James R. Bennett
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James R. Bennett | |
|---|---|
 Bennett in 2014 | |
| 49th & 52nd Secretary of State of Alabama | |
| In office July 31, 2013 – January 19, 2015 | |
| Governor | Robert J. Bentley |
| Preceded by | Beth Chapman |
| Succeeded by | John Merrill |
| In office 1993–2003 | |
| Governor | Jim Folsom Jr. Fob James Don Siegelman |
| Preceded by | Billy Joe Camp |
| Succeeded by | Nancy Worley |
| Member of the Alabama Senate | |
| In office 1982-1992 | |
| Constituency | 19th |
| Member of the Alabama House of Representatives | |
| In office 1978-1983 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | January 3, 1940 |
| Died | August 17, 2016 (aged 76) |
| Party | Republican (1998-2016) Democratic (before 1998) |
| Spouse | Andrea Bennett |
James R. Bennett (January 3, 1940 – August 17, 2016) was an American Republican politician from Alabama. From 1978 to 1983, he served as a member of the Alabama House of Representatives and as a member of the Alabama Senate between 1982 and 1992. He went on to serve as Secretary of State of Alabama, from 1993 to 2003 as a Democrat and later a Republican and from 2013 to 2015 as a Republican.
Born in Iowa[1] in 1940, Bennett graduated from Grundy County High School, Tracy City, Tennessee, in 1957.[2] He moved to Alabama shortly after to study at Jacksonville State University, from which he received a Bachelor of Science degree in 1962. He was a member of the Epsilon Nu chapter of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia.[3] From 1961 to 1971, Bennett was a reporter for the Birmingham Post-Herald. During his time as a reporter, he found himself in Birmingham in 1963, where he witnessed the use of fire hoses, directed by Bull Connor, on civil rights protesters.[4] In 1969, he was selected for a national award by the American Political Science Association for his reporting on public affairs, before completing his master's degree at the University of Alabama in 1980.[2]
