|
Top 10 Most Influential Southern
Personalities the Last 10 Years
By Jill Hutchison
"Leadership," it's been said, is lifting
a person's vision to higher sights, raising a person's
performance to a higher standard, and building a personality
beyond normal limitations. Over the last decade in the
South, these nine men and one woman have emerged as
true leaders. All of them have proven their abilities
to beat challenges and get big results. Their endeavors
in the political and business arenas, have helped put
the South on the map as a place where companies and
individuals can prosper. Through their vision and ingenuity,
each has played an important role in spurring the region's
economy toward greatness.
Bill Clinton
His presidency saw rising income levels in the
South, especially for minorities.
Bill Clinton's years as President of the United States
had a major impact on the U.S. economy, particularly
for minorities, single mothers and people with limited
education. The income level increased almost 15% from
the years 1993 to 2000. It rose even faster for blacks
(33%) and Hispanics (24%). Poverty levels also decreased
by 25% and the poverty level for blacks fell to the
lowest-ever recorded. In fact, during Clinton's turn,
poverty levels for African-American Southerners dropped
below the national average for the first time in recorded
history.
Andrew Young
By bringing the 1996 Olympics to Atlanta, he exposed
the world to southern hospitality.
A former US Congressman and U.S. Ambassador to the United
Nations, Andrew Young has spent more than 35 years in
public service. In 1981, Young was elected Mayor of
Atlanta and was re-elected for a second term in 1985.
During his years as Mayor, more than half a million
jobs were created and the metropolitan region attracted
more than 70 billion dollars in private construction
and investment.
In his greatest accomplishment for the South, Young
was instrumental in bringing the 1996 Summer Olympic
Games to Atlanta. The Olympics were one of the biggest
highlights of Atlanta's history, giving both the city
and the region global recognition.
Hugh McColl, Jr.
He helped make Charlotte, NC one of the nation's
top financial services destinations.
Legend has it that Alexander the Great wept when he
learned there were no more worlds to conquer. South
Carolina-born Hugh McColl, Jr., chief executive of Bank
of America, never quite got to that point, but he did
build quite an empire in his 41 years with Bank of America.
McColl was elected chairman, president and CEO in 1983.
For the next 17 years, he led NationsBank (later Bank
of America) through a period of rapid growth. When he
became CEO, NationsBank had assets of $12 billion and
7,600 employees. By 2000, it had 140,000 employees and
assets of about $642 billion. He is also credited with
engineering the merger of NationsBank with Bank of America
in 1998.
Most importantly for the South, Bank of America's rise
to prominence under McColl put Charlotte, N.C. on the
map as one of the nation's top financial centers, a
distinction never previously obtained by a southern
market. Now, North Carolina is home to some of the largest
banks in America including the recently merged First
Union and Wachovia.
McColl has also profoundly impacted the South through
his charity work. He and Bank of America have committed
to investing $350 billion in economically undeserved
communities.
Ted Turner
The world now turns to CNN-and to the South-for
its news.
Founder and owner of cable television networks CNN,
TBS, TNT, the Cartoon Network, MGM Classic Movies, as
well as former owner of sports teams the Atlanta Braves,
Atlanta Hawks and Atlanta Thrashers, Ted Turner's name
is synonymous with the term "media tycoon."
With the success of his "all-news" channel
CNN, in Atlanta, Turner put the South on the map as
the information capital of the world. His networks did
something else that was important for the region. In
the 1980s and early 1990s, Southern stereotyping in
the general news media remained a common practice, especially
from outlets in New York. CNN, headquartered in Atlanta,
never saw a reason to stereotype this ever-growing region.
Sam Walton
In the South, he founded what's now the #1 Fortune
500 Company.
In 1945, Sam Walton (1918-1992) opened his first Wal-Mart
store in Rogers, Arkansas offering a variety of discount
merchandise. But unlike other discount store chains,
Walton based his stores in small towns where he faced
little competition. By using this strategy, Wal-Mart
quickly expanded to 800 stores by 1985. Currently there
are more than 3,200 stores nationwide and Walton's company
is America's largest retailer. This year, Wal-Mart was
named number one on the Fortune 500 List, making it
the first service company to rise to the top.
Fred Smith
When it's absolutely, positively got to be there
overnight, America looks to FedEx and the South.
