Texas. Governor (1935-1939 : Allred)

James V (V was his middle name, not an initial) Allred served as Governor of Texas for two terms during the Great Depression from 1935 to 1939. He was born in Bowie, Texas on March 29, 1899, graduated from Bowie High School in 1917 and enrolled at Rice Institute (now Rice University) in Houston but was forced to withdraw after one semester for financial reasons. He worked for the United States Immigration Service and later enlisted in the Navy during World War I. After the war he worked as a law clerk in a Wichita Falls law office. He received an LL.B. from Cumberland University in Lebanon, Tennessee in 1921 and returned to Wichita Falls to practice law.

In 1923 Governor Pat Neff appointed Allred to fill an unexpired term as district attorney for the Thirtieth Texas District, encompassing Archer, Wichita and Young counties. He earned a reputation as "the fighting district attorney" for his outspoken opposition to the Ku Klux Klan. He ran for state attorney general in 1926 but lost in a close election and ran again successfully in 1930. As attorney general he gained public approval campaigning against monopolies and the influence of big businesses on state taxation and fiscal policies.

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