J. Lyter Donaldson

Joseph Lyter Donaldson ( born April 10, 1891 in Carrollton, Carroll County, Kentucky, † March 27, 1960 in Louisville, Kentucky ) was an American politician (Democratic Party) and lawyer.

Lyter Donaldson, one of four children of the lawyer Joseph A. Donaldson, studied at Centre College and earned his law degree at Cumberland University in Lebanon (Tennessee). From 1913 he worked as a lawyer in his hometown of Carrollton and in 1921 was elected district attorney, whose office he held until 1930. He was a founding member and first president of the Rotary Club of Carrollton. After his father's death on August 1, 1930 he assumed the position of his father as president of the First National Bank.

From 1930 to 1936 he was a member of the Kentucky State Highway Commission, whose chairman in 1935. In 1939, he directed the governor's race by Keen Johnson, who appointed him to the State highway commissioner. In 1943 he ran for the Democratic Party as governor of Kentucky. In the internal party preselection on August 7, he sat down with 135 576 votes against by his three fellow party members. The gubernatorial election he lost to Republican Simeon Willis with 270 525 ( 48.9 %) to 279 144 votes.

In 1959 he participated in the gubernatorial election of Bert Combs. On March 27, 1960, he died of a heart attack while visiting friends in Louisville 68 years. He is buried in his home town of Carrollton.