James Allen Rhodes (September 13, 1909 – March 4, 2001) was an American politician who served as the 61st and 63rd governor of Ohio from 1963 to 1971 and again from 1975 to 1983. A member of the Republican Party, he also served as the mayor of Columbus, Ohio, from 1944 to 1952, and as Ohio State Auditor from 1953 to 1963. Rhodes was one of only seven U.S. governors to serve four four-year terms in office and is tied for the sixth-longest gubernatorial tenure in post-Constitutional U.S. history at 5,840 days.

Rhodes's tenure as governor had an emphasis on developing infrastructure and higher education in Ohio. In 1970, Rhodes sent Ohio Army National Guard troops on to the Kent State University campus at the request of Mayor LeRoy Satrom, resulting in the Kent State shootings where guardsmen killed four students and wounded nine others. His administrations also increased international trade initiatives, particularly in China–United States relations during the late 1970s.

Early life and education

thumb|Rhodes's birthplace in [[Coalton, Ohio]]

Rhodes was born on September 13, 1909 in Coalton, Ohio, to James and Susan Howe Rhodes, who were of Welsh descent. Rhodes has commented that the reason he and his family were Republicans was because of the respect his father, a mine superintendent, had for John L. Lewis, a prominent Republican union activist. When Rhodes was nine, his father died, and the family moved north to Springfield, Ohio, where Rhodes graduated from Springfield High School and played on the football team. Subsequently, the family moved again to Columbus, Ohio, because Rhodes earned a modest basketball scholarship to Ohio State University<!--Wikipedians do not use "The" as part of Ohio State's name; it is considered a marketing gimmick, and routinely deleted.-->. Although Rhodes dropped out after his first quarter, he is often described as a "student" or "alumnus" of Ohio State.

After dropping out of college, Rhodes opened a business called Jim's Place across from the university on North High Street. Jim's Place has been described as a place where one could buy anything, from doughnuts and hamburgers to stag film, or place bets on numbers games.

Career

Mayor of Columbus and Ohio State Auditor (1944–1963)

thumb|Rhodes (center), serving as state auditor, greeting Vice President [[Richard Nixon alongside Senator John W. Bricker in 1954 during Rhodes's first gubernatorial campaign.]]

In 1934, Rhodes began to use his position as a local businessman to climb up the Columbus political ladder, starting on a ward committee. In 1937, Rhodes won his first elected office as a member of the Columbus Board of Education. He was then twice elected as Columbus city auditor in 1939 and 1941. Then in 1943, Rhodes was elected as Mayor of Columbus, becoming the youngest major city mayor in the U.S. at age 34. He also served as a "favorite son" presidential candidate who controlled the Ohio delegation at the 1964 Republican National Convention and the 1968 Republican National Convention.

In 1965, Rhodes championed a county airport program approved by voters that led to the construction of 50 airports across Ohio. The program provided an initial $100,000 for paved runways of at least . Rhodes then dedicated many of these airport by flying in to them in a C-53.

In 1970, Rhodes ran for the U.S. Senate and narrowly lost the Republican primary to Representative Robert Taft Jr. two days after the events at Kent State shootings. Rhodes had sent Ohio Army National Guard troops on to the Kent State University campus at the request of Mayor LeRoy Satrom. On May 3, 1970, the day before the shootings, Rhodes stated at a news conference in Kent that campus protesters were "worse than the Brownshirts, and the Communist element, and also the Night Riders, and the vigilantes. They're the worst type of people that we harbor in America." Rhodes retired from the governorship in 1971 after serving two consecutive terms.

Since the Ohio Constitution limits the governor to two four-year terms, when Rhodes initially filed to run again in 1974, his petitions were refused by the Ohio Secretary of State. Rhodes sued, and the Ohio Supreme Court ruled that the limitation applied only to consecutive terms. Rhodes then narrowly defeated incumbent Democratic governor John J. Gilligan in the 1974 Ohio gubernatorial election and returned to office.

During the energy crisis of the winter of 1976–77, Rhodes led a 15-minute service, in which he "beseech[ed] God to relieve the storm." On August 16, 1977, Rhodes was hit in the face and shoulder with a banana cream pie thrown by Steve Conliff, as about 25 young people disrupted the opening of the Ohio State Fair. Conliff then ran unsuccessfully against Rhodes for the Republican nomination. In January 1978, amid a blizzard which dropped 31&nbsp;inches of snow onto Ohio and killed 60 people in the Northeast, Rhodes called the storm "the greatest disaster in Ohio history." In July 1979, Rhodes led a State of Ohio Trade Mission to China. Rhodes retired from office again in 1983 after serving four terms as governor. He sought a record-breaking fifth term in the 1986 Ohio gubernatorial election but lost decisively in a rematch against Governor Dick Celeste, who had succeeded him in 1983.

Personal life

From 1941 to her death in 1987, Rhodes was married to Helen Rawlins. They had three children. The last was adapted to a 1963 television movie by Walt Disney, also called Johnny Shiloh, for which Rhodes received writer's credit.

In 1995, Rhodes suffered a stroke, resulting in him needing to use a wheelchair. He was hospitalized due to pneumonia in December 2000 and January 2001. On March 4, 2001, Rhodes died of heart issues at the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center in Columbus. He is interred at Green Lawn Cemetery in Columbus.

Legacy

Numerous buildings and sites around the state have been named in Rhodes's honor, including:

  • The Rhodes State Office Tower, the tallest building in Columbus
  • Governor James A. Rhodes, a statue in front of his namesake office tower in Columbus
  • Ohio State Route 32, also designated the James A. Rhodes Appalachian Highway
  • James A. Rhodes State College in Lima, Ohio
  • Rhodes Tower, a high-rise building on the campus of Cleveland State University
  • Rhodes Hall, the main building of University Hospital at the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center
  • James A. Rhodes Arena (locally nicknamed as "The JAR") at the University of Akron
  • James A. Rhodes Athletic Center at Shawnee State University
  • Rhodes Center at the Ohio Expo Center and Ohio State Fair in Columbus
  • James A. Rhodes Airport in Jackson, Ohio

Electoral history

Notes

References

Bibliography

  • Jim Rhodes at Political Graveyard
  • Ohio Expo Center
  • Ohio State Fair