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| Affiliation | Democratic |
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| Name | James V. Allred |
| Email | None |
| Website | None |
| Born |
March 29, 1899
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| Died | September 24, 1959
(60 years)
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| Contributor | Thomas Walker |
| Last Modifed | RBH
Dec 02, 2017 12:03am |
| Tags |
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| Info | Born: March 29, 1899, in Bowie, Texas
Early Career: Allred enrolled in Rice Institute (now Rice University) but withdrew for financial reasons. He served with the U.S. Immigration Service and then enlisted in the Navy during World War I. After the war, he studied law at Cumberland University in Tennessee and began practice in Wichita Falls. In 1923 he was named to an unexpired term as district attorney for the 30th District, which included Wichita, Archer, and Young counties. Allred became known as "the fighting district attorney" for his opposition to the Ku Klux Klan. He ran an unsuccessful race for state attorney general in 1926, then was elected to the post in 1930, where he campaigned against the undue influence of monopolies and large businesses.
Accomplishments: Allred devoted most of his first term of office to cooperating with federal programs designed to combat the Great Depression. He won approval for measures to provide increased support for public education, highway construction, the establishment of the Texas Department of Public Safety, and expanded services for the elderly and needy, though the legislature refused to fund many of the programs. Allred won national note, including a nod from the Junior Chamber of Commerce as "Outstanding Young Man in America" in 1935. He easily won reelection.
Allred's second term saw passage of a teacher retirement system, broadened social security and welfare provisions, expansion of state services, increased support for education, and higher pay for state officials. Again, the legislature refused to fund many of Allred's initiatives.
Later years: Allred was named by President Roosevelt to a federal judgeship, where he began service when he left the governorship in 1939. He resigned from the bench to run unsuccessfully for the U.S. Senate in 1942. He returned to private practice until President Truman named him once again to a federal judgeship in 1949. He died on September 24, 1959.
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