Ellis Gibbs Arnall (March 20, 1907December 13, 1992) was an American politician who served as the 69th Governor of Georgia from 1943 to 1947. A liberal Democrat, he helped lead efforts to abolish the poll tax and to reduce Georgia's voting age to 18. Following his departure from office, he became a highly successful attorney and businessman. Education Born in Newnan, Georgia, he attended Mercer University in Macon, Georgia, then graduated from the University of the South, and then from the University of Georgia School of Law. He was admitted to the practice of law in 1931. While attending Mercer University, Arnall was initiated into Kappa Alpha Order. Early career In 1932, Coweta County voters elected Arnall to the Georgia House of Representatives. Arnall was elected Speaker Pro Tempore, the second highest officer position in the Georgia House. Governor Eurith D. Rivers appointed Arnall, then 31, to a vacancy in the office of state attorney general. In 1935, he married Mildred Slemons, whom he met at a friend's wedding. The two were happily married until her death in 1980, and they often showed their physical affection in public. Although Mildred Arnall was not particularly fond of politics and stayed out of the political arena, she stood by her husband throughout his career and encouraged him to succeed at whatever he did. Governor Actions undertaken by Governor Eugene Talmadge had caused the state's colleges to lose accreditation. Arnall unseated Talmadge in the 1942 primary, 174,757 (57.7 percent) to 128,394 (42.4 percent). Without Republican opposition, Arnall became the youngest governor then serving in the United States. Arnall obtained the repeal of the poll tax, ratification in 1945 of a new state constitution, and a state employee merit system. He also retired the Georgia state debt. When young men were drafted into the armed forces during World War II, Arnall argued that youths old enough to fight in war should be able to vote for their country's leadership. He succeeded in lowering the voting age to eighteen more than two decades before the 26th Amendment to the United States Constitution implemented that change nationally. Georgia thus became the first state to grant the franchise to 18-year-olds. Arnall also removed the prison system from under the governor's direct control, establishing a board of corrections to oversee state prisons and a pardon and parole board to handle such requests. He removed the University of Georgia