Governor Jim Rhodes

James Allen "Jim" Rhodes
(September 13, 1909 – March 4, 2001)
In 1976, the Governor of Ohio was Jim Rhodes. His entire term encompassed a twenty-year span, from 1963 to 1983. Ohio already had term-limits on the books, and so in 1970 Rhodes ran for Senate instead but was defeated in the primary, and the Democratic John Gilligan (who, seriously, I have never heard of) was elected governor of Ohio for one term the early 70s following Kent State. By 1975 Ohioans had remembered how much they just really like Republicans as governor, and Rhodes won a legal argument that term-limits only applied to little people consecutive terms.

Until today, I believed that James Ford Rhodes High School was named for this governor, but that's a different guy. Drew Carey graduated from Rhodes High, and I have in recent years conducted workshops with students there in preparation for the English-Speaking Union National Shakespeare Competition. Again, none of this has to do with Governor Rhodes. I just really like Rhodes High.

Ohio State Route 32 is named after the Governor Rhodes, the James A. Rhodes Appalachian Highway. This highway is awful.