In 1930, Rivers, a Great Titan of the Klan, spoke in front of a crowd in Clarke County, Georgia lamenting of an "alien invasion" attempting to "take away the freedom of government from the masses.

His election as governor came after a stormy Democratic primary in 1936 in which the race served as a surrogate referendum on US President Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal.

[4] Talmadge, who strongly opposed the New Deal and had delayed its implementation in Georgia, ran for the US Senate and backed Charles D. Redwine for governor.

Rivers, who, as Speaker, had strongly supported the New Deal, was his opponent and won with about 60 percent of the vote, the same margin by which Talmadge lost his Senate race.

[citation needed] Rivers' first two-year term as governor saw Georgia pass the legislation required to bring New Deal programs into the state, and was widely acclaimed.

[citation needed] Georgia moved from the lowest-ranked state to the top of the list in the number of rural electrification associations.

[citation needed] Upon his election, Rivers named Ku Klux Klan Imperial Wizard Hiram Wesley Evans as a member of his staff.

[5] Roosevelt's advisers warned him of Rivers' KKK connections, and the Georgia governor opted for re-election instead of seeking the Senate seat.