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Keen Johnson was the 45th Governor of Kentucky (1939–43) and the only journalist to have held that office. Born on January 12, 1896, he served in World War I and earned a journalism degree from the University of Kentucky. Johnson served as lieutenant governor under Governor A. B. "Happy" Chandler from 1935 to 1939. He had already secured the Democratic gubernatorial nomination when Chandler resigned and elevated him to governor so that he could appoint Chandler to the U.S. Senate. Johnson went on to win a full gubernatorial term in the general election. He ran a fiscally conservative administration and took the state from a $7 million shortfall to a surplus of $10 million by the end of his term.