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North Carolina's Governors
Elected to the General Assembly at twenty-three, J. C. B. Ehringhaus cosponsored the bill to establish what is now East Carolina University and supported a statewide system of high schools. In 1932 Governor O. Max Gardner backed Ehringhaus over his opponents in the Democratic primary, Richard T. Fountain and Allen J. Maxwell. In his campaign Ehringhaus called for a "program of progress" and for a balanced budget, goals which meshed with Gardner's policies. In the fall Ehringhaus easily defeated Republican Clifford C. Frazier. Ehringhaus balanced the budget through retrenchment, consolidation, and the introduction of a three percent sales tax on all items except for food staples. The school year was extended from six to eight months. Ehringhaus cut the cost of state government by almost one-third through a reduction in employee salaries and drastic curtailment of spending. He endorsed penal reform and rural electrification and encouraged the consolidation of state offices, such as the highway and prison departments, and local governments. In September 1933 Ehringhaus closed the tobacco markets and lobbied officials in Washington for higher prices for the commodity. He offered his rhetorical support to President Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal programs but followed his own cautious path. He declined to provide state matching funds to the Emergency Relief Administration and delayed implementation of the Social Security Act. His popularity sank after 1935 and he declared that he had had "a bellyfull of public office." An Episcopalian, Ehringhaus died in July 1949 and is buried in Elizabeth City.
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A fiscal conservative, John Christoph Blucher Ehringhaus (1882-1949) balanced the state's budget during the worst economic crisis since Reconstruction while offering limited support for the New Deal. The "Depression Governor" was born in Elizabeth City an educated at Atlantic Collegiate Institute in his hometown and the University of North Carolina. Two years later, he returned to Pasquotank County to practice law.
