Buford Ellington (1907-1972) was the governor of Tennessee from 1959-1963 and again from 1967-1971. In his early life he was a jack-of-all-trades, participating in everything from newspaper editing to sales supervising. He settled into farming, and served as Commissioner of Agriculture under Frank Clement. He was an ardent supporter of President Johnson. He served under the Johnson administration in 1965 as director of the Office of Emergency Planning. His terms in office were marked by fiscal conservatism and a reorganization of state government. During his first term he maintained a strict segregationist policy but he later adopted a number of civil rights policies and appointed the first African-American cabinet officer in the State of Tennessee. He died in Florida in 1972, just over a year after leaving office.