HIGH SCHOOL CIVICS Part Two: Governor Bredesen, his staff and cabinet Governor Phil Bredesen PHOTO: Office of Governor Phil Bredesen In November 2002 Phil Bredesen was elected governor over Van Hilleary, a former Republican congressman from Spring City. Then, in November 2006, Bredesen was re-elected over Jim Bryson, a former state senator from Franklin.Unless Bredesen resigns or dies in office, he will remain Tennessee's governor until January 2011, when he will be replaced by the person who wins the November 2010 governor's race. PHOTO: Office of Governor Phil Bredesen Now for some of the more interesting things about our chief executive: * Bredesen is not a native Tennessean. He grew up in Shortsville, New York, and he is used to people kidding him about the fact that he grew up in a place called Shortsville, New York. * He was raised by his mother and grandmother, made good grades, and attended Harvard University, where he majored in physics. * In the late 1970s Bredesen got a job with a Nashville healthcare company called Hospital Affiliates International. After a few years he left that job to start his own business (he says he researched the plan at the Nashville public library). That company, called Healthplans, made him wealthy and led him to other health care ventures. * Bredesen used to be the mayor of Nashville. It might seem logical that the mayor of Nashville would become governor, but he was, in fact, the first mayor of Nashville to ever become Tennessee governor. In fact, Bredesen is the first resident of Nashville to become governor since Hill McAlister in 1933. The Downtown (Nashville) Public Library * As mayor of Nashville for eight years, Bredesen did many things. Among the things he is most proud of is financing the construction of 76 new school buildings, developing a new downtown public library, and bringing big-time professional sports to Nashville, with the Nashville Predators (hockey) and Tennessee Titans (football). One of Phil Bredesen's paintings In spite of his work to get pro sports, Bredesen prefers doing things rather than watch others do them. He loves to fish, for instance. And, believe it or not, he loves to paint. Some of the staff offices in the Tennessee State Capitol are decorated with paintings the governor created. Now for an important point about Governor Bredesen's office. Key people in the administration of a governor fall into two categories. Some are part of his staff. Some are part of his cabinet. The staff generally consists of the jobs that are necessary to run just the governor's office itself and the functions that immediately come out of it. People such as the governor's chief of staff, legal counsel, press secretary and legislative liaisons are members of the governor's staff. The governor has a staff of about 20 people. State government is divided into 19 different departments, and in a moment we will explain what those departments do. Each of these departments of state government is headed by a commissioner. All the commissioners together make up the governor's cabinet. So the next time you meet someone who says that they "work for the governor," ask them if they are a part of his staff or his cabinet. They'll be impressed that you even asked such a question. Now let's move onto these 19 state government departments. Click here.