James Eubert Holshouser Jr. (October 8, 1934 – June 17, 2013) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 68th Governor of North Carolina from 1973 to 1977. He was the first Republican candidate to be elected as governor of the state since 1896. Born in Boone, North Carolina, Holshouser initially sought to become a sports journalist before deciding to pursue a law degree. While in law school he developed an interest in politics and in 1962 he was elected to the North Carolina House of Representatives where he focused on restructuring government and higher education institutions, and drug abuse legislation. Made chairman of the North Carolina Republican Party in March 1966, he established the organization's first permanent staff and gained prominence by opposing a cigarette tax.
Holshouser ran for the office of Governor of North Carolina in 1972, winning the Republican nomination and narrowly defeating his Democratic opponent in the general election. Inaugurated in January 1973, he fired many incumbent state employees to accommodate the awarding of patronage to hundreds of Republicans who had been unable to work in the state administration under Democratic control, appointed the first woman in a cabinet-level position in the state's history, and enacted hundreds of cost-cutting measures. Though not empowered with veto power and facing a Democrat-dominated legislature, he cultivated a working relationship with Lieutenant Governor Jim Hunt. Together, they backed the expansion of the state's kindergarten program and environmental legislation and unsuccessfully pursued the ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment. Holshouser governed as a pragmatic centrist, and his control over the state Republican organization was undermined by conservative supporters of U.S. Senator Jesse Helms. Leaving office in January 1977, he practiced law in Southern Pines and served on the UNC Board of Governors before dying in 2013.
Early life
James Eubert Holshouser Jr. was born on October 8, 1934, in Boone, North Carolina, United States, to James E. Holshouser and Virginia Dayvault Holshouser. His father was an active member of the Republican Party who attended party meetings and served on the North Carolina State Board of Elections and as a United States Attorney under President Dwight Eisenhower. His mother was a registered member of the Democratic Party, though she eventually left the party before becoming a Republican in 1972. People in Watauga County described the Holshouser family as "good livers", meaning they lived comfortably and had respectable social standing. James Jr. was a sickly child and suffered from asthma and periodic afflictions of pneumonia, preventing him from pursuing an interest in sports.
Holshouser enrolled at Appalachian High School in 1948. He served as senior class president (he was elected unopposed), editor of the school newspaper, and was a member of the National Honor Society. Graduating in June 1952, he attended Davidson College for undergraduate studies, majoring in history. He edited the school newspaper, wrote for the yearbook, and was a member of a fraternity, a literary society, and the international relations club. He strongly considered becoming a sports writer, and during his senior year he worked on the sports section of The Charlotte Observer. He later figured making a career out of sports would cause him to tire of them, so he decided to do what his father had done and become a lawyer. He graduated from Davidson College in 1956 and enrolled at the University of North Carolina School of Law in September 1957, earning his law degree in 1960. He subsequently joined his father's law practice in Boone and married Patricia Hollingsworth on June 17, 1961. They had one daughter, Virginia, born in 1963.
Early political career
Though politics was a "casual part of life" in his household while growing up, Holshouser paid little interest in pursuing a political career for much of his early life. He grew more interested in public affairs while at law school, particularly in court reform. During this time he began attending sessions of the North Carolina General Assembly. In 1962 he was elected chairman of the Watauga County Young Republicans.