The former Georgia governor known for tackling tough issues and responsible for the purchase and development of Colonels Island into a port has died.

Ernest Vandiver died in Lavonia, Ga., Tuesday. He was 86.

Vandiver was the last of the Talmadge machine governors, serving from 1959-1963. He ran a strong pro-segregation campaign, but in 1961 led the General Assembly to pass legislation integrating Georgia schools. That action is credited with allowing the state to avoid much of the violence and many of the problems that plagued other southern states.

None one to avoid controversy, Vandiver also defended the county unit system when it was declared unconstitutional and cleaned up the Central State Hospital in Milledgeville.

After being elected governor at age 40, Vandiver was never elected to anything else. After he was passed over for a senatorial appointment that he said he was promised by then-Gov. Jimmy Carter in 1971, Vandiver ran for the seat and finished third.

Vandiver lived out his life as a gentleman farmer and banker in his native Lavonia.

On The Net:

Our Georgia History: Ernest Vandiver Jr.
Governors' Portraits
Ernest Vandiver: A North Georgia Notable