Former ambassador congressman visits Claremore

Joy Hampton

Nov. 14, 2009 — James R. Jones was born and raised in Muskogee. As a youngster aged 5, he started his own neighborhood newspaper, he recalls, laughing now.

“I could barely write,” he said.

By age 14 he was working for a Muskogee newspaper writing sports. That paper was competition for the Muskogee Phoenix and it went out of business, so he went to work for the Phoenix. He also did some stints as a disc jockey at the local radio station.

There, one of his mentors gave him advice he would treasure his entire life.

“Absorb everything you can,” said Jones. “You never know when opportunity will hit.”

Like so many bright young people growing up in the Sooner state, Jones attended the University of Oklahoma where he got his BA in 1961.

During his senior year at O.U., opportunity came knocking. Jones was ready. U.S. Rep. Ed Edmondson was a fellow native of Muskogee. He had a position in his office and suggested Jones come to work for him full-time and attend law school at Georgetown at night.

Jones went. He graduated from Georgetown with a law degree in 1964.

At age 28, Jones was appointed by Pres. Lyndon Johnson to the position of Appointment Secretary, or what is now known as Chief of Staff. He was the youngest person in history to ever have held that position.

Asked how he came to achieve that appointment, Jones said fortune and Ladybird Johnson smiled on him.

“Like so many things it was a of luck,” said Jones.

In the 1964 presidential campaign, Jones was assigned to escort Ladybird through the south on a train trip. Because of controversy surrounding civil rights, it was decided she would be received by the south with less hostility than Johnson would.

“It was an old-fashioned whistle-stop trip,” said Jones.

Afterward, when the President was looking to fill positions, Ladybird told him, “there’s this young man.”

Because of his Washington experience working for Edmondson, fate and the President smiled on Jones. He got the job.

Jones has practiced law in Tulsa and served as a U. S. Representative for the 1st Congressional District from 1973 until 1987 where he was chair of the House Budget Committee and on the Ways and Means Committee.

He was chairman of the American Stock Exchange from 1989 until 1993, and Ambassador to Mexico from 1993 until 1997.

Jones is proud of the North American Free Trade Agreement and believes it has helped increase jobs and income in the U.S., Mexico and Canada. He said NAFTA opened a new marked for U.S. goods and services in Mexico that we did not have previously.

Jones said the agreement also created a set of rules in Mexico which makes any business almost the same as doing business in the U.S.

Right now, the weak U.S. dollar may be hurting us in some ways, but should help with exports. He believes in the global economy and the power of diversity, saying the U.S. is a melting pot that was built on the strength of immigrants and diversity. He hopes that illegal immigrants will be allowed to make restitution for their crime and find a way to have a mutually beneficial relationship with the U.S.

Jones believes a $6 billion wall will not keep illegal immigrants out and is a waste of taxpayer dollars. He said the real way to stop illegal immigration is to stop the jobs and criminally prosecute employers of illegal immigrants.

“If you want to stop illegal immigration, you bring criminal punishment against employers,” he said.

He is disturbed by recent Oklahoma laws regarding immigration and say that attitude has created the belief that Oklahoma does not want foreign trade or investment.

Jones said there are 500,000 service jobs in the U.S. that we need filled by immigrants but only 50,000 are legally allowed under current law.

Other concerns, such as illegal drug trafficking are not new, said Jones. He said those problems have been around since prohibition.

“The U.S. is the biggest illegal drug market in the world,” said Jones. “We’ve got to make illegal drugs as unsocial as we make cigarettes.”

Speaking at Rogers State University, Jones stressed the importance of education for Oklahoma youth to be able to take advantage of tomorrow’s opportunities.

Currently, Jones is a partner in a private consulting firm working with international business to maintain and establish markets worldwide.

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