- Skipper Bowles
Hargrove "Skipper" Bowles, Jr. (
November 16 ,1919 –September 7 ,1986 ) was an influential Democratic politician and businessman, based in Greensboro,North Carolina .Bowles was born in
Monroe, North Carolina [ [http://www.historync.org/laureate%20-%20Skipper%20Bowles.htm North Carolina Business Hall of Fame, "Laureate Hargrove "Skipper" Bowles"] , accessedJuly 13 ,2007 ] and served in theUnited States Military duringWorld War II (1943-1945). In the early 1960s Bowles served as GovernorTerry Sanford 's Secretary of Conservation and Development, a post which would later become known as Secretary of Commerce. Afterwards, Bowles was elected to one term in theNorth Carolina House of Representatives and two terms in theNorth Carolina Senate .In 1972 Bowles won the Democratic [http://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=208271 primary] for
Governor of North Carolina but lost the [http://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=26796 general election] toJames Holshouser . Thus, he became the first Democratic nominee to lose the North Carolina gubernatorial race in the twentieth century.Bowles later became known for his service to and fundraising for the
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill , from which he graduated in 1941. He died in 1986 from complications ofLou Gehrig's disease .His son,
Erskine Bowles , followed his father both into the investment banking business and into politics.Notes
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