FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) – Former Gov. Louie B. Nunn, a fierce competitor who oversaw a revamping of Kentucky’s mental-health care system and the outlawing of housing discrimination, has died. He was 79.

Nunn collapsed Thursday of an apparent heart attack at his home in Versailles, about 60 miles east of Louisville, County Coroner Steve Ward said.

Elected in 1967, Nunn was the state’s last Republican governor before Gov. Ernie Fletcher was elected in November.

Nunn was a defining figure in Kentucky politics who asked no quarter on the campaign trail and gave none. He never played defense; an opponent who attacked him could be assured of a blistering counterattack.

Former Gov. Brereton Jones said Friday he appreciated Nunn’s plainspoken style.

“You didn’t have to wonder what he was trying to say,” said Jones, a Democrat. “He would give you an abundance of plain talk.”

Nunn’s four-year gubernatorial administration saw Kentucky take strides in caring for the mentally retarded, the mentally ill and juvenile delinquents.

On his watch, a network of 22 mental health centers was completed and, for the first time in Kentucky history, all four state psychiatric hospitals were fully accredited. Nunn later called the revamping of the state’s mental-health treatment system his proudest accomplishment.

The state’s university system was also expanded during his term, and housing discrimination was outlawed.

Nunn could be ruthless. Shortly after taking office, his staff fired thousands of state employees. All were Democrats and most in departments that were traditionally patronage strongholds, such as the highway department.

Courts declared the firings illegal in lawsuits that eventually cost the state $2 million in settlements.

A few days before leaving office, Nunn mused on his place in history.

“My hope is that people will look upon my record 20 years from now and say, “This man was good for Kentucky,’ rather than to say, “He was a hell of a politician.’

“Of course,” Nunn added, “I don’t know why they couldn’t say both.”

He successfully managed state campaigns for President Eisenhower and Sens. John Sherman Cooper and Thruston B. Morton.

He won his own race for governor in 1967, defeating Democrat Henry Ward, but lost two others – to Edward T. Breathitt in 1963 and to John Y. Brown Jr. in 1979. He was the GOP’s Senate nominee in 1972 but lost to Democrat Walter “Dee” Huddleston.

Former Gov. Julian Carroll, a Democrat who was speaker of the House during Nunn’s term, said he learned to appreciate Nunn.

“Louie was a very strong leader,” Carroll said Friday. “He always operated without fear. He always dealt with the members of the General Assembly with confidence.”

Nunn’s body was to lie in state at the Capitol on Monday, a funeral home said. The funeral and burial were to be Tuesday in Glasgow in his native Barren County.


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