James M. Collins
Encyclopedia
James Mitchell Collins, often known as Jim Collins (April 29, 1916 – July 21, 1989), was a Republican
who represented the Third Congressional District of Texas
from 1968-1983. The district was based at the time about Irving
in Dallas County
.
Collins was born in Hallsville
in Harrison County
, in East Texas
. He graduated from Woodrow Wilson High School and Southern Methodist University
in University Park
(a part of Dallas
) and from Harvard Business School
in Cambridge
, Massachusetts
. Collins then entered the United States Army
, having served as a lieutenant in the Third Army of General
George S. Patton, Jr., during the Battle of the Bulge
in World War II
.
Collins was first elected to the U.S. House in a special election caused by the death of Rep. Joe R. Pool
in 1968. In the general election
that fall, he received 81,696 votes (59.4 percent) to 55,939 (40.6 percent) for Democrat
Robert H. Hughes.
One of Collins' campaign workers and office volunteers was Barbara Staff
, the president of a group called the Council of Republican Women's Clubs of Dallas County. She describes working in Collins' office as "quite a training ground. After you've worked in that office, you're equipped to do anything." In 1976, Staff became co-chairman of the Texas Ronald Reagan
presidential primary campaign."
, of Hosuton
, then sixty-one. The conservative
Collins won the Republican primary
for senator by defeating an even more conservative rival, Walter Henry Mengden, Jr.
, also of Houston. As a state senator, Mengden had been an advocate of instituting the initiative
and referendum
in Texas, two reforms never implemented. Collins polled 152,469 (58 percent) in the primary to Mengden's 91,780 (34.9 percent). A third contender received 7.1 percent of the vote.
Collins subsequently lost the general election
by a large margin. Bentsen polled 1,818,223 (58.6 percent) to Collins' 1,256,759 (40.5 percent). The 1982 elections ended the political careers of both Mengden and Collins, but they represented a triumph for Lloyd Bentsen, who led his party to victory in all statewide races that year, the last year thus far that Democrats have swept all statewide races, including judgeships, in Texas.
In 1989, Collins was inducted into the Woodrow Wilson High School Hall of Fame the same year it was created in celebration of the sixtieth anniversary of the institution.
Collins' son-in-law, Richard W. Fisher
of Dallas, worked in 1992 the Independent presidential campaign of H. Ross Perot. In 1994, five years after Collins' death, Fisher ran unsuccessfully as the Democratic nominee against freshman Republican Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison
, who emerged as Bentsen's long-time Senate successor.
Collins was succeeded in Congress by fellow Republican Steve Bartlett
, who had defeated future U.S. Senator Hutchison in the GOP primary in 1982. Bartlett left Congress in 1991, when he was elected mayor of Dallas. Bartlett was succeeded by current Third District Republican Representative Sam Johnson
, a popular former POW from the Vietnam War
.
Collins is interred at Restland Memorial Park in Dallas.
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
who represented the Third Congressional District of Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
from 1968-1983. The district was based at the time about Irving
Irving, Texas
Irving is a city located in the U.S. state of Texas within Dallas County. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, the city population was 216,290. Irving is within the Dallas–Plano–Irving metropolitan division of the Dallas–Fort Worth–Arlington metropolitan area, designated...
in Dallas County
Dallas County, Texas
As of the census of 2000, there were 2,218,899 people, 807,621 households, and 533,837 families residing in the county. The population density was 2,523 people per square mile . There were 854,119 housing units at an average density of 971/sq mi...
.
Collins was born in Hallsville
Hallsville, Texas
Hallsville is a city in Harrison County, Texas, United States, located west of the county seat, Marshall on U.S. Highway 80. The population was 2,772 at the 2000 census.-Early history:...
in Harrison County
Harrison County, Texas
Harrison County is a county of the U.S. state of Texas. In 2000, its population was 62,110. It is named for Jonas Harrison, a lawyer and Texas revolutionary. It is located in the Ark-La-Tex region...
