James Blanchard

James Johnston "Jim" Blanchard ( born August 8, 1942 in Detroit, Michigan) is an American politician. He was from 1983 to 1991 the 45th Governor of the State of Michigan.

Early years and political rise

James Blanchard attended the public schools in Ferndale. Then he studied until 1965 at Michigan State University. After studying law at the University of Minnesota, he was admitted in 1968 as a lawyer. Then he started in Lansing to work in his new profession.

Between 1968 and 1969 he was legal adviser to the Secretary of State of Michigan, and from 1970 to 1973 he was deputy attorney general of his state. In 1974 he worked in the meantime for the law firm of Beer and Boltz in Bloomfield Hills. Between 1975 and 1983 he represented his state in the U.S. House of Representatives in Washington. In 1982 he was elected as a candidate of the Democratic Party as the new governor of Michigan. He scored 51.4 percent of the vote, defeating Republican Richard Headlee ( 45.1 percent).

Governor of Michigan

Blanchard took up his new post on 1 January 1983. After a re-election in 1986, he decided with 68.1 percent of the vote against William Lucas for himself, he was able to exercise it until 1 January 1991. At the beginning of his tenure, there was a dispute over the appointment of Dorothy Riley to a judge at the State Supreme Court. This appointment had yet been made by Blanchard's predecessor William Milliken in his last weeks in office. Blanchard was of the opinion that he would have to make the appointment. The majority of the other judges of the Supreme Court followed him and the appointment has been revoked. Blanchard replaced Riley then by another judge. But Riley in 1984 but was then elected to this court. In 1990, Blanchard was defeated in the gubernatorial elections the Republican John Engler. Then he had to give up his position on 1 January 1991.

Further CV

In 1993, James Blanchard of President Bill Clinton was appointed as the successor of Peter Teeley to the U.S. Ambassador to Canada. This office he held until 1996. In 2002 he applied unsuccessfully for a return to the governorship. This time he had already failed in the primaries of his own party to Jennifer Granholm. James Blanchard was married twice and has one child.

Honors

The Michigan State University awarded him an honorary doctorate in 1983.

