Keen Johnson

Keen Johnson
Keen Johnson was the 45th Governor of Kentucky (1939–1943) and the only journalist to have held that office. Born on January 12, 1896, he served in World War I and earned a journalism degree from the University of Kentucky. Johnson served as lieutenant governor under Governor A. B. "Happy" Chandler from 1935 to 1939. He had already secured the Democratic gubernatorial nomination when Chandler resigned and elevated him to governor so that he could appoint Chandler to the U.S. Senate. Johnson went on to win a full gubernatorial term in the general election. He ran a fiscally conservative administration and took the state from a $7 million shortfall to a surplus of $10 million by the end of his term. Afterwards, Johnson joined Reynolds Metals as a special assistant to the president. He took a one-year leave of absence to serve as the first U.S. Undersecretary of Labor in 1946, then continued working for the company until 1961. He unsuccessfully ran for a seat in the U.S. Senate in 1960, losing to incumbent Republican John Sherman Cooper. He died in 1970 in Richmond, Kentucky.