MRS. NIXON and I join in mourning the death of Buford Ellington.
As Governor of Tennessee for two terms, he helped to improve the quality of life in rural areas of his State and promoted economic development throughout the region, and as Director of the office of Emergency Planning under President Johnson, he made a significant contribution to the entire Nation.
Buford Ellington will be remembered as a fair and independent man who served his State and Nation well when they were in need of his service.
Note: Mr. Ellington, 64, died of a heart attack in Boca Raton, Fla., on April 3, 1972. He was Governor of Tennessee from 1959 to 1963 and from 1967 to 1971. He was Director of the office of Emergency Planning from 1965 to 1966.
The statement was posted for the press.
Richard Nixon, Statement About the Death of Buford Ellington Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/254570