In a campaign that featured more name-calling than substantial debate, Fields secured the backing of the powerful Jockey Club political alliance and won a landslide victory over Republican Attorney General Charles I. Dawson.

His agenda was opposed by a Democratic faction led by former governor J. C. W. Beckham, Louisville Courier-Journal publisher Robert Worth Bingham, and political boss Percy Haly.

Among Fields' accomplishments as governor were an increase in the gasoline tax to help fund his highway program, a reorganization of the state's government bureaucracy, and the preservation of Cumberland Falls from industrial development.

His political enemies charged him with nepotism and abusing his pardon power, and the Democrats lost the governorship in 1927 to Republican Flem D. Sampson.

"Happy" Chandler, and after his retirement from public service, he practiced law and worked as a real estate agent until his death on October 21, 1954.

[2] At age 21, he was elected constable of Carter County, but three years later, he fell short in his bid to capture a seat in state legislature.

[3] Following the loss, he took a job at a grocery store in Ashland, Kentucky that would allow him to travel the state more freely, make acquaintances, and better position himself for a run for higher office.

[2] Already lightly regarded because he was selected by the Democratic Central Committee instead of a party primary, Fields further weakened his position due to some of his personal preferences.

[7] Fields' 1924 address to the General Assembly included several ambitious proposals, including the founding of a trade school for blacks at Paducah, planning and developing normal schools at Murray and Morehead, raising the gasoline tax to three cents per gallon, and the issuance of $75 million in state bonds to finance a state highway system.

[8] A dissenting faction of the Democratic party, led by former governor J. C. W. Beckham, political boss Percy Haly, and Louisville Courier-Journal publisher Robert Worth Bingham, voiced strong opposition to Fields' proposals, especially the bond issue.

[12] Fields spent ten weeks criss-crossing the state speaking in favor of the bond issue, but on election day, it was rejected by a margin of 90,000 votes.

[12] Undaunted by the failure of the bond issue, Fields returned to the 1926 General Assembly with more proposals, including another increase in the gasoline tax to provide the funds needed to construct the state highway system.

[12] The 1926 Assembly passed more legislation than any previous legislature, including the increased gas tax and several bills to reorganize state government.

[4] In order to prevent development, he accepted an offer from T. Coleman du Pont to purchase the property around the falls and donate it to the state.

[1] Sensing an opportunity for a political comeback in 1930, Fields launched a bid to regain his former seat in the U.S. House, which was now occupied by Republican Elva R. Kendall.

Kendall had beaten Fields's successor, Fred M. Vinson in the 1928 Hoover landslide, which saw nine out of eleven (all but the two ancestrally Democratic western Kentucky) U.S. House seats go to the Republicans.

Vinson instead chose not to stand aside for his former ally and decisively beat Fields in the August Democratic primary by a margin of 63% to 21% (with a third candidate, W.C. Hamilton taking the remaining 16%).