Clifton Beverly Briley (January 11, 1914 – September 14, 1980) was an American attorney and politician, the first

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well ...

of the newly consolidated

metropolitan government Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of public administration within a particular sovereign state. This particular usage of the word government refers specifically to a level of administration that is both geographically-loca ...

Nashville Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and t ...

and Davidson County in Tennessee. Elected to the mayor's position in 1962 as a Democrat, Briley served three terms from 1963 to 1975; he was prevented by term limits from running again. He had previously served as county judge (chief executive) of Davidson County for several terms, from 1950 to 1963.

Early life

Briley was born in West Nashville, Tennessee in 1914. Attending local schools, he became involved in

Scouting Scouting, also known as the Scout Movement, is a worldwide youth Social movement, movement employing the Scout method, a program of informal education with an emphasis on practical outdoor activities, including camping, woodcraft, aquatics, hik ...

as a boy and attained the rank of

Eagle Scout Eagle Scout is the highest achievement or rank attainable in the Scouts BSA program of the Boy Scouts of America (BSA). Since its inception in 1911, only four percent of Scouts have earned this rank after a lengthy review process. The Eagle Sc ...

. He attended

Vanderbilt University Vanderbilt University (informally Vandy or VU) is a private research university in Nashville, Tennessee. Founded in 1873, it was named in honor of shipping and rail magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provided the school its initial $1-million e ...

before transferring to

Cumberland University Cumberland University is a private university in Lebanon, Tennessee. It was founded in 1842. The campus's current historic buildings were constructed between 1892 and 1896. History 1842-1861 The university was founded by the Cumberland ...

's law school (now the Cumberland Law School at

Samford University Samford University is a private Christian university in Homewood, Alabama. In 1841, the university was founded as Howard College by Baptists. Samford University describes itself as the 87th oldest institution of higher learning in the United S ...

), graduating in 1932. He was admitted to the bar in 1932.

Career

Briley began practicing in 1932. Briley served in the

U.S. Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage o ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

as a quartermaster aboard the USS ''David Taylor''. After the war, he ran a successful campaign for county judge (chief executive) of Davidson County in 1950, serving until 1963. Briley was a champion of

and supported the merger of Nashville and Davidson County government. In 1963 he won election against Davidson County tax assessor Clifford Allen, another longtime Nashville

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

, and became the first mayor of what is known as Metro Nashville. In 1966, his main opponent was Ben West, the former mayor of the earlier City of Nashville municipal government. Briley won the election in a

runoff Runoff, run-off or RUNOFF may refer to: * RUNOFF, the first computer text-formatting program * Runoff or run-off, another name for bleed, printing that lies beyond the edges to which a printed sheet is trimmed * Runoff or run-off, a stock marke ...

. Briley was reelected in 1971, also in a runoff. He was prevented by

term limits A term limit is a legal restriction that limits the number of terms an officeholder may serve in a particular elected office. When term limits are found in presidential and semi-presidential systems they act as a method of curbing the potent ...

from running again in 1975. He remained active in Nashville politics until his death five years later. Altogether, he served as chief executive of Davidson County and of Nashville for 25 years. Briley took a fairly progressive position on the

Civil Rights Movement The civil rights movement was a nonviolent social and political movement and campaign from 1954 to 1968 in the United States to abolish legalized institutional racial segregation, discrimination, and disenfranchisement throughout the United ...

, an important question for mayors of

Southern Southern may refer to: Businesses * China Southern Airlines, airline based in Guangzhou, China * Southern Airways, defunct US airline * Southern Air, air cargo transportation company based in Norwalk, Connecticut, US * Southern Airways Express, ...

cities at the time. He readily cooperated with

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leaders and is generally credited with helping smooth the transition away from

racial segregation Racial segregation is the systematic separation of people into racial or other ethnic groups in daily life. Racial segregation can amount to the international crime of apartheid and a crime against humanity under the Statute of the Intern ...

in Nashville. Public schools and lunch counters had already been desegregated by the time he took office. In 1965, Briley described the

Ku Klux Klan The Ku Klux Klan (), commonly shortened to the KKK or the Klan, is an American white supremacist, right-wing terrorist, and hate group whose primary targets are African Americans, Jews, Latinos, Asian Americans, Native Americans, and C ...

as "merchants of hate" and said they were "not welcome" in Nashville. On other issues, he was a

conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization ...

Democrat; in 1972 he was the area leader of " Democrats for Nixon," in an effort to strengthen southern support for Republican national candidates. That year, Nixon became the first Republican presidential candidate to carry Davidson County since the

Reconstruction Reconstruction may refer to: Politics, history, and sociology *Reconstruction (law), the transfer of a company's (or several companies') business to a new company *''Perestroika'' (Russian for "reconstruction"), a late 20th century Soviet Union ...

era. Most Republicans had been disenfranchised in Tennessee and other Southern states as Southern Democrats passed new constitutions after the Civil War to suppress black voting by raising barriers to voter registration.

Personal life and death

Briley married Dorothy Gordon in 1934. They had two children together, Cliff and Diane. He was an alcoholic. His grandson

David Briley Clifton David Briley (born January 8, 1964) is an American politician. A Democrat, he was the eighth mayor of Metropolitan Nashville and Davidson County. He was elected in 2015 as vice-mayor and was sworn in as acting mayor after Megan Barry' ...

was the Mayor of Nashville after the resignation of Megan Barry. Briley died of bladder cancer on September 14, 1980 at the Vanderbilt University Hospital in Nashville at the age of 66, just months after the death of his wife. His funeral was held at the Inglewood Baptist Church, and he was buried at Spring Hill Cemetery in Nashville.

Legacy and honors

Briley Parkway, a major

beltway A ring road (also known as circular road, beltline, beltway, circumferential (high)way, loop, bypass or orbital) is a road or a series of connected roads encircling a town, city, or country. The most common purpose of a ring road is to assist i ...

thoroughfare which runs by the

Grand Ole Opry The ''Grand Ole Opry'' is a weekly American country music stage concert in Nashville, Tennessee, founded on November 28, 1925, by George D. Hay as a one-hour radio "barn dance" on WSM. Currently owned and operated by Opry Entertainment (a divi ...

House and around much of the city, was named in his honor. The city-owned Beverly Briley Building, a major component of Nashville's redesigned Public Square, was named for him. His grandson, Rob Briley, was a politician who formerly represented the 52nd House District, a Nashville district, in the state legislature. He also served as the Democratic Majority Floor Leader. Another grandson,

, served as mayor of Nashville.

References

External links

Public Square redesign details
City of Nashville {{DEFAULTSORT:Briley, Beverly 1914 births 1980 deaths Heads of county government in Tennessee Mayors of Nashville, Tennessee Tennessee Democrats 20th-century American politicians Deaths from cancer in Tennessee Deaths from bladder cancer Vanderbilt University alumni Cumberland School of Law alumni Tennessee lawyers 20th-century American lawyers