Source:Book "Short , An Early Virginia Family" p. 58

As Governor he passed a civil rights bill, strip mining regulations, increased the budget for education. Kentucky Educational Television was created. He strengthened campaign financing laws and passed bond issue to fund capital improvements. His party affiliation was Democratic.

Edward Thompson Breathitt, Jr., called Ned, was born in Hopkinsville. Frances Holleman was born in Mayfield, Kentucky. She died of cancer. The Breathitt children were born in Hopkinsville.

Ned Breathitt and Lucy A. Winchester married in Lexington, Kentucky. Lucy once served as White House social secretary for President Richard Nixon.

Ned Breathitt was one of the most progressive governors in Kentucky's history. He was instrumental in pushing through the Kentucky legislature bills which dealt with strip mining and civil rights. Working with black leaders like Dr. Martin Luther King, Governor Breathitt succeeded in his third year in office in gaining passage of the Kentucky Civil Rights Act of 1966, which was described twenty-five years later as "a major blow against the legal foundations of discrimination in Kentucky life and the first significant civil rights law passed by a state south of the Ohio River" (The Kentucky Encyclopedia, page 192). His legislative successes in 1966 earned Governor Breathitt two prestigious national awards: Conservationist of the Year, from the National Wildlife Federation, and the Lincoln Key Award for Civil Rights.

The following is taken from Ned Breathitt's biographical sketch in The Kentucky Encyclopedia:
Edward Thompson Breathitt, Jr. governor during 1963-67, was born in Hopkinsville, Kentucky, on November 26, 1924, the son of Edward Thompson and Mary (Wallace) Breathitt. After high school, he served in the air force during 1942-45. He graduated from the University of Kentucky in 1948 and received his law degree there in 1950. He married Frances Holleman in 1948; they had four children. Breathitt opened a law practice in Hopkinsville and in 1951 won the first of three consecutive terms in the Kentucky House of Representatives. He gained political experience in Adlai Stevenson's 1952 presidential campaign and Alben Barkley's 1954 bid for the U.S. Senate. Breathitt was president of the Young Democrats Club of Kentucky in 1952-54 and a national committeeman of the Young Democrats of America. As commissioner of personnel in Governor Bert T. Combs's administration (1959-63), he developed a new merit system, then moved to the Public Service Commission.

In the 1963 Democratic primary, which focused on the 3 percent sales tax enacted under Combs, Breathitt, backed by Combs, trounced former Gov. A. B. Chandler. [In the general election], Breathitt won a close race, 449,551 to 436,496, over Republican Louie B. Nunn.

Governor Breathitt won voter approval of a $176 million bond issue that received matching federal funds and allowed him to carry out his plans for highways, public education on all levels, parks, and social services. A state vocational training program was established, an educational television system was started, and the community colleges were placed under the University of Kentucky. In a special 1965 legislative session, Breathitt won a reduction of property tax rates to counter a decision of the Kentucky court of appeals that property must be assessed at its full value. Despite the governor's efforts, voters overwhelmingly rejected a proposed constitution drafted by a thirty-eight-member special committee. In 1966 Breathitt secured a major civil rights bill to prohibit discrimination in employment and public accommodations, a tough strip mining act, a compulsory automobile inspection act, an agency to regulate the use of natural resources, a redistricting of congressional districts, and greater regulation of political contributions and expenditures. Tourism was promoted, and the industrial development program won national recognition. The 1966 budget was 27 percent higher than the previous one, and virtually all state programs and agencies benefited. Backed by federal programs, extensive funding went into the depressed Appalachian region.

When he left office in 1967, Breathitt returned briefly to his Hopkinsville practice, serving as special counsel to the Southern Railway System. He also held executive positions in the Ford Foundation Institute for Rural America, the Coalition for RuralAmerica, and American Child Centers. In 1972 he became vice-president of the Southern Railway System.

After leaving the governor's office in 1967, Ned Breathitt never again ran for public office, even though President Lyndon Johnson tried to persuade him to run for the U.S. Senate in 1968. Johnson, who had called on Ned to help enlist the aid of other governors in the President's attempt gain passage of the federal Civil Rights Act of 1965, wanted Breathitt to help push his Great Society programs through the United States Senate. Breathitt was put in an uncomfortable position by Johnson's request, as he had been instrumental in gaining the Democratic senate nomination for his close friend Katherine Peden. President Johnson promised that he would make Peden his Secretary of the Treasury if she stepped aside and gave Breathitt the nomination. But Breathitt did not go back on his pledge of support for Peden and her senatorial bid, which was ultimately unsuccessful.

Kentucky’s 51st Governor Served: 1963-1967 In March, 1992, Ned Breathitt retired from his position as senior vice-president for public affairs at the Norfolk Southern Corporation. He is presently with the Lexington law firm of Wyatt, Tarrant, and Combs. He also serves on the University of Kentucky's Board of Regents.

Children:
Mary Frances (8/1/1950)
Linda Key (9/9/1951)
Susan Holleman (9/5/1956)
Edward Thompson (2/9/1959)

From University of Kentucky Alumnii Web site:
<http://www.uky.edu/Alumni/alumnihall/breathittET.htm>;

Edward Thompson Breathitt Jr.

Born in Hopkinsville, Ky., on November 26, 1924. Attorney. Governor. Business Executive. University of Kentucky, B.S., 1948; LL.B., 1950.

While pursuing his law degree at the University of Kentucky, he was President of Lamp and Cross and Omicron Delta Kappa, and a member of Sigma Alpha Epsilon social fraternity. He served three years in the Army Air Force during World War II.

As an attorney with a Hopkinsville law firm, he became interested in politics and served as President of the Young Democrats Clubs of Kentucky in 1952. He was Chairman of the State Speaker's Bureau for Adlai Stevenson's presidential campaign in 1952, and two years later worked on the state campaign staff in former Vice President Alben Barkley's successful bid for re-election to the U. S. Senate.

Prior to his election to the governorship of Kentucky in 1963, he was elected to three terms in the Kentucky General Assembly (1952-58), and was a member of the Governor's Commission on Mental Health and of the State Public Service Commission. He also served as State Personnel Commissioner. As a legislator, he co-sponsored the Minimum Foundation Program for Education.

During his term as Governor (1963-67), he was named to the Executive Committee of the National Governors' Conference and was Chairman of its Natural Resources Committee. He and his administration received numerous awards, including: a Lincoln Key Award (1966) for leadership in passage of state civil rights bill; Society of Industrial Investors' top award (1964) for the best industrial development program; Midwest Travel Writer's Association's top national award (1965) for the best travel promotion; U. S. Department of Interior Distinguished Service Award (1967) for contributions to conservation; and Conservationist of the Year Award (1967) from "Outdoor Life" magazine. At the Democratic National Convention in 1964, he made the seconding speech for President Lyndon Johnson.

After returning to private law practice, he became Special Counsel in Kentucky for Southern Railway in December, 1967. In July, 1968, he was named Director of the Institute for Rural America, funded by the Ford Foundation, and in September was appointed Federal Representative on the Southern Interstate Nuclear Board. In 1971 he was elected Chairman of the Coalition for Rural America. He became Vice President, Public Affairs, for Southern Railway on March 1, 1972. A Methodist and a former Sunday School teacher, he also has been a Jaycee, Kiwanian, Elk, a Director of the Hopkinsville Chamber of Commerce, a Director of the Home Loan Bank of Cincinnati, and Chairman of the Kentucky Heart Fund campaign.

Edward Thompson Breathitt Jr. was named to the Hall of Distinguished Alumni in February 1965.