign for candidates, or fundraise for the party. ^[1]

Democratic opponents realized the impact Shaw was having on the state. Future Governor of Georgia Zell Miller credited Shaw's connection with the common voter to the growing success of the Republican Party in the state by saying, "Bob speaks the language of the service station operator."^[1] In 1972, this connection with the common voter helped the Republican Party of Georgia achieve their greatest success in state elections since Reconstruction when Republican candidates won more than 100 state and local elections in Georgia.^[1][16][17]

In 1974, while Shaw was still the Chairman of the Georgia Republican Party, the Watergate scandal damaged confidence in Republican leadership across the nation. The 1974 Georgia gubernatorial election and 1974 United States Senate election in Georgia saw significant setbacks for the Republican Party across the nation.^[3]

During his years leading the state party, Shaw recruited future members of the U.S. House of Representatives Paul Coverdell and Newt Gingrich to run for public office.^[18] He recruited Coverdell, also in the insurance industry, to run for the Georgia State Senate. In 1970, Coverdell won a senate seat representing northern Fulton County. Gingrich, a history professor from West Georgia College, ran for the Georgia's 6th congressional district.^[2][3]

In 1972, Shaw was selected as Vice Chairman to the Republican National Committee, serving alongside future President of the United States, and then Chair of the Republican Party, George H.W. Bush.^[19][20] He was given direct oversight of the 13 Southeastern states. This role gave him tremendous influence within the national party. He was described as, "The President's Man in the Southeast insofar as Party matters are concerned." ^[1]

In 1998, the Georgia Republican Party honored Shaw with the Pioneer Award. In 2006, he was named as the Chairman Emeritus of the Fulton County Republican Party. In a 2019 letter, former Georgia Speaker of the House of Representatives David Ralston mentioned of Shaw, "When they write the history of the Republican Party in modern Georgia, many will be chapters based on you and your work."

In 1993, Shaw was selected to join the Board of Directors for the Development Authority of Fulton County. In 2000, he was elected as Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors. In 2008, following the retirement of previous chairman, Dr. C. Clayton Powell, Shaw was elected to serve as Chairman of the Board.^[21][22][23] He would serve in this position until 2019, when he retired.

Personal life[edit]

Shaw became engaged to Elaine Smith, a fashion model, on October 1st, 1950. Just nine days later he was drafted into the Korean War. ^[1][3] The two were married on Christmas Day, 1950. Together they had four daughters and were married until her death in 2016.^[24]

Shaw worked as an insurance agent for Mutual of New York for three years before leaving to work for New England Life Insurance for another three years.^[3] In 1960, he went to work for Pan American Life Insurance Company, where he would work until 1975. After leaving the insurance industry, Shaw maintained a successful career in the banking industry. In the 1990's, he served as Senior Vice President of First Colony Bank, headquartered in Roswell, Georgia.

Since 1974, Shaw and his family have lived in Sandy Springs, Georgia, north of Atlanta. He enjoys reading during his free time, and frequently devotes time to Bible study. He also enjoys books on leadership. His favorite book in his youth was Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill, which he credited with having a transformational influence on him during his years as a young businessman.

References[edit]

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