Fob James Forrest Hood James , Jr . , known as Fob James ( born September 15 , 1934 ) , is an American politician , a civil engineer , and an All - American half - back . He served two terms as the 48th Governor of Alabama , from 1979 to 1983 as a Democrat , and again from 1995 to 1999 as a Republican . Education , football , and early career . After graduation in 1952 from Baylor School , a private high school in Chattanooga , Tennessee , James was a four - year letterman ( 1952 – 1955 ) and All - America n halfback for the Auburn University football team playing for head coach Ralph " Shug " Jordan . He received a civil engineering degree in 1957 . He played professional football in Canada as a member of the Montreal Alouettes during the 1956 season and entered the Army to serve two years as a lieutenant in the U . S . Corps of Engineers . From 1958 – 59 , James was a heavy construction engineer with Burford Tractor Company in Montgomery , AL . In 1959 , his second born , Gregory Fleming James , was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis . Needing money to pay Greg ' s medical bills , James left Montgomery in 1960 to take a job as construction superintendent with Laidlaw Contracting Company , a road - paving company in Mobile , AL . In 1961 , the James decided that he could earn a living from the manufacture of plastic - coated barbells . In 1962 , he founded Diversified Products Inc . , a manufacturer of fitness equipment known for the plastic - disc barbells filled with " Orbatron , " which DP patented . The company name had been changed to " Diversified Products Corporation " after originally being called Health - Disc Inc . In addition to physical fitness equipment , the company manufactured ballasts and counterweights for farms , industry and trucking . James founded DP in his basement and , over the next 15 years , the company ultimately grew to employ 1 , 500 people with plants in Opelika , AL , Los Angeles , and Toronto , with sales of about $ 1 billion annually . James served as the CEO of DP until it was bought by the Liggett Group in 1977 . James lost his 8 - year - old son to cystic fibrosis . The Gregory Fleming James Cystic Fibrosis Research Center at the University of Alabama at Birmingham , established in 1981 , is named in his honor . James played an integral role in the establishment of the Center . Additionally , from 1972 to 1974 , James served as president of the Alabama Citizens for Transportation , a statewide committee which developed a twenty - year highway program subsequently adopted by the Alabama Legislature . Political career . First term . During his 1978 campaign for Governor , James campaigned as a " born - again Democrat " . James had left the Democratic Party in the early 1970s but returned to the party before the election . In the first primary , he defeated Bill Baxley 296 , 196 votes to 210 , 089 votes . In the second primary , James easily outdistanced Baxley and defeated the Republican candidate , Guy Hunt , in the November general election . During James ' first administration , the state faced considerable financial difficulties ; however , James was reasonably successful in attaining his education reform package , improving the state ' s mental health system , rectifying some prison overcrowding problems and re - establishing the once financially strapped Medicaid system . Furthermore , James consolidated various state agencies to reduce state spending . Additionally , he implemented a ten percent State spending cut , instituted a hiring freeze and laid off a considerable number of the state employee workforce . He also chose to emphasize funding for k - 12 education over that for Alabama ' s colleges and universities , a highly contested action . He also worked to acquire stiffer penalties for convicted drug traffickers and was quite instrumental in the improvement of the state ' s highways as a result of earmarking a substantial amount of money for such improvements from the state ' s oil windfall funds . However , James was unsuccessful in his attempts to : have a new state constitution drafted , levy a fuel tax , rectify the court - ordered desegregation of some of the state ' s post - secondary institutions and secure passage of his bill to eliminate income tax deductions for Social Security payments . One of his greatest accomplishments was his success in integrating Alabama government . During his inauguration , he " claim ( ed ) for all Alabamians a New Beginning ( his campaign theme ) free from racism and discrimination . " During his first term as governor , he named Oscar Adams to fill a vacancy on the Alabama Supreme Court , the first African American chosen for such a position . In addition , he appointed other blacks to cabinet positions , including Gary Cooper as director of the Department of Pensions and Security , the first African American to be named to head a major state agency in Alabama in a century . During his first term , James caused controversy by his religious beliefs , specifically , his signing into law a measure passed by the legislature allowing teachers to lead willing students in prayer . The law was declared unconstitutional in May 1983 . Between terms . James ' s decision not to run again for governor in 1982 eased the way for George Wallace to return to office for a fourth and final term . Out of office , however , James began to yearn for a return to the governorship , and in both the 1986 and 1990 Democratic primaries was defeated in both races . Living a semi - retired life while out of office , he partnered with his sons in several businesses . He managed and partly owned Orange Beach Marina , served as the CEO of Coastal Erosion Control , a company that worked to prevent coastal erosion , and worked as the CEO of Escambia County Environmental Corporation , which develops landfills and waste incinerators . In the spring of 1994 , James ' s desire to be governor led him to switch parties one more time , and he qualified at the last moment as a Republican candidate . James defeated Folsom by a narrow margin and won his second term as governor , this time as a Republican . Second term . During James ' s second term , the Governor appointed Aubrey Miller , a black Alabamian , to head the Alabama Tourism Department . He also appointed Beth Chapman , the first woman in Alabama ’ s history to serve as Appointments Secretary , to his Cabinet . James stressed again what he called " fundamental