Background
Briley was born in West Nashville, Tennessee in 1914.
Briley was born in West Nashville, Tennessee in 1914.
Elected to the mayor"s position in 1962 as a Democrat, Briley served three terms from 1963 to 1975. He was prevented by term limits from running again. He had previously served as county judge (chief executive) of Davidson County for several terms, from 1950 to 1963.
He gained early admission to Vanderbilt University and Cumberland Law School.
In 1932, at the age of eighteen, he became the youngest Tennessean ever admitted to the Barometer He began practicing later that year and quickly made a name for himself.
In 1934, Briley married Dorothy Gordon. They had two children together, Cliff and Diane.
Briley served in the United States Navy during World World War II as a quartermaster aboard the United States Ship David Taylor.
After the war, he ran a successful campaign for county judge (chief executive) of Davidson County in 1950, serving until 1963. Briley was reelected in 1970, also in a runoff. He was prevented by term limits from running again in 1974.
He remained active in Nashville politics until his death five years later.
Altogether, he served as chief executive of Davidson County and of Nashville for almost 30 years. Briley took a fairly progressive position on the Civil Rights Movement, an important question for mayors of Southern cities at the time.
He readily cooperated with black leaders and is generally credited with helping smooth the transition away from racial segregation in Nashville. Public schools and lunch counters had already been desegregated by the time he took office.
On other issues, he was a conservative Democrat.
In 1972 he was the area leader of "Democrats for Nixon," in an effort to strengthen southern support for Republican national candidates. That year, Nixon became the first Republican presidential candidate to carry Davidson County since the Reconstruction era. Most Republicans had been disenfranchised in Tennessee and other states when they passed new constitutions to suppress black voting by raising barriers to voter registration.
White conservatives have since completed their shift in the South into the Republican Party, most leaving the Democratic Party.
Briley died on September 14, 1980 at the age of 66. He is buried at Spring Hill Cemetery in Nashville.