Statement from Governor Phil Bredesen on the Passing of State Senator Anna Belle Clement O'Brien

“Miss Anna Belle’s signature line was ‘Politics is a beautiful word.’  ‘Politics’ was most certainly made more beautiful here in Tennessee by being graced by the presence of Anna Belle Clement O’Brien for so long.  With her passing, we’ve lost yet another link to a more generous and collegial political world.

 

“I first got to know her when I ran — and lost — against her nephew, Bob Clement, for Congress in 1987.  She was definitely and firmly on the other side, but always gracious and kind.  In the years after that, she took me under her wing and went out of her way to help me along with advice and unqualified support.  I confessed to her many times that her ‘Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval’ was just what a young outsider needed to break into Tennessee politics, and she was always pleased to hear that.

 

“Andrea and I offer our sympathy and condolences to her nephews Bob and Frank Clement, to her niece Sara Kyle, and to all of the members of her family on her passing.”