James Allen Rhodes (September 13, 1909 – March 4, 2001) was an American attorney and
Republican politician who served as the 61st and 63rd
Governor of Ohio
A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the type of political region or polity, a ''governor'' ma ...
from 1963 to 1971 and from 1975 to 1983. Rhodes was one of only seven U.S. governors to serve four four-year terms in office. Rhodes is tied for the
sixth-longest gubernatorial tenure in post-Constitutional U.S. history at 5,840 days. He also served as Mayor of
Columbus from 1944 to 1952 and Ohio State Auditor from 1953 to 1963.
On May 3, 1970, Rhodes sent
National Guard
National guard is the name used by a wide variety of current and historical uniformed organizations in different countries. The original National Guard was formed during the French Revolution around a cadre of defectors from the French Guards.
...
troops onto the
Kent State University
Kent State University (KSU) is a Public university, public research university in Kent, Ohio, United States. The university includes seven regional campuses in Northeast Ohio located in Kent State University at Ashtabula, Ashtabula, Kent State ...
campus at the request of
Kent, Ohio
Kent is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the largest city in Portage County, Ohio, Portage County. It is located along the Cuyahoga River in Northeast Ohio on the western edge of the county. The population was 28,215 at the 2020 United States ...
mayor
LeRoy Satrom after the
ROTC
The Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC; or ) is a group of college- and university-based officer-training programs for training commissioned officers of the United States Armed Forces.
While ROTC graduate officers serve in all branches o ...
building was burned down by unknown arsonists the previous night. On
May 4
Events Pre-1600
* 1256 – The Augustinian monastic order is constituted at the Lecceto Monastery when Pope Alexander IV issues a papal bull ''Licet ecclesiae catholicae''.
* 1415 – Religious reformer John Wycliffe is condemned a ...
, Guardsmen killed four students and wounded nine others.
Early life and education
Rhodes was born 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
John Llewellyn Lewis (February 12, 1880 – June 11, 1969) was an American leader of Labor unions in the United States, organized labor who served as president of the United Mine Workers, United Mine Workers of America (UMW) from 1920 to 1960. ...
, a prominent Republican union activist. When Rhodes was nine, his father died, and the family moved to north
Springfield where Rhodes graduated from Springfield High School where he played on the football team. Subsequently, the family moved again, this time to
Columbus, because Rhodes earned a modest basketball scholarship to
Ohio State University
The Ohio State University (Ohio State or OSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio, United States. A member of the University System of Ohio, it was founded in 1870. It is one ...
. 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 game
The numbers game, also known as the numbers racket, the Italian lottery, Mafia lottery, or the daily number, is a form of illegal gambling or illegal lottery played mostly in poor and working-class neighborhoods in the United States, wherein a ...
s.
Political career
Mayor of Columbus, 1944–1952
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.
Rhodes's time as mayor is primarily marked by two achievements, with the first being his convincing of 67% of Columbus voters to approve the city's first
income tax
An income tax is a tax imposed on individuals or entities (taxpayers) in respect of the income or profits earned by them (commonly called taxable income). Income tax generally is computed as the product of a tax rate times the taxable income. Tax ...
, and the second being the annexation of much of the surrounding suburbs to Columbus. As surrounding communities grew or were constructed, they came to require access to waterlines, which was under the sole control of the
municipal water system
A water supply network or water supply system is a system of engineered hydrologic and hydraulic components that provide water supply. A water supply system typically includes the following:
# A drainage basin (see Water purification#Sources of ...
. Rhodes told these communities that if they wanted water, they would have to submit to assimilation into Columbus. As a result of this, Columbus, Ohio, currently has the largest land area of any Ohio city.
Governor of Ohio
With an eye on the governorship, Rhodes was elected State Auditor in 1952, and took office in early 1953. In 1954, Rhodes ran against the popular incumbent,
Democratic governor
Frank Lausche, and lost by a 54% to 46% margin. In 1962, Rhodes ran again for governor – this time against Democratic incumbent
Mike DiSalle. Rhodes's campaign centered on "jobs and progress," and in speeches Rhodes routinely claimed that an increase in jobs would lead to a decrease in everything from crime and divorce, to mental illness. Rhodes also made DiSalle's tax increases, such as the
gas tax, a prominent part of his campaign. Rhodes also weathered a minor scandal when Democratic State Chairman alleged that Rhodes diverted and borrowed a total of $54,000 from his campaign funds. During a debate, both Rhodes and DiSalle agreed that this was, "the most vicious campaign
fthe Ohio governorship." On November 6, 1962, Ohioans voted Rhodes into the governorship with 59% of the vote.

