- Your start as governor had a really interesting turn.

You were elected, actually, you were sworn into office early.

- Yeah, most Tennesseans are either too young or too new even to know about this, but, and are usually shocked when they hear it.

I mean, what happened was on January 17th, 1979, the US attorney called me, Hal Harden, a democrat, asked me to be sworn in early.

My swearing in as governor was to be on Saturday.

This was on a Wednesday, to stop the current governor from releasing prisoners who'd paid cash for their release.

The governor had done 52 card pardons and communications two days earlier, the FBI had videotapes that he was about to do it again.

There was rumors that one of them that might be released was James Earl Ray, the murder of Martin Luther King.

And so the Democratic leaders at that time swore me a Republican into office three days early in order to stop the governor from releasing prisoners who'd paid cash for their release.

The Attorney General, the Democrat, ruled that the constitution and the laws permitted that, but it looked and felt like a coup.

None of us wanted to do it because that's not the way we do things in America.

But there was no course we had other than that because a pardon is irrevocable.

And the governor, once he pardoned another 50 murderers, rapists, robbers, they were out and couldn't be brought back.

- Wow, and that was Ray Blanton.

Pardon me, Ray.

- That was Ray Blanton.

- I remember that.

- That was Ray Blanton.

- Yeah, well, thank you for making the sacrifice 'cause that was a sacrifice.

- Well, I didn't wanna do it, but I didn't think I had a choice.

- Yeah.

- The people who really deserve a pat on the back, I think, are the Democrats who did it because they ousted a Democratic governor.

And one of the reporters asked Speaker McWhorter, the Democrat, said, well, you're a Democrat and you just swore a Republican in early.

He said, first I'm a Tennessean.