James Robert Jones

The Honorable
James Robert Jones
United States Ambassador to Mexico
In office
September 10, 1993 – June 25, 1997
President Bill Clinton
Preceded by John D. Negroponte
Succeeded by Jeffrey Davidow
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Oklahoma's 1st district
In office
January 3, 1973 – January 3, 1987
Preceded by Page Belcher
Succeeded by Jim Inhofe
White House Appointments Secretary
In office
April 26, 1968 – January 20, 1969
President Lyndon B. Johnson
Preceded by W. Marvin Watson
as Informal White House Chief of Staff
Succeeded by

H.R. Haldeman
as 4th White House Chief of Staff


Dwight L. Chapin
as Appointments Secretary
Personal details
Born (1939-05-05) May 5, 1939
Muskogee, Oklahoma
Military service
Service/branch United States Army
Years of service 1964-1965 (active)
1961-1968 (reserve)
Rank Captain

James Robert "Jim" Jones (born May 5, 1939) is a lawyer, a Democratic politician, a retired U.S. Congressman from Oklahoma, and a former U.S. Ambassador to Mexico.

Jones grew up in Muskogee, Oklahoma and was involved in politics at an early age.[1] He worked as a legislative assistant to U.S. Representative Ed Edmondson and as Appointments Secretary to U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson.

In 1972, after returning to Oklahoma, Jones ran for Oklahoma's 1st congressional district. He won the election and was re-elected six times. During his tenure in Congress, which lasted until 1987, Jones served four years as the Chairman of the House Budget Committee.

Early life and career

Jones was born and educated in Muskogee, Oklahoma. By the age of 12, Jones was campaigning for Ed Edmondson's bid for Congress.[1] He received his B.A. degree in 1961 from the University of Oklahoma, where he also joined Lambda Chi Alpha Fraternity. Jones was accepted at Georgetown University Law Center (in Washington, D.C.) and graduated with a law degree (LLB) in 1964.

Jones enlisted and served in the U.S. Army Reserve (from 1961 to 1968) and also served briefly in the Army Counterintelligence Corps (at the rank of Captain, from 1964 to 1965). Jones was also admitted to the Oklahoma bar in 1964 and commenced his practice of law in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Political career

Political staffer

Jones first important political job was as the legislative assistant for Congressman Ed Edmondson (1961–1964) . Then, in 1965, Jones moved from the United States Congress to the White House where he served as Appointments Secretary (Chief of Staff) to U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson, the youngest person to hold that position (until Johnson left office in January, 1969).

Congressional service

After Johnson left office, Jones returned to Oklahoma and resumed his law practice in Tulsa. In 1970, he ran against 10-term incumbent Republican Page Belcher in Oklahoma's 1st congressional district. He gave Belcher only his second credible reelection contest ever, holding him to 55 percent of the vote—a surprisingly close margin, considering that Belcher was ranking member of the House Agriculture Committee.

Jones was priming for a rematch in 1972, but Belcher didn't have the stomach for another bruising contest and pulled out of the race in June. The Republicans recruited Tulsa Mayor Jim Hewgley as a replacement. However, Jones won the November election by a fairly convincing 11-point margin—a surprising result, considering that Richard Nixon easily carried the 1st in the presidential election (Nixon won Tulsa with a staggering 78 percent of the vote). Jones was re-elected six times, serving until January 1987.

As a member of the tax-writing Ways and Means Committee, Jones secured House backing for a conservative tax cut in 1978.[1] In 1979, he joined the House Budget Committee.[1] Jones also was able to get Democrats to add more fiscal conservatives to the Budget Committee.[1]

Jones decided to give up his House seat in 1986 to run against Republican incumbent U.S. Senator Don Nickles, even though he'd only narrowly defeated future Governor Frank Keating two years earlier for reelection to his House seat. He lost to Nickles by 10 points.

He is also a member of the advisory board for the Mexico Institute.

James Robert Jones in 2010.

Work after Congress

In 1987, Jones resumed the practice of law, joining the Washington-based firm of Dickstein Shapiro.[2] He later served as the Chairman of the American Stock Exchange (1989 to 1993). After the election of Democratic President Bill Clinton, Jones was appointed the U.S. Ambassador to Mexico and served from 1993 until 1997.[3] In February, 2003, he was inaugurated Chairman of the World Affairs Councils of America.

Presently, he is a resident of Tulsa and Washington, D.C. He is a partner in the law firm Manatt, Phelps & Phillips.[4][5]

In 1994, Jones was inducted into the Oklahoma Hall of Fame.[6]

Agreed to serve on The Constitution Project's Guantanamo Task Force

Jones agreed to serve on The Constitution Project's Guantanamo Task Force in December 2010.[7][8][9]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Hannemann, Carolyn G., "Jones, James Robert," Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture (accessed May 31, 2010).
  2. ↑ "Ambassador James R. Jones". Securing America's Future Energy. Retrieved 4/1/2013. Check date values in: |access-date= (help)
  3. ↑ James R. Jones, Council of American Ambassadors (accessed May 31, 2010).
  4. ↑ James R. Jones at Manatt, Phelps & Phillips official website (accessed June 1, 2010).
  5. ↑ James R. Jones, "Why LBJ Bowed Out", Los Angeles Times, March 30, 2008.
  6. ↑ Oklahoma Hall of Fame: James R. Jones
  7. ↑ "Task Force on Detainee Treatment Launched". The Constitution Project. 2010-12-17. Archived from the original on 2010-12-18.
  8. ↑ "Think tank plans study of how US treats detainees". Wall Street Journal. 2010-12-17. Archived from the original on 2010-12-18. Former FBI Director William Sessions, former Arkansas U.S. Rep. Asa Hutchinson, a retired Army general and a retired appeals court judge in Washington are among 11 people selected for a task force that will meet for the first time in early January, said Virginia Sloan, a lawyer and president of The Constitution Project.
  9. ↑ "Task Force members" (PDF). The Constitution Project. 2010-12-17. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2010-12-18.

External links

United States House of Representatives
Preceded by
Page Belcher (R)		 United States Representative for the 1st Congressional District of Oklahoma
1973–1987 		Succeeded by
Jim Inhofe (R)
Diplomatic posts
Preceded by
John D. Negroponte		 U.S. Ambassador to Mexico
1993–1997 		Succeeded by
Jeffrey S. Davidow
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