He worked on the campaigns of Republican candidates for national office, including John Sherman Cooper, Thruston Morton, and Dwight D. Eisenhower.

An executive order signed by Governor Bert T. Combs that desegregated Kentucky's public services became a major issue in the campaign.

Despite a Democratic majority in the General Assembly, Nunn was able to enact most of his priorities, including tax increases that funded improvements to the state park system and the construction of a statewide network of mental health centers.

The later years of his administration were marred by race riots in Louisville and a violent protest against the Vietnam War at the University of Kentucky.

Louie Broady Nunn was born in Park, Kentucky – a small community on the border of Barren and Metcalfe counties – on March 8, 1924.

[3] The Nunns were farmers and operated a general store, though Waller suffered from a congenital heart condition and severe arthritis and was limited to light chores.

[11] After the bombing of Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, Nunn departed for Cincinnati, Ohio, to take flying lessons in hopes of becoming a B-17 pilot.

[20] Nunn left the Methodist denomination in which he had been raised after marrying Aspley, joining her as a member of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ).

[7] During the campaign, he attacked an executive order issued by sitting Democratic governor Bert T. Combs that desegregated public accommodations in the state.

[28] Calling the order "a dictatorial edict of questionable constitutionality", Nunn charged that it had been dictated by U.S. Attorney General Robert F.

[28] In 1967, Nunn faced his old classmate, Jefferson County Judge Marlow Cook, in Kentucky's first Republican gubernatorial primary in many years.

[30] The injection of antisemitism into the campaign drew criticism from Senator John Sherman Cooper, who threw his support to Cook.

[30] Nunn also attacked Cook for his Catholic faith, a tactic that proved particularly effective with the state's Protestant voters.

[17] Despite a campaign promise not to raise taxes when the outgoing Breathitt administration projected a shortfall of $24 million in the state budget, Nunn convinced the General Assembly to pass an increase in the motor vehicle license fee from $5.00 to $12.50 and raise the state sales tax from three percent to five percent.

[32] Historian Lowell H. Harrison argued that these actions diluted state support to existing higher education institutions.

Under his leadership, a statewide network of 22 mental health centers was completed, and all four state psychiatric hospitals were accredited for the first time.

[31] An open housing bill became law without Nunn's signature, and he also refused to sign the 1970 state budget as a form of protest.

A supporter of President Nixon's law-and-order philosophies, Nunn called out the National Guard to break up violent protests in the state.

[34] In May 1970, Nunn again dispatched the Guard to quell protests against the Vietnam War at the University of Kentucky, and imposed a curfew that interfered with final examinations.

[36] At the time, Kentucky governors could not serve consecutive terms; in the 1971 race, Nunn backed Tom Emberton, who lost to Ford.

[37] He continued working on behalf of Republican candidates and backed Ronald Reagan's primary challenge to incumbent Gerald Ford in 1975.

Brown Jr.[37] He decried the excessive spending, expanding government, and increased state employment that had occurred under Democratic administrations.

[37] He also attacked Brown for his playboy image (he was married to former Miss America Phyllis George) and his refusal to release his tax returns, as well as his inexperience in government.

[37] In 1988, Nunn unsuccessfully challenged Congressman Jim Bunning in his bid to retain his position as Kentucky's Republican national committeeman.

[38] Later, he traveled to South Dakota where, at the base of Mount Rushmore, he publicly presented an Oglala Lakota leader with bales of hemp after the tribe's crop was confiscated by officers from the federal Drug Enforcement Administration.

[38] Louie B. Nunn died of a heart attack at his home just outside Versailles, Kentucky, on January 29, 2004, hours after hosting a luncheon with labor leaders seeking help in dealing with the newly elected Fletcher administration.