As we have seen, Georgia Tech defeated Cumberland College in a 1916 football game that ended with the score of 222-0 with Cumberland being on the losing end of the contest.

An interesting footnote to the game has to do with the student chosen by the Cumberland administration to put together a team and fulfill a contract that Georgia Tech refused to ignore.

His name was George Allen, and he was from Boonville, Mississippi. He was extremely outgoing and had a great sense of humor. He was a good speaker and liked to tell stories that had exaggerations sprinkled throughout them.

Allen was 20 years old when he played and coached in the Georgia Tech game, and soon thereafter he graduated from Cumberland with a law degree. After volunteering for military duty in World War I, Allen practiced law briefly.

His forte, however, proved to be in the business world. He eventually gravitated to Washington, D.C., where he managed hotel properties and got himself appointed to the boards of directors of several corporations.

Allen’s greatest asset was always his personality. Before long, he was able to get President Franklin D. Roosevelt to appoint him to the three-member board of commissioners that governed the District of Columbia in those days.

After several years in that position, Roosevelt got Allen involved working for the Democratic National Committee. In time, Allen became chairman of that powerful body.

Allen was instrumental in getting Roosevelt to put Harry Truman on the ticket as his vice-presidential running mate in 1944. When Truman became president the following year, Allen was one of his key advisors.

Many people wondered just what it was about Allen that made him rise to such important positions in the inner circle of these two powerful presidents. Perhaps it was only that he was entertaining and colorful.

Whatever it was, Allen was able to make a smooth transition to being one of Republican president Dwight Eisenhower’s close friends and golfing buddies! When he died in 1977, Allen was worth several million dollars!