Date Died: TBD

Place Buried: TBD

Occupation: Lawyer

James Eubert Holshouser, Jr. (born 8 October 1934) was the Republican Governor of the state of North Carolina from 1973 to 1977.

Holshouser was trained as an attorney and served several terms representing Watauga County, NC in the North Carolina General Assembly. He also chaired the state Republican Party before becoming North Carolina's first Republican governor elected since 1896, narrowly defeating Skipper Bowles. At age 38, he was also the state's youngest governor since the nineteenth century. Many Republicans disliked Holshouser's moderate stances on issues. The governor supported Gerald Ford for president in 1976, while Republican U.S. Senator Jesse Helms supported Ronald Reagan. When Reagan won the North Carolina presidential preference primary of 1976, the Republican state convention refused to appoint Holshouser as a delegate to the Republican National Convention.

His accomplishments in office include consolidation of the University of North Carolina system under a Board of Governors, capital improvement funding for the community college system, statewide enrollment for kindergarten and establishment of health clinics in rural areas not served by local physicians. After leaving office, he returned to the practice of law, and was elected to the Board of Governors of the University of North Carolina, where he still serves as member emeritus. He has also served on the Board of St. Andrews Presbyterian College in Laurinburg, NC.

Holshouser eventually became great friends with Democratic Governor Jim Hunt, who had served as Lieutenant Governor while Holshouser was in office. Holshouser was the last governor who was not eligible for a second four-year term; Hunt was elected in 1976 to succeed him. They serve together on the North Carolina Advisory Board of DonorsChoose. Holshouser recently campaigned for state-funded judicial elections.

As an advocate of free trade and following President Nixon’s groundbreaking meeting with Leonid Brezhnev in the Soviet Union, Governor Holshouser led a North Carolina trade mission to Moscow in September 1973. The stop in Moscow was part of a three-week tour with a 31-member trade commission to the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe.

In 1975, Governor Holshouser faced serious economic challenges in North Carolina that were deeply affected by the national recession, a natural gas crisis, rising unemployment rates, and the political fallout of Watergate.

During his term, Governor Holshouser appointed the first woman to a high-ranking, cabinet-level position. Grace Rohrer was appointed Commissioner of the Department of Art, History and Culture. He was also honored in Washington, DC by the Senator Hugh Scott National Scholarship Foundation for his significant contributions to the field of human rights.

As governor, Holshouser was elected to the executive committee of the National Governors conference, and he was elected chairman of the Southern Regional Education Board, co-chairman of the Coastal Plains Regional Commission, and chairman of the Southern Growth Policies Board.

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