This essay is part of an ongoing Mississippi Today Ideas series showcasing first-person perspectives of former Mississippi governors. We asked them to write about their successes while in office and perhaps what they wished had gone a little differently during their tenure.

My campaign for governor in 2003 followed a 35-year career in Republican politics in Mississippi, across the South and nationally.

I started in Mississippi in 1968 as a 20-year-old field representative for Richard Nixon’s campaign in 30 central counties. It was during that campaign that I saw my first political poll. It showed only 6% of Mississippians identified as Republican. Nixon got 13% of the vote in our state, though it was not Democrat Hubert Humphrey who won the state. We defeated him, but independent George Wallace won it. To be a Republican in Mississippi in 1968, you had to be an optimist.

In 1970 I was appointed state director of the U.S. Census for Mississippi, which was a political patronage job. I was only 22 years old then and had some 2,700 employees.

Despite my age, we finished ahead of schedule and under budget. 

In 1972 I came back to the state Republican Party to direct the Nixon reelection campaign in Mississippi as well as coordinate the three GOP House races in the state. Thad Cochran and Trent Lott both won congressional seats left open by Democrats, registering major GOP breakthroughs in our state. 

That same year, Republican Gil Carmichael of Meridian ran a serious race against longtime U.S. Sen. Jim Eastland.

While 1972 began a strong GOP attack on the state’s one-party system, nearly all state, federal, county and municipal elected officials remained Democrats. Movement to a competitive two-party system would be evolutionary, requiring piece-by-piece progress over more than 20 years. For example, from the 1972 breakthrough by Cochran and Lott, no Mississippi legislative body elected a Republican majority until 2012.

Importantly, however, Thad in 1978 and Trent in 1988 were elected to the U.S. Senate, and Kirk Fordice won two terms as governor in 1991 and 1995.

After Ronnie Musgrove succeeded Fordice, I began to get encouragement to run for governor, which I did in the 2003 election.

My campaign was largely about policy and reforms of existing policies, such as tort reform. Musgrove’s administration had made a pass at tort reform, which was not considered effective.

Our reforms included a greater emphasis on workforce development and skills training in public education, especially at our community colleges.

I pledged to maintain a balanced budget, which the previous administration had not done. I said we would balance the budget without raising anybody’s taxes, which we did within two years.

Major emphasis was placed on economic development and job creation. I had always thought the public’s view was that the governor was the state’s chief economic development and job creation officer.

As noted earlier, the Democrats had majority control of both legislative chambers. The House never had a GOP majority while I was governor (2004-2012), and the Senate only had a GOP majority in 2011 because two senators elected as Democrats switched to the GOP that year.

Despite the divided government, my administration had good success with the Legislature. We never had a veto overridden, and both houses were very cooperative with my handling of the Hurricane Katrina crisis and all its programs and redevelopments. Speaker Billy McCoy publicly and accurately said the governor had to be in charge of spending and programs paid for by the federal government, and he and the Legislature abided by that statement.

My administration worked with Congress and the Bush administration to amend federal disaster assistance programs and successfully filled gaps in the then existing major programs.

Mississippi was commended by federal inspectors general and others for the way we managed our programs funded by federal funds, which amounted to $24.5 billion.

I believe my administration will always be remembered first by how we handled our recovery and rebuilding after Katrina, which was at that time the worst natural disaster in U.S. history.

Tort reform was a major accomplishment that achieved very positive results after a tough fight in the Legislature. Another critical accomplishment was allowing casinos on the Coast to move onshore. I always congratulated Democratic Speaker McCoy, who opposed gaming but then allowed the onshoring bill to come to the floor for a vote. The bill passed, even though McCoy voted “no.”

We had great success in attracting high quality industries which generated high paying jobs. Per capita income increased 34%. Companies like Toyota, GE Aviation, PACCAR, Federal Express, Caterpillar, Winchester, Severstal, Airbus and others either came to the state or expanded here.