American values " and pressed his consistent support for K - 12 education . The legislature joined him in passing an educational reform package known as the James Educational Foundation Act . This important legislation required local school systems that were not already at a minimum level of support to raise local property taxes to 10 mills , and it increased the number of credit hours in academic subjects that students were required to have in order to graduate . This legislation also empowered the state superintendent of education to take control of schools that scored poorly on national achievement tests . Unfortunately , in his quest to improve K - 12 education , he stripped funding from the state ' s colleges and universities and further strained relations between higher education and the governor ' s office . James took a predictable " get tough " position on crime and criminals when he and his prison commissioner , Ronald Jones , reinstituted chain gangs for Alabama ' s prison inmates . The Governor approved other strict policies instituted by Jones but balked at the commissioner ' s suggestion that chain gangs be extended to include female prisoners , and James put an end to the chain gang shortly thereafter because of a lawsuit brought by a coalition of community human rights groups . Regarding crime issues , James also cited as one of his " major accomplishments " the revision of the Alabama Criminal Code , which made it one of the toughest in the U . S . Unlike his moderate first term , however , James began to reflect an individualistic states ' rights attitude . He refused to accept federal monies from the U . S . Department of Education ' s Goals 2000 program because he believed that accepting the money would lead to increased federal involvement and control over the state ' s schools . When Secretary of Education Richard Riley promised that the Department of Education would not interfere in the use of the funds , Alabama ' s state board of education ignored the governor ' s role and voted to accept the funding and use it to purchase computers for K – 12 classrooms . In a similar act , James " seceded " from the National Governors ' Association and was the only head of a state to refuse to attend this organization ' s meetings . James was also criticized for his religious beliefs . At a 1995 Alabama State Board of Education meeting , James criticized the theory of evolution in textbooks by imitating a " slump - shouldered ape turning into an upright human " . He supported the adoption of a textbook warning sticker that stated , among other things , that " No one was present when life first appeared on earth . Therefore , any statement about life ' s origins should be considered as theory , not fact . " James ' s longest and most publicized religious battle , however , came during the controversy surrounding the posting of the Ten Commandments and the offering of a daily prayer in the courtroom of Etowah County Judge Roy S . Moore . In a suit brought by the American Civil Liberties Union , U . S . District Court Dudge Ira DeMent , an appointee of President George H . W . Bush , ordered the removal of the commandment plaque and cessation of the prayers because they violated the First Amendment guarantee of separation of church and state . Judge Moore appealed the decision , and James supported his position , threatening for a brief period to mobilize the Alabama National Guard and use force if necessary to prevent the removal of the Ten Commandments plaque from Moore ' s courtroom . In October 1997 , Judge DeMent issued another sweeping and controversial order forbidding certain religious practices in DeKalb County ' s public schools . James verbally attacked DeMent ' s order as yet another illegitimate intrusion by federal courts into local affairs . The judge ' s order was , in part , reversed shortly after James left office , allowing students on their own to hold religious meetings on school grounds . During his second term James , who firmly supported the death penalty , presided over seven executions by electric chair . ( Alabama resumed executions in 1983 . ) However , in one of his last official acts as Governor , James commuted the death sentence of Judith Ann Neelley to life in prison . This remains , , the only post - Furman commutation of a death sentence by a Governor in Alabama . James explained that , in his view , executing Neelley would not have been just . His reason was that the Neelley case was the only time he had seen a judge overrule the jury in issuing a death penalty . In his campaign for re - election to a third term , James faced strong opposition in the Republican party primary from Winton Blount III , a fellow conservative and a millionaire businessman , who sharply criticized religious right influence on James . James struggled through the bitter Republican primary runoff and defeated Blount but had little money left to finance the general election campaign . Lieutenant Governor Don Siegelman , on the other hand , easily won the Democratic primary on the sole issue of establishing a state lottery to provide college scholarships . James opposed the lottery and was soundly defeated by Siegelman in the general election in 1998 . He returned to semi - retirement , saying he wanted to spend more time with his children and grandchildren . James helped arrange a State of Alabama - paid voluntary return of Lester Coleman , a former journalist accused by the Federal Government of the United States of committing perjury who was residing in Europe , to the United States . According to Redding Pitt , a federal government attorney from Montgomery , Alabama , Coleman called James , an acquaintance of Coleman from the 1970s , for help in his case . Coleman promoted alternative theories regarding the Pan Am Flight 103 incident , and his perjury charges stemmed from his statements about Pan Am 103 . Joe Boohaker , Coleman ' s attorney , said that James apparently knew Coleman from the time when Coleman worked at a Birmingham , Alabama radio station . In a widely reported incident , James remarked that he wished the state ' s government ran as well as the Waffle House Restaurants he enjoyed frequenting . Editorial observers responded by suggesting that running a state was significantly more complicated than running a restaurant . Life after politics . James has 10 grandchildren and resides in Alabama . He is the CEO of Escambia County Environmental Corporation .