James P. Coleman
| James Plemon Coleman | |
|---|---|
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| Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit | |
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In office July 26, 1965 – May 31, 1981 |
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| Appointed by | Lyndon B. Johnson |
| Preceded by | Benjamin Franklin Cameron |
| Succeeded by | E. Grady Jolly |
| 52nd Governor of Mississippi | |
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In office January 17, 1956 – January 19, 1960 |
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| Lieutenant | Carroll Gartin |
| Preceded by | Hugh L. White |
| Succeeded by | Ross R. Barnett |
| 33rd Attorney General of Mississippi | |
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In office January 22, 1952 – January 17, 1956 |
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| Preceded by | Greek L. Rice |
| Succeeded by | Joseph Turner Patterson |
| Member of the Mississippi House of Representatives | |
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In office 1960-1964 |
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| Personal details | |
| Born |
January 9, 1914 Ackerman, Mississippi |
| Died | September 28, 1991 (aged 77) Ackerman, Mississippi |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse(s) | Margaret Janet Dennis |
| Alma mater | George Washington University |
| Profession | Lawyer |
| Religion | Baptist |
James Plemon "J.P." Coleman (January 9, 1914 – September 28, 1991) was a politician from the state of Mississippi.
He was born in Ackerman, Mississippi. He obtained a law degree from The George Washington University Law School in 1939. As a young man, he served upon the staff of Mississippi Congressman Aaron L. Ford. In Washington, D.C., he made a name for himself by challenging and defeating another young southern congressional staffer and future president, Lyndon Baines Johnson, for Speaker of the Little Congress, a body that Johnson had dominated before Coleman's challenge. Coleman and Johnson became lifelong friends.
Returning to Mississippi, Coleman was elected District Attorney in 1940, and served until 1946, when he became judge on the state circuit court. After a stint as a justice on the Mississippi Supreme Court, Coleman was the Mississippi Attorney General from 1950 to 1956. Coleman became the Governor of Mississippi in 1956 as a moderate candidate in a campaign where he promised to uphold segregation. As governor, he befriended Democratic presidential nominee, Senator John Fitzgerald Kennedy, but set up the Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission. When Clennon Washington King, Jr. attempted to integrate the University of Mississippi the Governor went to Oxford to prevent Mr. King's matriculation and fulfill his promise of segregation of all schools. He objected to being called a moderate by his critics, preferring to characterize himself as a 'successful segregationist'.
In 1959, Coleman appointed the author Thomas Hal Phillips of Corinth to a vacancy on the Mississippi Public Service Commission created by the resignation of Rubel Phillips, Hal Phillips' younger brother. After his term ended in 1960, Coleman won a seat in the Mississippi House of Representatives and served until 1964. He thus became the only Mississippi politician in history to serve in an elected capacity in all three branches of the state's government.
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