James "Jamie" McClure Clarke (June 12, 1917 – April 13, 1999) was a

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 ...

politician and farmer. He is a former Democratic member of the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...

. Born in

Manchester, Vermont Manchester is a New England town, town in, and one of two shire towns (county seats) of, Bennington County, Vermont, United States. The population was 4,484 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. Manchester (village), Vermont, Mancheste ...

, Clarke grew up in

Asheville, North Carolina Asheville ( ) is a city in Buncombe County, North Carolina, United States. Located at the confluence of the French Broad River, French Broad and Swannanoa River, Swannanoa rivers, it is the county seat of Buncombe County. It is the most populou ...

. Clarke graduated with an A.B. in history from

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial ...

in 1939 after completing a 78-page long senior thesis titled "The Princetonian: A History of College Life." He then served as a

Lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a Junior officer, junior commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations, as well as fire services, emergency medical services, Security agency, security services ...

in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

in the

Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is bounded by the cont ...

from 1942 to 1945. After his service, Clarke worked as a

dairy farm Dairy farming is a class of agriculture for the long-term production of milk, which is processed (either on the farm or at a dairy plant, either of which may be called a dairy) for the eventual sale of a dairy product. Dairy farming has a h ...

er and

orchard An orchard is an intentional plantation of trees or shrubs that is maintained for food production. Orchards comprise fruit tree, fruit- or nut (fruit), nut-producing trees that are generally grown for commercial production. Orchards are also so ...

ist in western North Carolina. He became president of the Farmers Federation Cooperative in 1956. In 1976, Clarke was elected to 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 ...

as a Democrat. In 1980 he was elected to 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 ...

. In the 1982 election Clarke was elected to the

98th United States Congress The 98th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C., from January 3, 198 ...

representing

North Carolina's 11th congressional district North Carolina's 11th congressional district encompasses most of Western North Carolina. Since January 3, 2023, the congressional district, district has been represented by Chuck Edwards. The 11th district has historically been known for its v ...

. He was reelected to the 100th and 101st Congresses. In Congress, he was known as an advocate for the

environment Environment most often refers to: __NOTOC__ * Natural environment, referring respectively to all living and non-living things occurring naturally and the physical and biological factors along with their chemical interactions that affect an organism ...

. In the 1980s Clarke's congressional campaigns became nationally famous due to his long-running rivalry with Republican

Bill Hendon William Martin Hendon (November 9, 1944 – June 20, 2018) was an American author, POW/MIA activist, and two-term Republican U.S. Congressman from North Carolina's 11th District. Political career In 1980, Hendon ousted two-term incumbent Demo ...

. In 1982 Clarke defeated then-Congressman Hendon by less than 1,500 votes. In 1984 Hendon gained revenge by defeating Clarke's bid for a second term by just two percentage points. In 1986, Clarke defeated Hendon's bid for re-election by only one percentage point. Although Hendon then retired from politics, Clarke's seat remained competitive. In 1988 Republican Charles H. Taylor came within one percentage point of defeating Clarke; in 1990 Taylor unseated Clarke in another close election. Given his age (he was 73 at the time of his loss to Taylor), Clarke decided to retire from politics.

References

External links

James McClure Clarke '39
obituary from ''Princeton Alumni Weekly'' * {{DEFAULTSORT:Clarke, James Macclure 1917 births 1999 deaths United States Navy officers Democratic Party members of the North Carolina House of Representatives Democratic Party North Carolina state senators Politicians from Asheville, North Carolina Princeton University alumni United States Navy personnel of World War II Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from North Carolina School board members in North Carolina People from Manchester, Vermont 20th-century members of the United States House of Representatives 20th-century members of the North Carolina General Assembly