Furious Hours: Murder, Fraud, and the Last Trial of Harper Lee

Cep provides background history on Tom Radney. Before he was known as a lawyer, Radney was a young, idealistic politician who represented the more liberal face of the New South. He won a state senate seat early in his political career and seemed poised for success. His wife and three young daughters embodied a “Dixie Camelot” (79) explicitly designed to echo the Kennedy political dynasty. Despite Radney’s early promise, his political career was virtually ruined when he brought his liberal Southern politics to the national stage at the 1968 Democratic National Convention.

At the 1968 Democratic National Convention, Radney vocally supported Ted Kennedy for president. Radney went on a national TV program and claimed the South could get behind a candidate like Ted Kennedy, a statement that offended segregation-loving Southerners. The reaction to Radney’s statement was swift and violent. Radney, his wife, and his children became the targets of a campaign of harassment and attacks on his home and property. Radney took the threats seriously. He announced that he would not run for reelection or any other political office upon completion of his term as a state senator. The threats subsided.