- J. Howard Edmondson
Infobox Governor
name = James Howard Edmondson
order = 16th
office = Governor of Oklahoma
term_start = 1959
term_end = 1963
lieutenant =
predecessor =Raymond D. Gary
successor =George Nigh
birth_date =September 27 ,1925
birth_place =Muskogee, Oklahoma
death_date = death date and age |1971|11|17|1925|9|27
death_place =Edmond, Oklahoma
party = Democrat
spouse =
profession =
religion =James Howard Edmondson (
September 27 ,1925 -November 17 ,1971 ) wasGovernor of Oklahoma from 1959 to 1963, and was the youngest governor in the history of the state.Biography
Edmondson was born in
Muskogee, Oklahoma . He attended elementary and secondary schools in that city and enrolled in theUniversity of Oklahoma after high school graduation. He enlisted in theU.S. Air Force in March 1942, and served untilDecember 5 ,1945 . He returned to the University and completed his law degree in August, 1948. After practicing law in Muskogee, he moved to Tulsa to become the chief prosecutor in the office of the county attorney ofTulsa County . He was elected county attorney in 1954 and was re-elected in 1956. Edmondson was inaugurated Governor of OklahomaJanuary 8 ,1959 , after having been elected to that post by the largest majority ever given a gubernatorial candidate in the state. He ran on a platform of reform, and passed many reforms despite opposition from the legislature during his first two years as governor, including the repeal of alcoholprohibition in the state. He resigned from office as Governor two weeks before the end of his term, onJanuary 6 ,1963 , and was appointed to the United States Senate to fill the position left vacant by the death ofRobert S. Kerr . He served in the Senate until November 1964. He ran for a full term in the Senate in 1964, but was defeated in the Democratic primary byFred R. Harris . At the time of his death of an apparent heart attack onNovember 17 ,1971 , he was a practicing attorney in Oklahoma City.Trivia
Edmondson is the brother of former U.S. Congressman Ed Edmondson. He is also the uncle of both current Oklahoma Attorney General
Drew Edmondson and currentOklahoma Supreme Court JusticeJames E. Edmondson . His niece, Sarah Edmondson, is serving a thirty five year sentence for murder, attempted murder, and armed robbery. [http://www.crimelibrary.com/notorious_murders/celebrity/natural_born_killers/1.html]
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