Politics / Law
James Blanchard
born 1942 · lawyer, congressman, governor of Michigan, diplomat
Detroit-born, Ferndale-raised Democrat who led the 1979 Chrysler loan guarantee through Congress and governed Michigan through the 1980s recovery (1983–1991).
- Born
Detroit, Michigan
age 84- Birth name
- James Johnston Blanchard
- Also known as
- James J. Blanchard · Jim Blanchard
- Detroit years
- 1942–1960, 1974–
01 / The Detroit story
The Detroit story
James Blanchard was born in Detroit in 1942 and grew up in suburban Ferndale, where he graduated from Lincoln High School. After Michigan State University and law school at the University of Minnesota, he worked as an assistant state attorney general under Frank Kelley and joined a Bloomfield Hills law firm. Elected to Congress in 1974 from the Oakland County-based 18th district, he became the House's lead sponsor of the 1979 Chrysler Corporation Loan Guarantee Act, the federal rescue that kept the Detroit automaker alive. In 1982, with Michigan unemployment above 15 percent, he won the governorship over Richard Headlee. He raised taxes to close a huge deficit, then cut them as the state recovered, created economic development programs and was re-elected in 1986 before losing narrowly to John Engler in 1990. He chaired Bill Clinton's 1992 Michigan campaign and served as U.S. ambassador to Canada from 1993 to 1996, later practicing law in Washington and living again in metro Detroit.
Highlights
- 45th governor of Michigan, 1983–1991
- U.S. representative from Michigan, 1975–1983
- House sponsor of the 1979 Chrysler Loan Guarantee Act
- U.S. ambassador to Canada, 1993–1996
- Graduate of Lincoln High School, Ferndale