Fob James

Forrest Hood "Fob" James, Jr. (born September 15, 1934 in Lanett , Chambers County , Alabama ) is a retired American politician who served twice as governor of Alabama . He was a member of both the Democratic Party and the Republicans .

Early years and political advancement

Fob James attended Lanett Public School and Baylor Military Academy in Chattanooga , Tennessee . He received his Bachelor of Science degree in civil engineering from the Auburn Polytechnic Institute , where he played as a halfback on the Auburn Tigers football team . After graduating, he was a professional with the Montreal Alouettes in the Canadian Football League , before joining the US Army for two years and serving as a lieutenant in the United States Army Corps of Engineers . After serving in the military, he returned to Alabama, where he worked as a construction inspector until 1962, when he opened a sports equipment store.

Governor of Alabama

James moved from the Republican Party to the Democrats in 1978, then ran for governor of Alabama, defeating Republican candidate Guy Hunt . The state faced considerable problems during his first term, but James was reasonably successful with his educational reform package, improved the mental health system and the overcrowding problem in some prisons, and resumed the previously financially troubled Medicaid system. James united government offices to reduce government spending and worked on tougher penalties for convicted drug traffickers. However, his efforts to draft a new state constitution were unsuccessful, levied a gasoline tax for it, implemented the court-ordered repeal of racial segregation ( desegregation ) in some of the state subordinate institutions and secured the passage of his draft law to eliminate income tax deductions for social assistance payments. During the state economic downturn, James realized a 10 percent cut in spending, implemented a hiring freeze, and temporarily laid off a significant number of the state workforce. He was also quite helpful with the development of the state highways, resulting from the earmarking of a fixed amount of money for such developments from the state Oil Windfall Fund.

Governor James ran for re-election in 1982 and lost to his opponent George Wallace , but came back to office after the November 1994 election after rejoining the Republicans. He is married to Bobbie Mooney and they have three children together.

Creationism and Film

In the documentary Break the Science Barrier by evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins , a scene is shown where James, who rejects evolution , imitates the walk of a prehistoric man at a 1995 meeting of the Alabama State Board of Education in order to mock the prevailing doctrine of science do. He supported a policy that included a warning in biology textbooks that said: No one was present when life came into being on earth, so anything relating to the origin of life must be viewed as theory, not fact.

literature

• Governors of the American States, Territories and Commonwealths , National Governors' Association, 1997.

Web links

• Forrest James at the National Governors Association (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Encyclopedia of Alabama , accessed August 28, 2013.
2. ↑ Alabama Citizens for Science Education ( Memento January 3, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) (English).