Rhodes served two terms as governor, and he also was a "
favorite son" presidential candidate who controlled the Ohio delegation to the Republican National Conventions in 1964 and 1968, before retiring in 1971. He ran for the
U.S. Senate
The United States Senate is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and House have the authority under Article One of the ...
in 1970 and narrowly lost, to
U.S. Representative
The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the 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 Article One of th ...
Robert Taft Jr., in the primary election, which was two days after the events at Kent State.
Rhodes oversaw the last two (by
electrocution
Electrocution is death or severe injury caused by electric shock from electric current passing through the body. The word is derived from "electro" and "execution", but it is also used for accidental death.
The term "electrocution" was coined ...
)
pre-Furman executions in
Ohio
Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...
, which were both in early 1963, before Ohio resumed executions in 1999. In 1983 Rhodes pardoned boxing promoter
Don King for a 1967 non‐negligent manslaughter conviction of stomping one of his employees to death.
Rhodes championed a county airport program which, after being passed by voters in 1965, saw the construction of 50 airports throughout the state.
At a news conference in
Kent, Ohio
Kent is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the largest city in Portage County, Ohio, Portage County. It is located along the Cuyahoga River in Northeast Ohio on the western edge of the county. The population was 28,215 at the 2020 United States ...
, on Sunday May 3, 1970, the day before the Kent State shootings, he said of campus protesters:
They're worse than the Brownshirts, and the Communist element, and also the Night Riders, and the vigilante
Vigilantism () is the act of preventing, investigating, and punishing perceived offenses and crimes without legal authority.
A vigilante is a person who practices or partakes in vigilantism, or undertakes public safety and retributive justice ...
s. They're the worst type of people that we harbor in America.
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
Secretary of State. Rhodes sued, and the
Ohio Supreme Court
The Supreme Court of the State of Ohio is the highest court in the U.S. state of Ohio, with final authority over interpretations of Ohio law and the Ohio Constitution. The court has seven members, a chief justice and six associate justices, ...
ruled that the limitation was on consecutive terms, thus freeing him to return to office by narrowly defeating incumbent
John Gilligan in an upset in the 1974 election. He served two more terms before retiring again in 1983. During the energy crisis of the winter of 1976–77, Rhodes led a 15-minute service, in which he "beseech
dGod to relieve the storm."
The next year, January 1978, amid a
blizzard
A blizzard is a severe Winter storm, snowstorm characterized by strong sustained winds and low visibility, lasting for a prolonged period of time—typically at least three or four hours. A ground blizzard is a weather condition where snow th ...
which dropped 31 inches of snow onto Ohio and killed 60 people in the Northeast, Rhodes called the storm "the greatest disaster in Ohio history."
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.
After
relations between the United States and People's Republic of China normalized in 1979, Rhodes sought to encourage economic ties, viewing China as a potential market for Ohio machinery exports for companies like
Timken Company
The Timken Company is a global manufacturer of bearings and power transmission products. Timken operates from 42 countries.
Company history
In 1898, Henry Timken obtained a patent for an improved tapered roller bearing, and in 1899 incorpo ...
and
Parker Hannifin.
In July 1979, Rhodes led a State of Ohio
Trade Mission to China.
Among other leaders, Rhodes met with Vice Premier
Yu Qiuli
Yu Qiuli (; 15 November 1914 – 3 February 1999) was a Chinese Communist army officer and politician, general of the People's Liberation Army. A veteran of the Long March, he held top military and government positions under both Mao Zedong and ...
.
The trip resulted in developing economic ties, a sister state-province relationship with
Hubei province
Hubei is a province in Central China. It has the seventh-largest economy among Chinese provinces, the second-largest within Central China, and the third-largest among inland provinces. Its provincial capital at Wuhan serves as a major politi ...
, long-running Chinese exhibitions at the
Ohio State Fair, and major academic exchanges between Ohio State University and
Wuhan University
Wuhan University (WHU; 武汉大学) is a key comprehensive public university in Wuhan, Hubei, China. It is directly affiliated with and funded by the Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China, Ministry of Education of China. The un ...
.
Rhodes also developed the view that Chinese investment in Ohio would be beneficial for the state.
Rhodes ran for the governorship again in 1986, seeking a record-breaking fifth term, but soundly lost to the incumbent
Dick Celeste, whom Rhodes had narrowly defeated in his last successful gubernatorial bid in 1978.
Literary
Rhodes co-authored stories of historical fiction with Dean Jauchius, including ''The Trial of Mary Todd Lincoln'', ''The Court-Martial of Oliver Hazard Perry'' and ''Johnny Shiloh, a novel of the Civil War''.