, in East Texas
East Texas
East Texas is a distinct geographic and ecological area in the U.S. state of Texas.According to the Handbook of Texas, the East Texas area "may be separated from the rest of Texas roughly by a line extending from the Red River in north central Lamar County southwestward to east central Limestone...
. He graduated from Woodrow Wilson High School and Southern Methodist University
Southern Methodist University
Southern Methodist University is a private university in Dallas, Texas, United States. Founded in 1911 by the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, SMU operates campuses in Dallas, Plano, and Taos, New Mexico. SMU is owned by the South Central Jurisdiction of the United Methodist Church...
in University Park
University Park, Texas
University Park is a city in Dallas County, Texas, United States, and a inner suburb of Dallas. The population was 23,324 at the 2000 census. The city is home to Southern Methodist University. Like its neighbor, Highland Park, it is a city partially surrounded by the municipality of Dallas...
(a part of Dallas
Dallas, Texas
Dallas is the third-largest city in Texas and the ninth-largest in the United States. The Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex is the largest metropolitan area in the South and fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States...
) and from Harvard Business School
Harvard Business School
Harvard Business School is the graduate business school of Harvard University in Boston, Massachusetts, United States and is widely recognized as one of the top business schools in the world. The school offers the world's largest full-time MBA program, doctoral programs, and many executive...
in Cambridge
Cambridge, Massachusetts
Cambridge is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, in the Greater Boston area. It was named in honor of the University of Cambridge in England, an important center of the Puritan theology embraced by the town's founders. Cambridge is home to two of the world's most prominent...
, Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
. Collins then entered the United States Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
, having served as a lieutenant in the Third Army of General
General
A general officer is an officer of high military rank, usually in the army, and in some nations, the air force. The term is widely used by many nations of the world, and when a country uses a different term, there is an equivalent title given....
George S. Patton, Jr., during the Battle of the Bulge
Battle of the Bulge
The Battle of the Bulge was a major German offensive , launched toward the end of World War II through the densely forested Ardennes mountain region of Wallonia in Belgium, hence its French name , and France and...
in World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
.
Collins was first elected to the U.S. House in a special election caused by the death of Rep. Joe R. Pool
Joe R. Pool
Joe Richard Pool was a U.S. Representative from Texas.Born in Fort Worth, Texas, Pool graduated from Oak Cliff High School Joe Richard Pool (February 18, 1911 – July 14, 1968) was a U.S. Representative from Texas.Born in Fort Worth, Texas, Pool graduated from Oak Cliff High School Joe...
in 1968. In the general election
General election
In a parliamentary political system, a general election is an election in which all or most members of a given political body are chosen. The term is usually used to refer to elections held for a nation's primary legislative body, as distinguished from by-elections and local elections.The term...
that fall, he received 81,696 votes (59.4 percent) to 55,939 (40.6 percent) for Democrat
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
Robert H. Hughes.
One of Collins' campaign workers and office volunteers was Barbara Staff
Barbara Staff
Barbara Ruth Wright Staff is a retired Republican political activist from Plano, Texas. She was co-chairman of her state's 1976 Ronald Reagan presidential primary campaign.-Background:...
, the president of a group called the Council of Republican Women's Clubs of Dallas County. She describes working in Collins' office as "quite a training ground. After you've worked in that office, you're equipped to do anything." In 1976, Staff became co-chairman of the Texas Ronald Reagan
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....
presidential primary campaign."
Running for the Senate, 1982
At sixty-six in 1982, Collins relinquished his House seat to challenge the entrenched Texas Democratic U.S. Senator Lloyd Millard Bentsen, Jr.Lloyd Bentsen
Lloyd Millard Bentsen, Jr. was a four-term United States senator from Texas and the Democratic Party nominee for Vice President in 1988 on the Michael Dukakis ticket. He also served in the House of Representatives from 1949 to 1955. In his later political life, he was Chairman of the Senate...
