Busbee, Taylor had Albany connection

ALBANY — If anyone understands the historic significance of former Georgia Gov. George Busbee, it’s former state Lt. Gov. Mark Taylor.

Albany native Taylor, who served in the state Senate for 12 years after winning a special election in 1987 before becoming lieutenant governor in 1999, is one of the last south Georgians to hold statewide administrative elected office. And with the increasing population shift toward metro Atlanta, most concede it’s doubtful there will be another anytime soon.

But Taylor’s political career will forever be entertwined with Busbee’s, a man with whom the former lieutenant governor says he had a strong “mentor-protegee relationship.”

“Gov. Busbee was my father’s (businessman Fred Taylor) attorney, and they learned to fly together,” Mark Taylor said. “They were charter members of Sherwood Baptist Church, and we kids and our families socialized. I was one of his page’s when I was about 7 or 8, and my first introduction to politics was through my dad’s work on Gov. Busbee’s political campaign.

“I became fascinated with the process. When Gov. Busbee was trying to decide whether to run for speaker of the house or governor, my dad let me listen in to a conversation they had on another phone extension. Dad was his south Georgia campaign manager, and ‘Buzz’ (Busbee’s son, George Busbee Jr.) and I traveled all over the state in a truck, delivering signs we’d made to his supporters. I’d just turned 16, and I thought that was the most exciting time.”

When Busbee won the election, he named Fred Taylor his chief of staff. That afforded Mark Taylor plenty of opportunities to spend time in the state capitol.

“I remember being in Atlanta, seeing all the people whose names were in the news, the political giants and the giant characters,” Taylor said. “I learned where the chocolate milk was kept and where to go to get free peanuts. I remember saying to myself, ‘I really want to work here one day.’”

While Taylor forged his own political career under the Golden Dome in Atlanta, he remembers well the mark Busbee left on the state. That’s why he enthusiastically supports efforts by businessman Billups “Bo” Johnson to erect a historical marker at the 1205 W. Third Ave. Albany home where Busbee raised his family.

“I don’t think there’s ever enough Albany, Dougherty County and Southwest Georgia could do to honor George Busbee,” Taylor said. “You see a lot of politicans, and you wonder what their motivation is for being in office. People like Gov. Busbee and myself, we were in it for what we could do for our home folks. We used our political influence to get our region’s fair share.

“Try to imagine Albany without Miller Brewing (now MillerCoors) or Procter & Gamble. They’re here chiefly because of George Busbee. It’s a red-letter day when the state elects a governor from your hometown, and when Gov. Busbee was elected it became a golden era for Albany. You think of people like Gil Barrett, Paul Keenan, Taxi Smith, Al Holloway, B.C. Gardner frequently being at the capital. Sometimes it was like an Albany City Commission meeting.”

Taylor said Busbee-backed legislation such as the statewide 5-year-old kindergarten program, improvements in the state university system, agricultural research advancements and rural economic development initiatives were hallmarks of the Albany governor’s two terms in office. But the former lieutenant governor said Busbee’s significant influence did not end when he left office.

“Some people here said he ‘went Atlanta on us’ when Gov. Busbee decided to work with the King and Spalding law firm after he left office,” Taylor said. “That’s bull. He introduced Georgia to the international economic development market. Right after President Nixon opened the doors to China, he took a delegation from Georgia there. He was instrumental in sharing Georgia’s economic development opportunities in Japan, Canada, China and all over Europe.

“If there weren’t 100,000 jobs in Georgia directly related to George Busbee, I’ll eat my hat.”

Taylor, who had his own unsuccessful bid for governor, losing to incumbent Republican Sonny Perdue in 2006, admits that it will be tough in today’s political climate for a Georgian to pull off what he and Busbee did.

“There’s a good possibility that it will be a long dry spell before someone from our part of the state wins a significant statewide office,” he said. “It’s like our recent conversation about Jeff Sinyard. It will take someone with a special charisma, someone who’s found a way to cross party lines and someone who’s built a network of leaders with the right type of finances to pull it off.

“It would take a very smart media campaign, but even with all that, that person would have to have the support of the business community in metro Atlanta. For anyone to think that they can unite the rest of the state and forget about Atlanta, well, that’s a recipe for failure.”