James Lindsay Almond

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James Lindsay Almond

James Lindsay Almond (born June 15, 1898 in Charlottesville , Virginia , †  April 15, 1986 in Richmond , Virginia) was an American lawyer and politician . He was governor of Virginia from 1958 to 1962 ; previously he represented this state from 1946 to 1948 in the US House of Representatives .

Early years and political advancement

James Almond attended the University of Virginia after elementary school . During the First World War he was in a US Army training camp from 1917 to 1918 . It was not used in the war itself. After that he worked temporarily as a teacher. He then continued his law degree at the University of Virginia. After his admission to the bar in 1923, he began to work in Roanoke in his new profession.

Almond became a member of the Democratic Party . Between 1930 and 1933 he was the Assistant Attorney General of Virginia and from 1933 to 1945 he was a judge in Roanoke. After the resignation of Congressman Clifton A. Woodrum , Almond was elected as his successor to the US House of Representatives, where he remained from January 22, 1946 to April 17, 1948. That day he stepped down because he had been elected Attorney General for his state. He held this office until August 28, 1957.

Governor of Virginia

In 1957, Almond was elected the new governor of his state, with 63.2 percent of the vote against Republican Ted Dalton. He began his four-year term on January 11, 1958. His main concern was the integration of the African American children in regular schools along with the white students. In Virginia and other southern states, this was met with strict rejection in some cases. The main opponents of the desegregation included US Senator Harry F. Byrd and the Governor of Arkansas , Orval Faubus . Despite this opposition, the governor gradually got his way through with his program. He realized that these measures could not be resisted. Old laws that forbade this have been changed. By advocating desegregation, the governor drew the hostility of Senator Byrd and his political machinery.

During Almond's tenure, the accident and unemployment insurance conditions for workers were also improved. The teachers received salary increases and improved pensions. In 1960, Almond was a delegate to the Democratic National Convention in Los Angeles , where John F. Kennedy was nominated as the party's presidential candidate. During the election campaign he supported Kennedy, who was then elected president.

Another résumé

After his governorship ended, James Almond was named a federal judge on the United States Court of Customs and Patent Appeals by President Kennedy . This appointment was long blocked by Harry Byrd in the US Senate . Eventually, an absence of the senator was used to get the approval of the plenary. Almond moved to the District of Columbia federal appeals court in 1982 , where he remained until his death in April 1986.

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