James Davis Speed (January 30, 1915 – June 14, 2006) was an American

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

. He served as a Democratic member of the

North Carolina House of Representatives The North Carolina House of Representatives is one of the two houses of the North Carolina General Assembly. The House is a 120-member body led by a Speaker of the North Carolina House of Representatives, Speaker of the House, who holds powers si ...

. He also served as a member for the

7th Seventh is the ordinal form of the number seven. Seventh may refer to: * Seventh Amendment to the United States Constitution * A fraction (mathematics), , equal to one of seven equal parts Film and television *"The Seventh", a second-season ep ...

and 11th district of the

North Carolina Senate The North Carolina Senate is the Upper house, upper chamber of the North Carolina General Assembly, which along with the North Carolina House of Representatives—the lower chamber—comprises the state legislature of North Carolina. The Senate ...

. Speed was the son of Addie Jeffreys and Henry Plummer Speed. He attended at the Gold Sand High School. Speed worked as a cowman on his family’s farm, and regarded himself primarily as a farmer. In 1961, Speed was elected to the

, serving until 1972. In 1977, he was elected to represent the 7th district in the

. In 1983 he was moved to the 11th district, replacing R. C. Soles Jr. who was moved to the 18th district. In December 1996, he retired from the Senate, to be replaced by Allen Wellons. He was honored with numerous

award An award, sometimes called a distinction, is given to a recipient as a token of recognition of excellence in a certain field. When the token is a medal, ribbon or other item designed for wearing, it is known as a decoration. An award may be d ...

s in

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

. Speed died in June 2006, at the age of 91.

References

1915 births 2006 deaths Democratic Party members of the North Carolina House of Representatives Democratic Party North Carolina state senators 20th-century members of the North Carolina General Assembly {{NorthCarolina-politician-stub