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Rule by Fear. The re-elected Herman displayed new-found confidence. He discarded advisers, took firm hold of his legislature, tacked to his office wall an honor roll of legislators who voted his way. Any who wavered in loyalty were summoned to the governor's office to explain why. For voting even once against Herman's bills, a legislator found his name stricken from the honor roll, his patronage lost, his county's new roads refused.
Herman rammed through legislation authorizing the governor to choose the Democratic executive committee, and with that power was able to dictate which candidates he wanted on the ballot. Angry with the Atlanta press, he drew up a bill making newspapers subject to state regulation, dangled it as a threat. Occasionally he got his comeuppance. Twice he tried to extend the unit vote to general elections, saw both attempts defeated by city voters in referendums (in which the unit rule did not apply).
With an eye to the future, Herman added to his forestry bureau husky, hard-eyed Photographer Ed Friend, gave Friend a roving assignment: cover meetings where present or possible Talmadge foes might be snapped in conversation with Negroes. The photographs were circulated, often without caption or comment. Gubernatorial Aide Walter O. Brooks, for similar reasons, compiled dossiers on the words and deeds of prominent Georgians, won from newsmen a sobriquet: "The Goebbels of Georgia Politics." One Government official most carefully watched: distinguished U.S. Senator Walter George. Chortled Herman recently: "My file could have put Senator George on either side of any issue."
Though he twice campaigned against a sales tax, Herman in his second term introduced a sweeping 3 % levy. At the same time he cut ad valorem taxes, most of which were paid by corporations. The $100 million collected in sales tax each year went largely to school improvements. A priority project: additional "separate but equal" facilities for Negroes, which Herman carried through with genuine zeal. Alarmed by the Supreme Court's integration decisions, the Talmadge administration passed a constitutional amendment allowing state-subsidized "private" schooling for all students.