James G. Martin

James G. Martin
James G. Martin
	Martin at Johnson AFB, December 1988
70th Governor of North Carolina
	In office; January 5, 1985 – January 9, 1993
Lieutenant	Robert Jordan; Jim Gardner
Preceded by	Jim Hunt
Succeeded by	Jim Hunt
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives; from North Carolina's 9th district
	In office; January 3, 1973 – January 3, 1985
Preceded by	Charles R. Jonas
Succeeded by	Alex McMillan
Member of the Mecklenburg County Board of Commissioners
	In office; 1967–1973
Personal details
Born	James Grubbs Martin; December 11, 1935 (age 88); Savannah, Georgia, U.S.
Political party	Republican
Spouse	Dorothy Ann McAulay
Children	3
Residence(s)	Charlotte, North Carolina, U.S.
Alma mater	Davidson College (BS); Princeton University (PhD)
Profession	professor, politician, writer; organic chemist

James Grubbs Martin (born December 11, 1935) is an American chemist and politician who served as the 70th governor of North Carolina from 1985 to 1993. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served six terms as the U.S. representative for North Carolina's 9th congressional district from 1973 to 1985.

Martin was the third Republican elected governor of North Carolina after Reconstruction, the second since the 1900 North Carolina gubernatorial election, and the fifth overall. As of 2024, he was also the only Republican to serve two full terms as governor of the state.

Early life and education

James Grubbs Martin was born on December 11, 1935, in Savannah, and subsequently raised in South Carolina. He graduated from Davidson College in 1957 with a Bachelor of Science degree. Shortly after graduation, on June 1, he married Dorothy Ann McAulay of Charlotte, North Carolina.^[1] An avid tuba player, he was a member of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia music fraternity and Beta Theta Pi Social Fraternity while an undergraduate at Davidson.^{[citation needed]}

Academic career

Martin received his PhD in chemistry from Princeton University in 1960, after completing a doctoral dissertation titled "Stereochemistry of the Diels-Alder reaction."^[2] He then served as an associate professor of chemistry at his alma mater Davidson College until 1972.^[1] As a professor at Davidson, he advised the school's Young Republicans chapter.

Political career

Martin registered as a member of the Republican Party in 1961 or 1962. He later explained, "I joined with the minority party because I felt the south needed two-party competition."^[3] In 1966, he was elected to the Mecklenburg County Board of Commissioners. He served for seven years, chairing the body from 1967 to 1968, and briefly in 1971. He was a president of the North Carolina Association of County Commissioners.

House of Representatives (1973–1985)

He was elected to the United States House of Representatives in 1972 representing the Charlotte-based 9th Congressional district. He served there for six terms. He served as a Ways and Means Committee member, and as a House Republican Research Committee chairman. He became the first elected official to receive the Charles Lathrop Parsons Award, given by the American Chemical Society for outstanding public service by an American chemist, in 1983.^[4]

In 1984, with incumbent governor Jim Hunt leaving office due to the term limit, Martin ran for the Republican nomination and won. He defeated state attorney general Rufus Edmisten by a nine-point margin. He was helped by the coattails from Ronald Reagan's landslide re-election victory. He was also helped when Lieutenant Governor Jimmy Green endorsed him after being defeated by Edmisten in the Democratic primary. Green was from eastern North Carolina, and his endorsement helped Martin win support among conservative Democrats in that part of the state.^[5]

Governor of North Carolina (1985–1993)

While most political figures running for office were prone to make promises covering a wide range of issues from education to health care, Martin made one promise that garnered a lot of attention; he said he would address all of the priorities in the state, but his only promise was that construction on Interstate 40 from Raleigh to Wilmington, North Carolina would be finished before he left office. The long-neglected and last leg of I-40 from Barstow, California would open up the southeastern coastal area to the rest of the state. He was true to his promise; the last unfinished leg of I-40 was finished before the end of his first term.

Martin was easily reelected in 1988, defeating Lieutenant Governor Bob Jordan by 13 points. In so doing, he became the only member of his party to have been elected to two terms as governor of North Carolina. He was part of a 28-year trend of Governors of North Carolina who were named James, having been preceded and succeeded by Jim Hunt, who in turn was preceded in his first term by James Holshouser.

Later life

In 1993, he retired from political life and became chairman of the board of the James Cannon Research Center of Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte, NC. In 2012, he was appointed to lead an investigation into academic improprieties at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.^[6] For the United States presidential election in 2016 Martin endorsed fellow Republican John Kasich.^[7]

Works

Revelation through Science (2016)

Legacy

In January 2017, the Pope Center for Higher Education Policy changed its name to the James G. Martin Center for Academic Renewal, named after Governor Martin.^[8] Gov. Martin also serves on the board of directors for the Martin Center.^[9]

Gallery

1987. First term portrait
1988. Martin at Johnson AFB with U.S. Senator Jesse Helms (right)
1988. Martin and U.S. President Ronald Reagan
1991. Martin and U.S. President George H. W. Bush

References

^ ^a ^b Poff, Jan-Michael, ed. (2000). Addresses and Public Papers of James Baxter Hunt Jr. Governor of North Carolina Vol. III 1993–1997. Raleigh, NC: North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources. pp. 4–5. ISBN 0-86526-289-6.
^ Martin, James G. (1960). Stereochemistry of the Diels-Alder reaction.
^ Fleer 2007, p. 77.
^ "Charles Lathrop Parsons Award". American Chemical Society. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved September 10, 2012.
^ Political grudges are nothing new, Carolina Journal Online, John Hood, October 11, 2013. Retrieved April 17, 2014.
^ WRAL: Former governor to dig deeper into UNC academics
^ "NC's presidential endorsement list". NewsObserver.
^ "A New Era: The James G. Martin Center for Academic Renewal — The James G. Martin Center for Academic Renewal". The James G. Martin Center for Academic Renewal. January 3, 2017. Retrieved January 3, 2017.
^ "Board of Directors — The James G. Martin Center for Academic Renewal". The James G. Martin Center for Academic Renewal. Retrieved January 3, 2017.

Works cited

Fleer, Jack (2007). Governors Speak. University Press of America. ISBN 9780761835646.

External links

Official

James G. Martin Papers, 1973–1992 at the University of North Carolina

General information

Appearances on C-SPAN
Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
Works by or about James G. Martin at the Internet Archive

Party political offices
Preceded by I. Beverly Lake, Jr.	Republican nominee for Governor of North Carolina 1984, 1988	Succeeded by Jim Gardner
U.S. House of Representatives
Preceded by Charles R. Jonas	Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from North Carolina's 9th congressional district 1973–1985	Succeeded by Alex McMillan
Political offices
Preceded by Jim Hunt	Governor of North Carolina 1985–1993	Succeeded by Jim Hunt
U.S. order of precedence (ceremonial)
Preceded by Jim Hunt as Former Governor	Order of precedence of the United States	Succeeded by Mike Easley as Former Governor