James Blanchard

James Johnston "Jim" Blanchard (born August 8, 1942) is a politician from the US state of Michigan. A Democrat, Blanchard has served in the United States House of Representatives, as the 45th Governor of Michigan, and as United States Ambassador to Canada.

Blanchard attended the public schools in Ferndale. He received a B.A. from Michigan State University in 1964 and an MBA from the same school in 1965. He received a J.D. from the University of Minnesota Law School in 1968 and was admitted to the Michigan bar in the same year. He commenced practice in Lansing and served as legal advisor to the Michigan Secretary of State, 1968–1969. He was Assistant Attorney General of Michigan, 1969–1974, administrative assistant to the attorney general, 1970–1971, and assistant deputy attorney general, 1971–1972. In 1974 he joined the law firm of Beer and Boltz, in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan.

United States Representative

Blanchard was elected as a Democrat to the United States House of Representatives from Michigan's 18th District for the Ninety-fourth and to the three succeeding Congresses, serving from January 3, 1975 to January 1, 1983. During that time, despite being a relatively junior member of Congress, he was responsible for legislation providing federal loan guarantees for Chrysler Corporation which saved the company from a likely bankruptcy.

Governor of Michigan

He was not a candidate for reelection in 1982 but was elected Governor of Michigan, defeating Republican Richard Headlee, a Farmington Hills insurance company executive.^[1] Blanchard served two terms as governor (1983–1991) until his defeat by Republican state senator John Engler in 1990. Blanchard was the first Democratic governor to serve in 20 years since John Swainson who left office in 1963.

Blanchard became embroiled in a bitter partisan dispute over an appointment to the Michigan Supreme Court. On December 9, 1982, outgoing Republican Governor William Milliken appointed Dorothy Comstock Riley to the Michigan Supreme Court to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Justice Blair Moody on November 26.

Since Milliken was leaving office in less than a month, the governor-elect Blanchard argued he should have made the appointment to replace Moody rather than Milliken. Further complicating the matter, Riley had run for election to the Supreme Court in the 1982 general election and had been defeated. In February 1983, the other Supreme Court Justices voted 4–2 to remove Riley from the court. Blanchard replaced her with U.S. District Court Judge Patricia Boyle. However, Riley won election to the Supreme Court in 1984.

Post-Political Career

After losing the gubernatorial election to John Engler in 1990, he became Of Counsel to the Southfield, Michigan law firm of Kramer Mellen.

President Bill Clinton appointed him Ambassador to Canada, a position he held from 1993 to 1996. In 2002 Blanchard again ran for governor but lost his primary bid to Jennifer Granholm. As of 2004^[update], he is a partner in the Washington D.C. law firm of DLA Piper U.S. and resides in Pleasant Ridge. He serves as Chairman of Meridian International Center and on the Advisory Board About | Politics, Law & Economics Blog of the Institute for Law and Politics at the University of Minnesota Law School.

Blanchard served as a member of the Debt Reduction Task Force at the Bipartisan Policy Center.^[2]

Legacy

As Governor of Michigan, Blanchard played a role in Michael Moore's 1989 film, Roger & Me regarding the plant closures in Flint.

References

• James Blanchard at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress

Notes