Fred Smith, southerner and founder of the overnight
delivery company FedEx, built his career based on an
obsession with time and speed. Today, FedEx, along with
all of its subsidiaries, is the global provider for
transportation, e-commerce and supply-chain management
services. It serves 210 countries with operations that
include 650 aircraft, 64,000 vehicles and over 2,600
facilities. Approximately 200,000 employees and independent
contractors worldwide handle an average daily shipment
volume of nearly five million items.
Because of the presence of FedEx, new manufacturing
sites, transportation companies and telecommunication
firms are rapidly developing around Memphis-turning
this Tennessee community into a major destination market.
Companies recognize that being Memphis-based allows
the security of overnight access to anywhere in the
country.
Lamar Alexander
Instrumental in developing the Southern Automotive
Corridor.
Formerly president of the University of Tennessee
and governor of the state of Tennessee, Lamar Alexander
has made quite a name for himself in the Volunteer State.
Twenty-five years ago the idea of a major automaker
locating its manufacturing plant outside of the Midwest
was unprecedented. Furthermore, the idea of a foreign
automaker picking the South for an assembly plant was
unthinkable. Alexander, being both a visionary and a
champion for the South, saw that Tennessee offered all
of the ingredients for automotive success.
In 1979, the year Alexander became governor, Japanese-owned
Nissan Motor Manufacturing Company agreed to open its
first North American manufacturing plant in Smyrna,
Tennessee. Other automakers soon took notice. Later
in the 1980's, Alexander landed another major automotive
deal in Tennessee when General Motors chose Spring Hill
for its new plant. Today, Tennessee has become one of
the largest states in the country in annual car production
and is home to more than 900 suppliers also. Thanks
in large part to the vision and hard work of Lamar Alexander,
the Southern Automotive Corridor is running in high
gear.
Herb Kelleher
Took the southern work ethic to the skies.
In 1967 Herb Kelleher co-founded Southwest Airlines.
Fourteen years later he became president and CEO.
From the beginning, Kelleher wanted a different kind
of airline. He believed that if you get your passengers
to their destination on time and at the lowest possible
rates, then people would fly your airline. He was right.
Southwest, which is based in Texas, has become the fourth-largest
major airline in the United States, flying more than
64 million passengers a year. Another distinction, Southwest
is the only airline to turn a profit for 24 consecutive
years.
Michael Dell
High-tech companies can thrive in the South. His
company's success proves it.
In 1984, Michael Dell founded the Austin, Texas-based
Dell Computers with only $1,000. Today, Dell has become
the world's largest direct computer systems company.
Dell began with the idea of bypassing the middleman,
excepting a higher markup to sell the PC's to end-users.
With this direct-marketing approach and by also offering
the industry's first unlimited, toll-free technical
support and next-day onsite service, Dell Computers
has become one of the top five vendors of PC's worldwide.
In thirteen years, the company's sales have grown from
$6 million to $13 billion.
Ann W. Richards
She helped turn Texas into the world's 11th largest
economy.
It's a combination of leadership ability and being
in the "right place at the right time," that
helped former Texas Governor Ann Richards make our Top
10. She was elected the state's 45th Governor in November
1990, becoming the state's first female Chief Executive
in more than half a century. Her direction helped revive
the Texas economy and led the state from a $6 billion
shortfall in 1990 to a $2.2 billion surplus in 1994,
creating more jobs in Texas than in any other state
in 1992 and 1993. She served until January 1995.
In the mid-90s, during Richards' time in office, Texas
passed New York in population and became the nation's
second most populous state. As the number of residents
skyrocketed, so did the Lone Star economy, growing at
a significantly faster clip than the nation as a whole.
Thanks in part to Richards' guidance; Texas is now home
to the headquarters of major facilities of personal
computer and telecommunications businesses, of the airlines
of industry, of the space program, of defense contractors,
and of medical technology and biotech industries.
Our choices for a second list of 10 influential Southerners
over the last 10 years include Ned Ray McWherter (former
Govermor of Tennessee); U.S. Senator Zell Miller (D-Georgia);
Lawton Chiles (former governor of Florida, now deceased);
Jim Hunt (former governor of North Carolina); Ross Perot;
Al Gore; U.S. Senator Trent Lott (R-Mississippi); AOL's
Steve Case; U.S. Senator Robert C. Byrd (D-W.V.); and
U.S. Senator George Allen (R-Virginia).
|
|
