Jim Spainhower

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Jim Spainhower (born August 3, 1928), is a U.S. politician from Missouri.

[edit] Early life

Jim Spainhower was born in Stanberry, Missouri. He attended in elementary school in Stanberry, and attended high school in Maryville, Missouri, graduating in 1946. Following graduation from high school, he attended Phillips University in Enid, Oklahoma, earning a bachelor's degree in history in 1950. Three years later, in 1953, he earned a bachelor's degree in divinity from Lexington Theological Seminary. On June 10, 1950, he married the former Joanne Steanson of Ponca City, Oklahoma. The couple has two children. Prior to entering politics, he was an ordained Christian minister.

[edit] Political career

From 1963 to 1970, he served in the Missouri House of Representatives, where he was a member of the House Appropriations Committee and Chairman of the House Education Committee. During his tenure in the state legislature, he also earned master's and doctoral degrees in political science from the University of Missouri–Columbia. In 1972, he was elected as State Treasurer of Missouri, and served from 1973 to 1981 in that post. Unable to seek a third term in 1980, he was an unsuccessful candidate for Governor, losing the Democratic Party nomination to incumbent Joseph P. Teasdale. Following his tenure as State Treasurer, he moved to Rogers, Arkansas.

Spainhower briefly broke with the Democratic Party in 1992, endorsing Ross Perot for President in June. But in October, Spainhower withdrew his endorsement and announced his support for Bill Clinton.^{[citation needed]}