Governor (United States) Ferndale (Michigan) Lansing, Michigan Bloomfield Hills, Michigan Ambassadors of the United States Michigan Territory William Woodbridge Solomon Sibley Gabriel Richard Austin Eli Wing John Biddle (Michigan politician) George W. Jones Isaac E. Crary Jacob M. Howard Robert McClelland (American politician) Alexander W. Buel Ebenezer J. Penniman David Stuart (Michigan politician) William Alanson Howard George B. Cooper Bradley F. Granger Fernando C. Beaman Henry Waldron Moses W. Field Alpheus S. Williams John Stoughton Newberry Henry W. Lord William C. Maybury John Logan Chipman Levi T. Griffin John Blaisdell Corliss Alfred Lucking Edwin Denby (politician) Frank Ellsworth Doremus George P. Codd Robert H. Clancy John B. Sosnowski George G. Sadowski Rudolph G. Tenerowicz Lucien N. Nedzi John Conyers Bart Stupak John Smith Chipman Edward Bradley (politician) Charles E. Stuart David A. Noble Charles Upson William L. Stoughton Edwin Willits Nathaniel B. Eldredge Edward P. Allen James S. Gorman George Spalding Henry C. Smith Charles E. Townsend William Wedemeyer Mark R. Bacon Earl C. Michener John C. Lehr George Meader Weston E. Vivian Bill Huizenga James B. Hunt James L. Conger Samuel Clark David S. Walbridge Francis William Kellogg John W. Longyear Austin Blair George Willard Jonas H. McGowan Edward S. Lacey Alfred Milnes Albert M. Todd Washington Gardner John M. C. Smith Arthur B. Williams Joseph L. Hooper Henry M. Kimball Verner Main Paul W. Shafer August E. Johansen Paul H. Todd, Jr. Garry E. Brown Howard Wolpe Paul B. Henry Vern Ehlers Hestor L. Stevens George Washington Peck DeWitt C. Leach Rowland E. Trowbridge Thomas W. Ferry Wilder D. Foster Allen Potter Edwin W. Keightley George L. Yaple Henry F. Thomas Edward L. Hamilton John C. Ketcham George Ernest Foulkes Clare Hoffman J. Edward Hutchinson David Stockman Mark D. Siljander Fred Upton Augustus C. Baldwin William B. Williams (politician) John W. Stone George W. Webber Julius Houseman Charles C. Comstock Melbourne H. Ford Charles E. Belknap George F. Richardson William Alden Smith Edwin F. Sweet Carl E. Mapes Bartel J. Jonkman Gerald Ford Richard Vander Veen Harold S. Sawyer James A. Barcia Dale Kildee Dan Kildee John F. Driggs Randolph Strickland Jabez G. Sutherland George H. Durand Mark S. Brewer Oliver L. Spaulding Edwin B. Winans (politician) Byron G. Stout David D. Aitken Samuel William Smith Patrick H. Kelley Grant M. Hudson Seymour H. Person Claude E. Cady William W. Blackney Andrew J. Transue Kit Clardy Donald Hayworth Charles E. Chamberlain Milton Robert Carr James Whitney Dunn John Tyler Rich Ezra C. Carleton Justin Rice Whiting Horace G. Snover Edgar Weeks Henry McMorran Jesse P. Wolcott Robert J. McIntosh John C. Mackie Donald W. Riegle, Jr. Nick Smith (U.S. politician) Joe Schwarz Tim Walberg Mark Schauer Nathan B. Bradley Charles C. Ellsworth Roswell G. Horr Timothy E. Tarsney Henry M. Youmans William S. Linton Ferdinand Brucker Bird J. Vincent Michael J. Hart Fred L. Crawford Alvin Morell Bentley R. James Harvey J. Bob Traxler Dick Chrysler Debbie Stabenow Mike Rogers (Michigan politician) Jay Abel Hubbell Byron M. Cutcheon Harrison H. Wheeler John W. Moon Roswell P. Bishop James C. McLaughlin Harry W. Musselwhite Albert J. Engel Ruth Thompson Guy Vander Jagt Joe Knollenberg Gary Peters (politician) Herschel H. Hatch Spencer O. Fisher Frank W. Wheeler Thomas A. E. Weadock Rousseau Owen Crump Henry H. Aplin George A. Loud Roy O. Woodruff Gilbert A. Currie Elford Albin Cederberg Bill Schuette Edward Breitung Seth C. Moffatt Henry W. Seymour Samuel M. Stephenson John Avery (politician) Archibald B. Darragh Francis H. Dodds Francis O. Lindquist Frank D. Scott Frank P. Bohn Prentiss M. Brown John F. Luecke Frederick Van Ness Bradley Charles E. Potter Victor A. Knox Raymond F. Clevenger Philip Ruppe Robert William Davis David Curson Carlos D. Shelden H. Olin Young William Josiah MacDonald W. Frank James Frank Eugene Hook John B. Bennett John Dingell Charles Archibald Nichols Clarence J. McLeod Vincent M. Brennan Howard A. Coffin George W. Crockett, Jr. Barbara-Rose Collins William D. Ford Lynn N. Rivers Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick Hansen Clarke Carl M. Weideman Louis C. Rabaut Harold F. Youngblood Harold M. Ryan Dennis M. Hertel John D. Dingell, Sr. John Lesinski, Sr. John Lesinski, Jr. Charles G. Oakman Martha Griffiths William M. Brodhead William Broomfield Robert J. Huber Neil Staebler Billie S. Farnum Jack H. McDonald List of Governors of Michigan William Hull Lewis Cass Stevens T. Mason James Wright Gordon John S. Barry Alpheus Felch Epaphroditus Ransom Andrew Parsons Moses Wisner Henry P. Baldwin John J. Bagley Charles Croswell David Jerome Cyrus G. Luce Fred M. Warner Chase Osborn Fred Green Wilber Marion Brucker William Comstock Frank Fitzgerald Frank Murphy Luren Dickinson Murray Van Wagoner G. Mennen Williams Rick Snyder

426785