Malcolm Rice Patterson (June 7, 1861 - March 8, 1935) was Governor of Tennessee from 1907 to 1911.
A native of Alabama, his father was a Confederate cavalry officer. He attended Christian Brothers College (now Christian Brothers University) and Vanderbilt University. He was admitted to the bar in 1883. He was attorney general for Shelby County from 1894 to 1900, and the elected a member of Congress, serving the former Tenth District 1901 - 1907 prior to being the Democratic nominee for governor in 1906. He was the first governor of Tennessee from West Tennessee. He used the State Guard to supress a "Night Rider" movement which had broken out over disputed fishing rights to Reelfoot Lake in West Tennessee. He vetoed the return of statewide Prohibition in 1909; in a rare instance, for the era, of legislative independence, his veto was overridden. He initially intended to seek a third term in 1910 but there was so much political turmoil, particularly within the Democratic Party, regarding the Prohibition issue, that he withdrew from the race for re-election after having already won the nomination, being replaced by United States Senator Alf Taylor.
After his term as governor, Patterson changed his position on Prohibition, becoming an outspoken proponent of it. He resumed the practice of law and for the last eleven years of his life served as a Circuit Court judge.