Jay Johnson was born in 1943 in Bessemer, an iron-ore mining town on Michigan's Upper Peninsula. His father owned a hardware store and his mother was the librarian for the town of 3,000 people. Johnson recalls neither parent being politically active. Johnson s parents were, nonetheless, active in the local community. Ruben Johnson was the one time head of the Upper Peninsula Businessman's Association, and both Ruben and Catherine Johnson were active at their children's schools.
Education is a big part of our family structure.
If you graduated from Bessemer High School you got a scholarship to the local community college. Johnson's interest in politics began in 1960. I was a senior in high school when the Kennedy-Nixon debates were on. Johnson's first foray into politics soon followed, when he was elected high school Student Council President by 35 votes. He attended Gogebic Community College on a scholarship provided by the local mine company, where he pursued a degree in speech.