Fob James facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Fob James
James in March 1981
48th Governor of Alabama
In office January 16, 1995 – January 18, 1999
Lieutenant	Don Siegelman
Preceded by	Jim Folsom Jr.
Succeeded by	Don Siegelman
In office January 15, 1979 – January 17, 1983
Lieutenant	George McMillan
Preceded by	George Wallace
Succeeded by	George Wallace
Personal details
Born	Forrest Hood James Jr. (1934-09-15) September 15, 1934 (age 89) Lanett, Alabama, U.S.
Political party	Republican (early 1970s–1978, 1994–present)
Other political affiliations	Democratic (before early 1970s, 1978–1994)
Spouse	Bobbie Mooney
Children	4, including Tim James
Profession	Politician, football player, civil engineer
Military service
Allegiance	United States
Branch/service	United States Army
Years of service	1956–1958
Rank	Second lieutenant
Unit	Corps of Engineers

Forrest Hood "Fob" James Jr. (born September 15, 1934) is an American politician, civil engineer, entrepreneur, and former football player. He served as the 48th governor of Alabama, first as a Democrat from 1979–1983, and then as a Republican from 1995–1999.

Education, football, and early career

James as a college student, c. 1956

James was born in Lanett, Alabama, the son of Rebecca (née Ellington) and Forrest Hood James. Named after his father, he was nicknamed "Fob" as a boy. After graduation in 1952 from Baylor School, a private high school in Chattanooga, Tennessee, James entered Auburn University, where he played football for head coach Ralph "Shug" Jordan. In 1955 James was named All-American as a halfback. He received a civil engineering degree in 1957. During the 1956 season, he played professional football in Canada as a member of the Montreal Alouettes. He entered the US Army and served two years as a lieutenant in the Corps of Engineers.

From 1958–59, James worked as a heavy construction engineer with Burford-Toothaker Tractor Company in Montgomery, Alabama. He had married and started a family. In 1959, his second born, Gregory Fleming James, was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis. Needing more money to pay medical bills, James left Montgomery in 1960 to take a job as construction superintendent with Laidlaw Contracting Company, a road-paving company in Mobile.

In 1961, James decided that he could earn a living from the manufacture of plastic-coated barbells. In 1962, he founded Diversified Products Inc., a manufacturer of fitness equipment; it was known for the plastic-disc barbells filled with "Orbatron," which DP patented. The company name was changed to "Diversified Products Corporation" after originally being called Health-Disc Inc. In addition to physical fitness equipment, the company manufactured ballasts and counterweights for farms, industry and trucking. James founded DP in his basement and, over the next 15 years, the company ultimately grew to employ 1,500 people with plants in Opelika, AL; Los Angeles, and Toronto, with sales of about $1 billion annually. James served as the CEO of DP until 1977, when it was bought by the Liggett Group.

James's son Gregory died of cystic fibrosis at the age of eight. In 1981 James established the Gregory Fleming James Cystic Fibrosis Research Center at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, named in his honor. James played an integral role in the establishment of the Center.

From 1972 to 1974, James served as president of the Alabama Citizens for Transportation, a statewide committee that developed a twenty-year highway program. This was subsequently adopted by the Alabama Legislature.

Political career

First term

During his 1978 campaign for governor, James campaigned as a "born-again Democrat". James had left the Democratic Party in the early 1970s but returned to the party before the election. In the first primary, he defeated Alabama Attorney General Bill Baxley, 296,196 votes to 210,089 votes. In the run-off, James easily outdistanced Baxley. In the November general election, he defeated the Republican candidate, Guy Hunt.

During James' first administration, the state faced considerable financial difficulties. James was reasonably successful in attaining his education reform package, improving the state's mental health system, rectifying some prison overcrowding problems and fortifying the once financially strapped Medicaid system. James consolidated various state agencies to reduce state spending. Additionally, he implemented a ten percent State spending cut, instituted a hiring freeze, and laid off a considerable number of the state employee workforce. He also chose to emphasize funding for k-12 education, over that for Alabama's colleges and universities, a highly contested action. ..... He was instrumental in improving state highways as a result of earmarking a substantial amount of money for such improvements from the state's oil windfall funds. James was unsuccessful in his attempts to: have a new state constitution drafted, levy a fuel tax, rectify the court-ordered desegregation of some of the state's post-secondary institutions, and secure passage of his bill to eliminate income tax deductions for Social Security payments.

