Bryant Winfield Culberson Dunn (July 1, 1927 – September 28, 2024) was an American businessman and politician who served as the 43rd governor of Tennessee from 1971 to 1975.

[1] Inspired by Barry Goldwater's views on conservatism, Dunn ran unsuccessfully for the Tennessee House of Representatives in 1962.

His opponents for the nomination included Speaker of the Tennessee House William L. Jenkins, Nashville industrialist Maxey Jarman, former chair of the state party Claude K. Robertson, and the 1962 nominee, Hubert Patty.

Boosted in part by a large turnout in his populous home county of Shelby, Dunn won the nomination, edging his nearest opponent, Jarman, by ten thousand votes.

Prior to the 1970 election, Democrats had controlled the governor's office for 50 years, and had largely dominated state politics since the end of Reconstruction.

The social policies of the presidential administrations of John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson, however, had alienated many Southern Democrats.

[5] In his 2007 book, From a Standing Start, Dunn recalled being "shocked" and "disappointed" when a news broadcast on the following evening revealed there was an 18-and-half minute gap in the White House tapes.

He returned to the private sector, working for several years as the vice president of public relations for the Nashville-based Hospital Corporation of America.

He easily defeated Hubert Patty and Charles Vick in the Republican primary, but questions over party unity dogged his campaign.

Without Quillen's endorsement, Dunn struggled in East Tennessee (normally a Republican stronghold), and was defeated in the general election by the Democratic nominee, Ned McWherter, 656,602 votes to 553,448.

He was also active in the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway Development Authority,[1] as well as with various charities, including the American Cancer Society, the Nashville Heart Association, and the United Way.