Fob James

James and his wife, Bobbie, live in Miami, Florida. As of 2021, Fob James resides in an independent-living apartment in close proximity to the nursing facility where Bobbie James lives. The couple had four children: Greg, who died in the 1960s of cystic fibrosis; Tim, a businessman and three-time candidate for governor of Alabama; Fob III, a trial lawyer; and Patrick, whom Fob and Bobbie James sued in 2015 over allegations of fraud.

James refused to accept federal monies from the U.S. Department of Education's Goals 2000 program because he believed that it would lead to increased federal involvement and control over the state's schools. When Secretary of Education Richard Riley promised that the Department of Education would not interfere in the use of the funds, Alabama's state board of education ignored the governor's protests and voted to accept the funding. They used it to purchase computers for K–12 classrooms.

In his campaign for re-election to a third term, James faced strong opposition in the Republican party primary from Winton Blount III, a fellow conservative and a millionaire businessman whom James was documented referring to as a "fat monkey." He sharply criticized James's close ties to the Christian right. James struggled through the bitter Republican primary runoff and defeated Blount, but had little money left to finance the general election campaign. Incumbent Lieutenant Governor Don Siegelman easily won the Democratic primary on the sole issue of establishing a state lottery to provide for college scholarships. James opposed the lottery and was soundly defeated by Siegelman in the 1998 general election. He returned to semi-retirement, saying he wanted to spend more time with his children and grandchildren.

In October 1997, Judge DeMent issued another sweeping order forbidding certain religious practices in DeKalb County's public schools, which also aroused controversy. James verbally attacked DeMent's order as yet another illegitimate intrusion by federal courts into local affairs. The judge's order was, in part, reversed shortly after James left office, allowing students at their own choice to hold religious meetings on school grounds.

The Governor approved other markedly racist policies instituted by Jones, but he balked at the commissioner's suggestion that chain gangs be extended to include female prisoners. James put an end to the chain gang in June 1996, because of a lawsuit brought by a coalition of community human rights groups. Regarding crime issues, James cited as one of his "major accomplishments" the revision of the Alabama Criminal Code, which made it one of the toughest in the U.S.

James was frequently criticized for expressing too much of his religious beliefs in his governing. At a 1995 Alabama State Board of Education meeting, James criticized the teaching of evolution in textbooks by imitating a "slump-shouldered ape turning into an upright human". He supported the adoption of a textbook warning sticker that said, among other things, that "No one was present when life first appeared on earth. Therefore, any statement about life's origins should be considered as theory, not fact."

Living a semi-retired life while out of office, he partnered with his sons in several businesses. He managed and partly owned Orange Beach Marina, served as the CEO of Coastal Erosion Control, a company that worked to prevent coastal erosion; and worked as the CEO of Escambia County Environmental Corporation, which develops landfills and waste incinerators. In the spring of 1994, James's desire to be governor again led him to switch parties again. He qualified at the last moment as a Republican candidate.

During his first term, James drew opposition by signing into law a measure passed by the legislature that allowed teachers to lead willing students in prayer. The law was declared unconstitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1985.

During his second term James, who firmly supported the death penalty, presided over seven executions by electric chair. (Alabama resumed executions in 1983.) However, in one of his last official acts as governor, James commuted the death sentence of Judith Ann Neelley to life in prison. This remains, as of 2008, the only post-Furman commutation of a death sentence by a governor in Alabama. James explained that, in his view, executing Neelley would not have been just. His reason was that the Neeley case was the only time he had seen a judge overrule the jury's unanimous decision to impose life imprisonment by issuing a death penalty. But Alabama has more than one judge who has made his reputation on imposing the death penalty against jury votes.

James's decision not to run again for governor in 1982 eased the way for former governor George Wallace to return to office for a fourth and final term. Out of office, however, James began to yearn for a return to the governorship. He ran but was defeated in both the 1986 and 1990 Democratic primaries.

James's son Gregory died of cystic fibrosis at the age of eight. In 1981 James established the Gregory Fleming James Cystic Fibrosis Research Center at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, named in his honor. James played an integral role in the establishment of the center.

James governed as a staunch conservative during his second term, reflecting individualistic, states' rights convictions. James "seceded" from the National Governors Association, and was the only state governor to refuse to attend the organization's meetings. In 1981, he designed the Alabama Budget Isolation Process as a hopeful remedy to years of legislative standstills. It is still in effect in the Legislature today.

During his 1978 campaign for governor, James campaigned as a "born-again Democrat". James had left the Democratic Party in the early 1970s but returned to the party before the election. In the first primary, he defeated Alabama Attorney General Bill Baxley, 296,196 votes to 210,089 votes. In the run-off, James easily outdistanced Baxley. In the November general election, he defeated the Republican candidate, Guy Hunt.

From 1972 to 1974, James served as president of the Alabama Citizens for Transportation, a statewide committee that developed a twenty-year highway program. This was subsequently adopted by the Alabama Legislature.

James helped arrange a State of Alabama-paid voluntary return to the US of Lester Coleman, a former journalist accused by the federal government of committing perjury, who had been residing in Europe. According to Redding Pitt, a federal government attorney from Montgomery, Alabama, Coleman called James, an acquaintance from the 1970s, for help in his case. Coleman promoted alternative theories regarding the Lockerbie bombing. His perjury charges stemmed from his statements about that incident. Joe Boohaker, Coleman's attorney, said that James apparently knew Coleman from when the latter man had worked at a Birmingham, Alabama radio station.

In 1961, James decided that he could earn a living from the manufacture of plastic-coated barbells. In 1962, he founded Diversified Products Inc., a manufacturer of fitness equipment; it was known for the plastic-disc barbells filled with "Orbatron," which DP patented. The company name was changed to "Diversified Products Corporation" after originally being called Health-Disc Inc. In addition to physical fitness equipment, the company manufactured ballasts and counterweights for farms, industry and trucking. James founded DP in his basement and, over the next 15 years, the company ultimately grew to employ 1,500 people with plants in Opelika, AL; Los Angeles, and Toronto, with sales of about $1 billion annually. James served as the CEO of DP until 1977, when it was bought by the Liggett Group.

From 1958 to 1959, James worked as a heavy construction engineer with Burford-Toothaker Tractor Company in Montgomery, Alabama. He had married and started a family. In 1959, his second born, Gregory Fleming James, was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis. Needing more money to pay medical bills, James left Montgomery in 1960 to take a job as construction superintendent with Laidlaw Contracting Company, a road-paving company in Mobile.

James was born in Lanett, Alabama, the son of Rebecca (née Ellington) and Forrest Hood James. Named after his father, he was nicknamed "Fob" as a boy. After graduation in 1952 from Baylor School, a private high school in Chattanooga, Tennessee, James entered Auburn University, where he played football for head coach Ralph "Shug" Jordan. In 1955 James was named All-American as a halfback. He received a civil engineering degree in 1957. During the 1956 season, he played professional football in Canada as a member of the Montreal Alouettes. He entered the US Army and served two years as a lieutenant in the Corps of Engineers.

Forrest Hood "Fob" James Jr. (born September 15, 1934) is an American civil engineer, entrepreneur, football player, and politician. He served as the 48th governor of Alabama, first as a Democrat, 1979–1983, and secondly as a Republican, 1995–1999.