
James Thomas Blair Jr. (15 March 1902-12 July 1962) was the Democratic Governor of Missouri from 14 January 1957 to 9 January 1961, succeeding Phil M. Donnelly and preceding John M. Dalton.
Biography[]
James Thomas Blair Jr. was born in Maysville, Missouri in 1902, and he was educated in Jefferson City. He was elected city attorney in 1925 and served in the State House from 1929 to 1937 as a Democrat. He served as a lieutenant-colonel in the US Air Force in Western Europe during World War II, and he was highly decorated for his services. After the war, he served as Mayor of Jefferson City from 1947 to 1948, as Lieutenant Governor from 1949 to 1957, and as Governor from 1957 to 1961. Blair was an advocate for Black civil rights, welfare reform, and extending health insurance to the disabled, and he also set up a state employee pension fund. He and his wife died of accidental carbon monoxide poisoning in 1962 when an air vent in their home sucked in fume from a car which was inadvertently left running in the garage.