Former Tennessee Governor and House Speaker Ned Ray McWherter has died this afternoon, the Associated Press, Memphis Commercial Appeal, and State officials such as Lt. Governor Ron Ramsey and House Speaker Beth Harwell have all reported. McWherter is said to have passed away in hospital where he was receiving treatment for cancer-he was 80 years old. McWherter was arguably the most influential House Speaker in modern Tennessee history. While many Tennesseans view the long-reigning Jimmy Naifeh (D-Covington) as the most powerful modern House leader, Naifeh was a political student of Ned McWherter, and much of the House's committee structure under Naifeh's rule had its origins during McWherter's Speakership, including the expanded powers of the powerful House Calendar and Rules Committee.

During his time as Governor, McWherter sat as one of the most popular Governors in the history of the State up to that time. His fiscal legacy was certainly a mixed one. He was the father of TennCare, which was considered by many at first to be a revolution in public health care, but the original legislation failed to plug potential loopholes in the system and, far worse, the original TennCare failed to take account of the potential cost to State government to carry out such a radical program. At the beginning of his second term, Ned McWherter initially proposed a State income tax but would later shy away from the proposal, understanding (as his Republican successor Don Sundquist apparently failed to learn) that to further press the issue would be political suicide for him and perhaps his party. After leaving office in 1995, former President Bill Clinton appointed McWherter to the United States Postal Service Board of Governors.

He is survived by his son, 2010 Democratic gubernatorial Mike McWherter, and his daughter Dr. Linda Ramsey.