Jim Rhodes

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, 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. 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 games. == 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. 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. The program supplied an initial $100,000 to build a paved runway of at least length. Rhodes then dedicated many of these airport by flying in to them in a C-53. At a news conference in Kent, Ohio, 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 vigilantes. 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 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[ed] God to relieve the storm." The next year, January 1978, amid a blizzard 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." In July 1979, Rhodes led a State of Ohio Trade Mission to China. Among other leaders, Rhodes met with Vice Premier Yu Qiuli. The trip resulted in developing economic ties, a sister state-province relationship with Hubei province, long-running Chinese exhibitions at the Ohio State Fair, and major academic exchanges between Ohio State University and Wuhan University. 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, 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. 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 in front of namesake office tower in Columbus • Cleveland State University's Rhodes Tower in Cleveland • The Ohio State University Medical Center's Rhodes Hall - the main building of University Hospital • The James A. Rhodes Arena (locally nicknamed as "The JAR") at the University of Akron • James A. Rhodes State College in Lima, Ohio. • The Rhodes Center at the Ohio Expo Center and State Fair in Columbus • The James A. Rhodes Appalachian Highway, Ohio State Route 32 • The James A. Rhodes Athletic Center, Shawnee State University • James A. Rhodes Airport, in Jackson, Ohio ==Electoral history==

1962 election Jim Rhodes won the gubernatorial election, defeating sitting Governor 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 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 Dick Celeste 39.4% to 60.6%. This was his last campaign for Governor. ==Notes==