Disappointments included failure to get the Obama administration to deepen the ship channel to the Port of Gulfport; or to get Congress to allow us to buy the railroad and right of way just above Beach Boulevard in Harrison, Jackson and Hancock counties and relocate it north of I-10. The purchased right of way would have been replaced by a thoroughfare on the track bed at least 6-lanes wide with controlled access. The Coast has come back and greatly improved since Katrina, but these two projects would have made it far, far better. 

Haley Barbour served as Mississippi governor from 2004-2012. From 1993 to 1997, he served as chairman of the Republican National Committee, managing the 1994 Republican surge that led to GOP control of both houses of Congress for the first time in 40 years. A native of Yazoo City, Barbour still resides in his hometown with his wife, Marsha. They have two sons and seven grandchildren.

Editor’s note: Marsha and Haley Barbour donated to Mississippi Today in 2016. Donors do not in any way influence our newsroom’s editorial decisions. For more on that policy or to view a list of our donors, click here.

This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

The presidents of the University of Southern Mississippi and Mississippi Valley State University received raises at the end of last year, according to meeting minutes from the Institutions of Higher Learning Board of Trustees’ November executive session. 

The raises, which took effect earlier this month, appear to have been granted after trustees discussed the job performances of USM President Joe Paul and MVSU President Jerryl Briggs, minutes show. 

“University presidents across the state and throughout the country are facing substantive challenges in an increasingly competitive environment, and it is important that good work in that environment is recognized and rewarded,” an IHL spokesperson wrote in a statement. 

The third highest-paid college president in the state, Paul is now making $700,000 a year, a $50,000 raise over his previous salary, meeting minutes show. The raise came from the state-funded portion of Paul’s salary while the USM Foundation will continue to pay him an annual supplement of $200,000. 

“I am thankful for the confidence and support of the IHL Board of Trustees, and I look forward to leading my alma mater for the next four years,” Paul said in a statement. “Meg and I have committed to contributing this salary increase and more to the USM Foundation and the Southern Miss Athletic Foundation over the time of my contract.”

Briggs will now make $310,000 a year, an increase of $10,000 in state funds. He will continue to receive a $5,000 supplement from the MVSU J.H. White Foundation. The IHL board renewed Briggs’ contract two years ago but did not grant him a raise. 

“I am deeply grateful for the support of the IHL Board and our university community,” Briggs said in a statement. “At Mississippi Valley State University, we remain steadfast in our commitment to fiscal responsibility, fostering enrollment growth, and expanding access to higher education opportunities for individuals in the Mississippi Delta and beyond. Together, we are truly ‘In Motion!’”

This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

Jan. 17, 1931

Born in Arkabutla, Mississippi, James Earl Jones moved to his grandparents’ farm in Michigan at age 5. 

He had a stutter so severe, he hardly spoke. An English teacher realized his gift for writing poetry and had him recite poetry in front of the class, overcoming his stuttering. 

At the University of Michigan, he was majoring in pre-med when he discovered drama. After training troops in the Korean War, he starred in “Othello” at the Ramsdell Theatre in Michigan. In 1967, he starred opposite actress Jane Alexander in “The Great White Hope,” loosely based on heavyweight champion Jack Johnson and society’s demand for a white boxer that would defeat Johnson. The play began at the Arena Stage in Washington, D.C., before moving to Broadway, where the play, Jones and Alexander all won Tonys. In the film adaptation, Jones won a Golden Globe and an Oscar nomination. 

He went on to play Shakespeare on Broadway and win another Tony, three Emmys and an honorary Oscar prior to his 2024 death. The first celebrity guest on “Sesame Street,” he may be best known for providing the voice for Darth Vader in the Star Wars movies and for Mufasa in Disney’s “The Lion King.” 

He saw the two biggest challenges to society as health and sanity. “I won’t say racism,” he said. “I say sanity because racism is a form of insanity.”

This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.