Lemuel Theophilus Jones Jr. (March 15, 1924 – December 17, 1995) was an American politician in the state of

Missouri Missouri is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee ...

. He served in the

Missouri State Senate The Missouri Senate is the upper chamber of the Missouri General Assembly. It has 34 members, representing districts with an average population of 174,000. Its members serve four-year terms, with half the seats being up for election every two yea ...

as a Republican from 1965 to 1975.

Early life

Lemuel Theophilus Jones Jr. was born on March 15, 1924, to Lemuel and Jessie Jones in

Chicago, Illinois (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

. They moved to Kansas City, Missouri in his childhood, where Jones attended local schools, including Southwest High School,

Kansas City Junior College Metropolitan Community College (MCC) is a public community college system in the U.S. state of Missouri. The system consists of five separate campuses in Kansas City, Independence, and Lee's Summit. The campuses had a total enrollment of 15,770 in ...

, and the

University of Kansas The University of Kansas (KU) is a public research university with its main campus in Lawrence, Kansas, United States, and several satellite campuses, research and educational centers, medical centers, and classes across the state of Kansas. Tw ...

. After graduating, Jones was commissioned as an officer in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

, where he served as a pilot during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, reaching the rank of

Lieutenant Commander Lieutenant commander (also hyphenated lieutenant-commander and abbreviated Lt Cdr, LtCdr. or LCDR) is a commissioned officer rank in many navies. The rank is superior to a lieutenant and subordinate to a commander. The corresponding rank i ...

. After the war, he attended the

University of Iowa The University of Iowa (UI, U of I, UIowa, or simply Iowa) is a public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is organized into 12 coll ...

, studying for his

LLB Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the People's Republic of Chi ...

. There, he married Laverne Boes, and the two would go on to have two children, David and Marcia. He then moved back to Kansas City and started a law practice, where he entered local politics with the

Republican Party Republican Party is a name used by many political parties around the world, though the term most commonly refers to the United States' Republican Party. Republican Party may also refer to: Africa *Republican Party (Liberia) *Republican Party ...

Political career

Jones' first foray into politics was when he ran for

U.S. Congress The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is bicameral, composed of a lower body, the House of Representatives, and an upper body, the Senate. It meets in the U.S. Capitol in Washing ...

1956 Events January * January 1 – The Anglo-Egyptian Condominium ends in Sudan. * January 8 – Operation Auca: Five U.S. evangelical Christian missionaries, Nate Saint, Roger Youderian, Ed McCully, Jim Elliot and Pete Fleming, are kille ...

from

Missouri's 5th congressional district Missouri's 5th congressional district has been represented in the United States House of Representatives by Democrat Emanuel Cleaver, the former Mayor of Kansas City, since 2005. The district primarily consists of the inner ring of the Kansas ...

, but he lost the election to

Richard W. Bolling Richard Walker Bolling (May 17, 1916 – April 21, 1991) was a prominent American Democratic Congressman from Kansas City, Missouri, and Missouri's 5th congressional district from 1949 to 1983. He retired after serving for four years as the chai ...

. Despite his loss, he persisted in local politics, serving on the Jackson County Republican Committee from 1962 to 1964 and the St. Louis 9th Ward Republican Committee from 1962 to 1966. He then was elected to the

State Senate A state legislature in the United States is the legislative body of any of the 50 U.S. states. The formal name varies from state to state. In 27 states, the legislature is simply called the ''Legislature'' or the ''State Legislature'', whil ...

in a special election taking place in the 10th district. He was re-elected in 1966 and 1970 but lost his bid for a third term to Democrat

Harry Wiggins Harry Wiggins (August 1, 1932 – July 31, 2004) was an American politician who served in the Missouri Senate. He served in the U.S. Army between 1957 and 1959. On August 18, 1961, he was appointed Assistant United States Attorney for the Wester ...

in 1974. In 1968, Jones ran for Lieutenant Governor of Missouri, winning the Republican primary with 55 percent of the vote. However, he lost the general election to Democrat

William S. Morris William S. Morris (November 8, 1919 – March 4, 1975) was an American politician who served as the 39th Lieutenant Governor of Missouri. He was a member of the Democratic Party. Biography Morris was born in Higginsville, Missouri, to moth ...

Later life

After leaving office, Jones returned to private life. He was as a trustee of Research Medical Center from 1957 to 1991 and a Chairman of the Board of the Research Medical Center College of Nursing until his retirement in 1994. He was also a founder and Chairman of the Board of CGI Long Distance Company, headquartered in

Mission, Kansas Mission is a city in Johnson County, Kansas, United States, and part of the Kansas City Metropolitan Area. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 9,954. History An Indian mission was established in 1829 at the town's site, hence ...

. He died on December 17, 1995, at age 71. He was interred at Mount Moriah Cemetery in Kansas City, Missouri.

Electoral history

, + Missouri's 5th congressional district: 1956 Republican primary ! Year ! ! Subject ! Votes ! % ! ! Opponent ! Votes ! % ! ! Opponent ! Votes ! % , - , 1956 , , , , Lem T. Jones , , 7,605 , , 72.71 , , , , Kenneth Dickey , , 1,983 , , 57.22 , , , , Elizabeth B. Caulk , , 872 , , 8.34 , + Missouri's 5th congressional district: Results 1956 ! Year ! ! Subject ! Party ! Votes ! % ! ! Opponent ! Party ! Votes ! % , - ,

, , , , Lem T. Jones , ,

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or again ...

, , 57,778 , , 42.78 , , , ,

(inc.) , ,

Democratic Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

, , 77,287 , , 57.22 , + Missouri's 10th State Senate district: August 1965 special election ! Year ! ! Subject ! Party ! Votes ! % ! ! Opponent ! Party ! Votes ! % , - , 1965 , , , , Lem T. Jones , ,

, , 9,895 , , 59.27 , , , , John P. Ryan , ,

, , 6,800 , , 40.73 , + Missouri's 10th State Senate district: Results 1966-1974 ! Year ! ! Subject ! Party ! Votes ! % ! ! Opponent ! Party ! Votes ! % , - , 1966 , , , , Lem T. Jones , ,

, , 18,271 , , 53.02 , , , , John A. Biersmith , ,

, , 16,189 , , 46.98 , - , 1970 , , , , Lem T. Jones (inc.) , ,

, , 22,004 , , 55.12 , , , Reynolds D. Rodgers , ,

, , 17,918 , , 44.88 , - , 1974 , , , , Lem T. Jones (inc.) , ,

, , 14,967 , , 40.56 , , ,

, ,

, , 21,931 , , 59.44 , + Missouri Lieutenant Governor: 1968 Republican primary ! Year ! ! Subject ! Votes ! % ! ! Opponent ! Votes ! % ! ! Opponent ! Votes ! % , - , 1968 , , , , Lem T. Jones , , 115,179 , , 55.91 , , , , George R. Hart , , 69,978 , , 33.97 , , , , James Pirtle , , 20,858 , , 10.13 , + Missouri Lieutenant Governor: Results 1968 ! Year ! ! Subject ! Party ! Votes ! % ! ! Opponent ! Party ! Votes ! % , - ,

1968 The year was highlighted by Protests of 1968, protests and other unrests that occurred worldwide. Events January–February * January 5 – "Prague Spring": Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Czechos ...

, , , , Lem T. Jones , ,

, , 733,850 , , 43.03 , , , ,

, ,

, , 971,684 , , 56.97

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, Lem T. Jr. Republican Party Missouri state senators 1924 births 1995 deaths 20th-century American legislators 20th-century Missouri politicians