Melvin Ernest Thompson (May 1, 1903 – October 3, 1980) was an American educator and politician from Millen in the U.S. state of Georgia. Generally known as M.E. Thompson during his political career, he served as the 70th Governor of Georgia from 1947 to 1948 and was elected as the first Lieutenant Governor of Georgia in 1946. Early life and education Thompson was born in Millen, Georgia, to Henry Jackson Thompson and his wife Eva Edenfield Thompson. He was the youngest of seven children and his father died just after his first birthday. His father was a sharecropper. Thompson grew up in poverty, but through hard work and determination, he was able to leave the farm to pursue a higher education. He helped pay his way through college by working various jobs, including student teaching and the selling of bibles door to door. He graduated from Emory University in 1926, then earned a Master of Arts (M.A.) from the University of Georgia in 1935. He also earned all of the credits for a Ph.D. from the University of Georgia, but because his adviser died, he never defended his dissertation. Following his college career, Thompson worked in education, first as a teacher and coach, a principal, a district superintendent, moving all the way up to assistant school superintendent for the state. Thompson was a supporter of Governor Ellis Arnall and was hired as his Executive Secretary. Arnall then appointed him to the position of State Revenue Commissioner in 1945. Family Melvin Thompson married Dora Anne Newton from Millen, Ga in 1926 and had one child, Melvin Thompson Jr. Melvin Thompson Jr. married Mary Bethesda Carter and they had 4 children, Marianne Thea, Tarkenton Newton, Carter Maria and Melvin E. the 3rd. Melvin Jr. had a fifth child with his second wife Laura Mitchell, Charles Thompson. In 1946, Thompson ran for the newly created position of Lieutenant Governor of Georgia. He won the election and became Georgia's first Lieutenant Governor. Lieutenant Governor of Georgia Governor-elect Eugene Talmadge died in December 1946 and the Georgia state constitution was vague on who would be sworn in as governor, causing the three governors controversy. Thompson felt that as the lieutenant governor-elect, he should become the governor. But the state legislature was controlled by Talmadge supporters. They invoked a clause in the Georgia state constitution which allowed for the legislature to pick between the second- and