Interview with Frank Strickland, December 18, 2017

Frank Strickland talks about his early life and becoming interested in Republican politics in 1966 due to Bo Callaway’s run for governor that year. Strickland afterward describes what occurred as the Republican Party grew in the 1970s and 1980s, particularly the infighting in the party as it incorporated the Christian right. Strickland then discusses the two Voting Rights Act cases he litigated--Miller v. Johnson and Larios v. Cox and Shelby County v. Holder. He then talks about redistricting more broadly, outside the context of civil rights litigation.

Frank Strickland was born in Washington, D.C. to a strongly Republican family, but moved to Decatur, Georgia in the first grade. He attended Vanderbilt University, and after graduating, he briefly served in the United States Coast Guard and afterwards worked for Citizens & Southern National Bank. Strickland simultaneously attended Emory University’s night school law program and earned his degree in 1967. Strickland became involved in Republican politics shortly afterwards, campaigning for Republican presidential candidates and for Republicans in local races, namely for Paul Coverdell’s state senate races. He became first vice chairman of the Georgia Republican Party in 1983, and became assistant general counsel for the party two years later. Strickland became general counsel to the party in 1992, serving until 1995, when he created his own law practice Strickland, Brockington and Lewis, where he remains as a partner.

2017-12-18

RBRL425TPGA-031

89 minutes