Mike Dow
| Mike Dow | |
|---|---|
| 106th Mayor of Mobile | |
|
In office 1989–2005 |
|
| Preceded by | Arthur R. Outlaw |
| Succeeded by | Samuel L. Jones |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1947 South Carolina |
| Political party | Independent |
| Spouse(s) | Patsy Busby Dow |
| Children | Michael Shawn Dow Christopher Steele Dow Anna Lynn Dow |
| Alma mater | University of South Alabama |
Michael Craig Dow (born 1947) is an American politician who was the four-term mayor of Mobile, Alabama (1989–2005), and is widely credited in the area with leading the redevelopment of downtown Mobile. He was mentioned as a potential gubernatorial candidate in 2010, but declined to run.
Mike Dow was born in South Carolina and was raised as a foster child. He had a troubled childhood. His father left his family when he was ten and his mother suffered from mental illness. As a consequence Mike became a ward of the state. Later at about the age of fourteen, he was taken in by his maternal grandfather, Henry Gainous.
Dow joined the military, serving as a paratrooper in his first tour of duty and as a door gunner for subsequent tours. He survived several helicopter crashes, but in the fourth one, his pilot and best friend, Johnny Legg, was killed. Dow was following his friend in another helicopter; after Legg's death, Dow decided to leave the military. He still keeps a rubbing of Mr. Legg's name from the Vietnam memorial in his office.
After leaving Vietnam and the military, Dow returned to college, earning a master's degree in accounting from the University of South Alabama.
In 1979, Dow co-founded QMS (Quality Micro Systems) with his brother-in-law, Jim Busby. Dow took on a variety of roles, serving as Vice President of Sales, Marketing, and Accounting for the company. Quality Micro Systems, a printer manufacturing company, at one time competed with giants like Hewlett Packard, Canon, Xerox, and Tektronix and was listed in the Fortune 500. Dow is credited with creating the company's European distribution network. After Black Monday, the company was forced to downsize and was eventually purchased by Minolta to become Minolta-QMS in 2000.
Prior to this, Dow left QMS and entered electoral politics, joining the Democratic Party. He ran as a candidate in 1989 for city council from District 6.
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