"My attitude is that this is not a time of limited resources and of little hope. Rather, it is time to be creative and to implement new ideas and changes in the way we do things in North Carolina.  It is a time to be optimistic.  There was a Governor before me . . . I am a student of history and a history teacher and I love history and particularly the history of North Carolina . . . his name was Max Gardner.  Max Gardner was our governor during the Great Depression. If you have not read any of Max Gardner’s writings then you ought to.  He was brilliant.  And, he turned everything upside down.  He used the Great Depression as the opportunity to transform the way this state did business.  He is why we have one road system, one public school system, one port system, one state police system, one university system and much more.  He did all of that.  He was a true visionary and a fearless and progressive leader.  I have been impressed everyday by what he faced but more impressed by how he handled one adversity after the other."

-Governor-Elect Beverly Perdue
NC Chamber of Commerce 2009 Economic Forecast Forum
Raleigh, NC --January 5, 2009
http://www.wral.com/news/local/video/4249061/

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“O Max Gardner changed the face of North Carolina in a positive way.  In the tough times, he exercised fiscal discipline, while at the same time focusing on investments in education and workforce development.  He made government more efficient and made it work for the people and in doing so, built a brighter future for North Carolina.”

-Lt. Governor Walter Dalton

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"I checked out more information about Max's authentically illustrious ancestor, Gov. Gardner, at Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oliver_Max_Gardner)  Wonderful.
 
As we know, they didn't need computers to steal elections.  How disgusting that a rival stole an election from Max's ancestor.  Glad he stayed in the game until he was later elected during a crucial time in our history.
 
Can you imagine such thoughtfulness as Gov. Gardner exercised actually being practiced today?  Can you imagine politicians actually paying attention to thoughtful studies nowadays?  And that too in the middle of a great depression, when the temptation to panic or play the know-it-all or demagogue would be paramount.  My God, what a world we have lost.  We have only to look at the current state of the State of California where I live to compare.

I can respect a strongly pro-business man who is honest and upright, even though I do not personally share the pro-business perspective.  And despite his pro-business orientation, Gov. Gardner helped bring workers' compensation to North Carolina.  Workers' comp. is frequently bad-mouthed but it still beats the alternative.  And as much as I respect Max's ancestor, I am glad that the Gardner dynasty has issued forth in somebody as strongly pro-consumer as O. Max Gardner III.

Thanks, Max, for drawing our attention to your ancestor, a historic figure indeed, worthy of emulation."

-Ross S. Heckmann
 Attorney at Law