One of his greatest accomplishments was integrating Alabama government. During his inauguration, he "claim(ed) for all Alabamians a New Beginning (his campaign theme) free from racism and discrimination." During his first term as governor, he nominated Oscar Adams to fill a vacancy on the Alabama Supreme Court, the first African American chosen for such a position. In addition, he appointed other blacks to cabinet positions, including Gary Cooper as director of the Department of Pensions and Security, the first African American in a century to be appointed to lead a major state agency in Alabama.

During his first term, James drew opposition by signing into law a measure passed by the legislature that allowed teachers to lead willing students in prayer. The law was declared unconstitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1985.

Between terms

James's decision not to run again for governor in 1982 eased the way for former governor George Wallace to return to office for a fourth and final term. Out of office, however, James began to yearn for a return to the governorship. He ran but was defeated in both the 1986 and 1990 Democratic primaries.

Living a semi-retired life while out of office, he partnered with his sons in several businesses. He managed and partly owned Orange Beach Marina, served as the CEO of Coastal Erosion Control, a company that worked to prevent coastal erosion; and worked as the CEO of Escambia County Environmental Corporation, which develops landfills and waste incinerators. In the spring of 1994, James's desire to be governor again led him to switch parties again. He qualified at the last moment as a Republican candidate.

First he defeated in a primary and runoff election, Winton Blount, III, of Montgomery and State Senator Ann Bedsole, a moderate Republican from Mobile. Bedsole refused to endorse James in the general election, but he still defeated incumbent Democratic Governor Jim Folsom, Jr., by a narrow margin, and won his second term as governor, this time as a Republican.

Second term

James with President Ronald Reagan in 1981

James governed as a staunch conservative during his second term, reflecting individualistic, states' rights convictions. James "seceded" from the National Governors Association, and was the only state governor to refuse to attend the organization's meetings. In 1981, he designed the Alabama Budget Isolation Process as a hopeful remedy to years of legislative standstills. It is still in effect in the Legislature today.

As governor, James appointed Aubrey Miller, an African American, to head the Alabama Tourism Department. He also appointed Beth Chapman to his cabinet; she was the first woman in Alabama's history to serve as Appointments Secretary.

Education

The Alabama legislature joined James in passing an educational reform package known as the James Educational Foundation Act. This legislation required local school systems that were not already at a minimum level of support to raise local property taxes to 10 mills,. It also increased the number of credit hours in academic subjects that students were required to have in order to graduate. This legislation empowered the state superintendent of education to take control of schools that scored poorly on national achievement tests. Prioritizing K-12 education, James shifted funding from the state's colleges and universities; such action strained relations between higher education and the governor's office.

James refused to accept federal monies from the U.S. Department of Education's Goals 2000 program because he believed that it would lead to increased federal involvement and control over the state's schools. When Secretary of Education Richard Riley promised that the Department of Education would not interfere in the use of the funds, Alabama's state board of education ignored the governor's protests and voted to accept the funding. They used it to purchase computers for K–12 classrooms.

Campaign for a third term

In his campaign for re-election to a third term, James faced strong opposition in the Republican party primary from Winton Blount III, a fellow conservative and a millionaire businessman whom James was documented referring to as a "fat monkey." He sharply criticized James's close ties to the Christian right. James struggled through the bitter Republican primary runoff and defeated Blount, but had little money left to finance the general election campaign. Incumbent Lieutenant Governor Don Siegelman easily won the Democratic primary on the sole issue of establishing a state lottery to provide for college scholarships. James opposed the lottery and was soundly defeated by Siegelman in the 1998 general election. He returned to semi-retirement, saying he wanted to spend more time with his children and grandchildren.

Personal life and family

James and his wife, Bobbie, live in Miami, Florida. As of 2021, Fob James resides in an independent-living apartment in close proximity to the nursing facility where Bobbie James lives. The couple had four children: Greg, who died in the 1960s of cystic fibrosis; Tim, a businessman and three-time candidate for governor of Alabama; Fob III, a trial lawyer; and Patrick, whom Fob and Bobbie James sued in 2015 over allegations of fraud.