Born in
Denison in
Grayson County in north
Texas, Hightower comes from a working-class background. He worked his way through college as assistant general manager of the Denton
Chamber of Commerce and later landed a spot as a management trainee for the
U.S. State Department. He received a Bachelor of Arts in government from the
University of North Texas in
Denton, where he served as student body president. He later did graduate work at
Columbia University in New York City in international affairs. In the late 1960s, he worked in Washington, D.C., as legislative aide to
U.S. Senator Ralph Yarborough. In 1970, Hightower co-founded and worked at the
Agribusiness Accountability Project in Washington, D.C
., which resulted in two of his early books
. After managing the presidential campaign of former Senator
Fred R. Harris of
Oklahoma in 1976, he returned to Texas to become the editor of the magazine
The Texas Observer. His first attempt at public office was an unsuccessful bid for the
Democratic nomination for the
Texas Railroad Commission, which regulates the
oil and natural gas industries, rather than the railroads the name of the commission would seem to indicate. In 1982, Hightower was elected Agriculture Commissioner, having unseated fellow Democrat
Reagan V. Brown, who had ordered a quarantine of fruit coming into Texas from California. He served as agriculture commissioner until he was unseated in 1990 by the Democrat-turned-
Republican Rick Perry, later the
governor of Texas. His tenure was noted for fostering
organic production, alternative crops,
direct marketing by small farmers, and strong gross materials regulations. During that time, he also became a leading national spokesman for Democrats and endorsed
Jesse Jackson for president in 1988. Three of Hightower's aides at the Agriculture Commission, Mike Moeller, Pete McRae, and Billie Quicksall, were convicted on bribery charges related to procuring contributions to Hightower's reelection campaign from seed dealers who were subject to the department's oversight. While Hightower was not involved in the plot, it contributed to his defeat by Perry. During the
1992 presidential election, he supported the candidacy of U.S. Senator
Tom Harkin of
Iowa. After Harkin left the race, Hightower supported
Jerry Brown, and cast his
superdelegate vote for
Governor Bill Clinton at the
1992 Democratic National Convention. Soon after Clinton was elected, Hightower became a critic of the president. He criticized Clinton for having accepted
corporate soft money contributions, his support of
NAFTA, his health care plan, and his refusal to crack down on "
corporate welfare", as well as what Hightower viewed as inadequate efforts at fighting unemployment and poverty. In 2000, he joined with talk show host
Phil Donahue and actress
Susan Sarandon to co-chair the presidential campaign of
Ralph Nader. He also appeared at Nader's "super-rallies" and stumped across the country for him. After the disputed outcome of the
2000 election, Hightower voiced the opinion that it was Vice President
Al Gore himself, who lost his home state of
Tennessee, and not Ralph Nader, who caused Gore's defeat at the hands of Governor
George W. Bush of Texas. Although he issued no endorsement of any candidate during the
2004 presidential primaries, he spoke and wrote approvingly of since defeated
U.S. Representative Dennis Kucinich of
Ohio, calling him a "clear populist with a lifelong history of unambiguous advocacy of populist principles." Once Senator
John Kerry of
Massachusetts won the nomination, Hightower endorsed him and urged fellow progressives to work for his election, saying, "I don't care if he's a sack of cement, we're going to carry him to victory." During this election, he also campaigned in support of the U.S. Senate bid of Doris "
Granny D" Haddock, a friend and fellow activist who was running as a Democrat against incumbent Republican Senator
Judd Gregg of
New Hampshire. Since 1993, Hightower has produced
Hightower Radio, a daily two-minute commentary carried by over 130 affiliates. He also hosted a weekend talk show on the
American Broadcasting Company radio network and a weekday midday talk show on the United Broadcasting Network (later called America Radio Network). ''Hightower's Chit & Chat'' aired in thirty-eight markets around the United States.
Floyd Domino was his music director and co-host. In recent years, Hightower has advocated for
industrial hemp as a sustainable agricultural crop. Hightower endorsed
Bernie Sanders for president
in 2016, actively campaigning for the Democratic candidate. In summer 2016, after
Hillary Clinton won the party's nomination, Sanders supporters formed the progressive group
Our Revolution, and Hightower joined the board of directors. Despite the
Democratic party losing both houses of Congress in the United States, Hightower talked of his optimism toward a greater progressive revolution after meeting with Sanders. Hightower cited the large number of progressive initiatives passed to counter the idea that
Donald Trump and right-wing populism were supplanting progressive ideals. In addition to being on the national board of Our Revolution, Hightower has been working with Our Revolution Texas.
Syndicated column Hightower writes a nationally syndicated column carried by seventy-five independent weekly newspapers and other publications through
Creators Syndicate. He also writes for
The Progressive Populist.
The Hightower Lowdown Hightower writes a monthly newsletter,
The Hightower Lowdown, which has more than 135,000 subscribers.
Doug Jones Average The "Doug Jones Average", a concept created by Jim Hightower, is the proposal that in order to check the true health of the American economy, it is less useful to look at the
Dow Jones Industrial Average than it is to check up on how the average worker down the street (Doug Jones) is doing. If Doug Jones is on welfare, cannot feed his family, is blowing his savings, and is three weeks behind on his bills, the Doug Jones average is "down". If Doug just got a raise, can pay his bills and Doug and his family are looking into owning a nice but not too expensive house, the Doug Jones average is "up".
Awards and honors •
Eugene V. Debs Award (1995) •
Puffin/Nation Prize for Creative Citizenship (2009) ==Books==