The last was adapted to a 1963 television movie by
Walt Disney
Walter Elias Disney ( ; December 5, 1901December 15, 1966) was an American animator, film producer, voice actor, and entrepreneur. A pioneer of the Golden age of American animation, American animation industry, he introduced several develop ...
, also called ''
Johnny Shiloh'', for which Rhodes received writer's credit.
Personal life
From 1941 to her death in 1987, Rhodes was married to Helen Rawlins. They had three children.
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 at
Ohio State University Medical Center in Columbus of heart issues.
He is interred at
Green Lawn Cemetery, Columbus, Ohio.
Legacy
Numerous buildings and sites around the state have been named in Rhodes's honor, including:
*The
James A. Rhodes State Office Tower – the tallest building in Columbus
*
Statue
A statue is a free-standing sculpture in which the realistic, full-length figures of persons or animals are carved or Casting (metalworking), cast in a durable material such as wood, metal or stone. Typical statues are life-sized or close to ...
in front of namesake office tower in Columbus
*
Cleveland State University
Cleveland State University (CSU) is a public research university in Cleveland, Ohio, United States. It was established in 1964 and opened for classes in 1965 after acquiring the entirety of Fenn College, a private school that had been in oper ...
's
Rhodes Tower in
Cleveland
Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–U.S. maritime border and approximately west of the Ohio-Pennsylvania st ...
*
The Ohio State University Medical Center's Rhodes Hall - the main building of
University Hospital
A teaching hospital or university hospital is a hospital or medical center that provides medical education and training to future and current health professionals. Teaching hospitals are almost always affiliated with one or more universities a ...
*The
James A. Rhodes Arena (locally nicknamed as "The JAR") at the
University of Akron
The University of Akron is a public university, public research university in Akron, Ohio, United States. It is part of the University System of Ohio. As a STEM fields, STEM-focused institution, it focuses on industries such as polymers, advance ...
*
James A. Rhodes State College in
Lima, Ohio
Lima ( ) is a city in Allen County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city had a population of 35,579. It is located in northwest Ohio along Interstate 75 in Ohio, Interstate 75, appr ...
.
*The Rhodes Center at the Ohio Expo Center and
State Fair
A state fair is an annual competitive and recreational gathering of a U.S. state's population, usually held in late summer or early fall. It is a larger version of a county fair, often including only exhibits or competitors that have won in t ...
in Columbus
*The James A. Rhodes Appalachian Highway,
Ohio State Route 32
State Route 32 (SR 32), also known as the James A. Rhodes Appalachian Highway, is a major east–west highway across the southern portion of the U.S. state of Ohio. It is the eighth longest state route in Ohio, spanning southern Oh ...
*The James A. Rhodes Athletic Center,
Shawnee State University
Shawnee State University (SSU) is a public university in Portsmouth, Ohio, United States, established in 1986. It is the southernmost member of the University System of Ohio.
History
Although its roots date back to 1945 when Ohio University est ...
*James A. Rhodes Airport, in Jackson, Ohio
Electoral history
1962 election
Jim Rhodes won the gubernatorial election, defeating sitting
Governor
A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...
Michael DiSalle 58.92% to 41.08%.
1966 election
Jim Rhodes won a second term, defeating
Frazier Reams Jr. 62.18% to 37.82%
1974 election
Jim Rhodes won a third term, defeating sitting
Governor
A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...
John J. Gilligan 48.62% to 48.25%.
1978 election
Jim Rhodes won a fourth term, defeating
Dick Celeste 49.31% to 47.64%.
1986 election
Jim Rhodes sought a fifth term at the age of seventy-seven, losing to sitting
Governor
A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...
Dick Celeste 39.4% to 60.6%. This was his last campaign for Governor.
Notes
References
Bibliography
*
*
External links
*
*
Jim Rhodesat ''
Political Graveyard
The Political Graveyard is a website and database that catalogues information on more than 277,000 American political figures and political families, along with other information. The name comes from the website's inclusion of burial locations o ...
''
Ohio Expo CenterOhio State Fair
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rhodes, Jim
1909 births
2001 deaths
20th-century American businesspeople
20th-century mayors of places in Ohio
American anti-communists
American people of Welsh descent
Burials at Green Lawn Cemetery (Columbus, Ohio)
Businesspeople from Ohio
Republican Party governors of Ohio
Mayors of Columbus, Ohio
Ohio State University alumni
People from Jackson County, Ohio
School board members in Ohio
Ohio state auditors
Candidates in the 1964 United States presidential election
Candidates in the 1968 United States presidential election
Writers from Columbus, Ohio