James A. Clark, Jr.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

James A. Clark, Jr. (1918 - August 18, 2006) was the former president of the Maryland State Senate from 1979 to 1983.

[edit] Biography

James Clark was born in Ellicott City, Maryland in 1918. His father was James Clark, Sr, a Circuit Court judge who traced his family's roots in Howard County, Maryland back to 1797. His mother was Alda Hopkins Clark, who traced her family line back to the Ellicott family and also to the Hopkins family of Johns Hopkins.

He graduated from Iowa State College in 1941 with a bachelor's degree in animal husbandry. He volunteered for service in the US Army, serving 4.5 years the Army Air Service. He saw action in Europe during World War II, and was among the forces that helped evacuate survivors of the Dachau concentration camp.

In 1946 he married Lillian Hawkins (who passed away in 2001). He died of cancer on August 18, 2006, at his family farm in Ellicott City, Maryland.

[edit] Political Career

In 1958 he was elected to the Maryland House of Delegates, and in 1962 he was elected to the Maryland State Senate. As a state senator, he served on the legislative council and was vice chairman of the finance committee.

As a legislator, Senator Clark was a champion of a wide range of issues, including civil rights, open space and farm land preservation (especially in his native Howard County, Maryland), and fiscal responsibility. Senator Clark traveled the country lobbying for state legislatures to pass the Balanced Budget Amendment.