, of Hosuton
Houston, Texas
Houston is the fourth-largest city in the United States, and the largest city in the state of Texas. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, the city had a population of 2.1 million people within an area of . Houston is the seat of Harris County and the economic center of , which is the ...
, then sixty-one. The conservative
American conservatism
Conservatism in the United States has played an important role in American politics since the 1950s. Historian Gregory Schneider identifies several constants in American conservatism: respect for tradition, support of republicanism, preservation of "the rule of law and the Christian religion", and...
Collins won the Republican primary
Primary election
A primary election is an election in which party members or voters select candidates for a subsequent election. Primary elections are one means by which a political party nominates candidates for the next general election....
for senator by defeating an even more conservative rival, Walter Henry Mengden, Jr.
Walter Mengden
Walter Henry Mengden, Jr. , is an attorney and oilman in Austin and Houston, Texas, who is a Republican former member of both houses of the Texas State Legislature from Harris County.-Early years:...
, also of Houston. As a state senator, Mengden had been an advocate of instituting the initiative
Initiative
In political science, an initiative is a means by which a petition signed by a certain minimum number of registered voters can force a public vote...
and referendum
Referendum
A referendum is a direct vote in which an entire electorate is asked to either accept or reject a particular proposal. This may result in the adoption of a new constitution, a constitutional amendment, a law, the recall of an elected official or simply a specific government policy. It is a form of...
in Texas, two reforms never implemented. Collins polled 152,469 (58 percent) in the primary to Mengden's 91,780 (34.9 percent). A third contender received 7.1 percent of the vote.
Collins subsequently lost the general election
General election
In a parliamentary political system, a general election is an election in which all or most members of a given political body are chosen. The term is usually used to refer to elections held for a nation's primary legislative body, as distinguished from by-elections and local elections.The term...
by a large margin. Bentsen polled 1,818,223 (58.6 percent) to Collins' 1,256,759 (40.5 percent). The 1982 elections ended the political careers of both Mengden and Collins, but they represented a triumph for Lloyd Bentsen, who led his party to victory in all statewide races that year, the last year thus far that Democrats have swept all statewide races, including judgeships, in Texas.
In 1989, Collins was inducted into the Woodrow Wilson High School Hall of Fame the same year it was created in celebration of the sixtieth anniversary of the institution.
Collins' son-in-law, Richard W. Fisher
Richard W. Fisher
Richard W. Fisher is currently the President and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, having assumed that post in April, 2005.-Career:...
of Dallas, worked in 1992 the Independent presidential campaign of H. Ross Perot. In 1994, five years after Collins' death, Fisher ran unsuccessfully as the Democratic nominee against freshman Republican Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison
Kay Bailey Hutchison
Kathryn Ann Bailey Hutchison, known as Kay Bailey Hutchison , is the senior United States Senator from Texas.She is a member of the Republican Party. In 2001, she was named one of the thirty most powerful women in America by Ladies Home Journal. The first woman to represent Texas in the U.S....
, who emerged as Bentsen's long-time Senate successor.
Collins was succeeded in Congress by fellow Republican Steve Bartlett
Steve Bartlett
Harry Steven "Steve" Bartlett is the President and CEO of the Financial Services Roundtable, an advocacy group lobbying the U.S. Congress on financial services legislation. He is a former U.S...
, who had defeated future U.S. Senator Hutchison in the GOP primary in 1982. Bartlett left Congress in 1991, when he was elected mayor of Dallas. Bartlett was succeeded by current Third District Republican Representative Sam Johnson
Sam Johnson
Samuel Robert "Sam" Johnson is an American politician and a retired career U.S. Air Force officer and fighter pilot. He currently is a Republican member of the U.S. House of Representatives from the 3rd District of Texas...
, a popular former POW from the Vietnam War
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
.
Collins is interred at Restland Memorial Park in Dallas.