Kirk Fordice
Encyclopedia
Daniel Kirkwood "Kirk" Fordice, Jr. (February 10, 1934 – September 7, 2004) was a politician from the US state of Mississippi
Mississippi
Mississippi is a U.S. state located in the Southern United States. Jackson is the state capital and largest city. The name of the state derives from the Mississippi River, which flows along its western boundary, whose name comes from the Ojibwe word misi-ziibi...

. He was the 61st Governor of Mississippi from January 14, 1992, until January 11, 2000.

Biography

Born in Memphis, Tennessee
Memphis, Tennessee
Memphis is a city in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Tennessee, and the county seat of Shelby County. The city is located on the 4th Chickasaw Bluff, south of the confluence of the Wolf and Mississippi rivers....

, Fordice studied engineering at Purdue University
Purdue University
Purdue University, located in West Lafayette, Indiana, U.S., is the flagship university of the six-campus Purdue University system. Purdue was founded on May 6, 1869, as a land-grant university when the Indiana General Assembly, taking advantage of the Morrill Act, accepted a donation of land and...

, becoming a member of the Sigma Chi
Sigma Chi
Sigma Chi is the largest and one of the oldest college Greek-letter secret and social fraternities in North America with 244 active chapters and more than . Sigma Chi was founded on June 28, 1855 at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio when members split from Delta Kappa Epsilon...

 fraternity and earning a BS and MS in 1956 and 1957, respectively. After graduation he served with 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...

 as an engineer officer in the 1st Infantry Division
U.S. 1st Infantry Division
The 1st Infantry Division of the United States Army is the oldest division in the United States Army. It has seen continuous service since its organization in 1917...

 for two years. He remained in the Army Reserve
United States Army Reserve
The United States Army Reserve is the federal reserve force of the United States Army. Together, the Army Reserve and the Army National Guard constitute the reserve components of the United States Army....

 until 1977, retiring with the rank of colonel
Colonel
Colonel , abbreviated Col or COL, is a military rank of a senior commissioned officer. It or a corresponding rank exists in most armies and in many air forces; the naval equivalent rank is generally "Captain". It is also used in some police forces and other paramilitary rank structures...

.

Fordice settled in Vicksburg
Vicksburg, Mississippi
Vicksburg is a city in Warren County, Mississippi, United States. It is the only city in Warren County. It is located northwest of New Orleans on the Mississippi and Yazoo rivers, and due west of Jackson, the state capital. In 1900, 14,834 people lived in Vicksburg; in 1910, 20,814; in 1920,...

 and began a career in heavy construction, eventually founding his own construction company and becoming a millionaire. He won the governorship of Mississippi in the 1991 election, first winning the Republican primary against state auditor Pete Johnson
Pete Johnson (Mississippi)
Pete Johnson served as State Auditor of Mississippi from 1988-1992.-References:...

 and in the general election against Democratic
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...

 incumbent Ray Mabus
Ray Mabus
Raymond Edwin "Ray" Mabus, Jr. is the 75th United States Secretary of the Navy. Mabus served as the 60th Governor of the U.S...

, making him the first Republican
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...

 to be elected Mississippi governor since Reconstruction-era governor Adelbert Ames
Adelbert Ames
Adelbert Ames was an American sailor, soldier, and politician. He served with distinction as a Union Army general during the American Civil War. As a Radical Republican and a Carpetbagger, he was military governor, Senator and civilian governor in Reconstruction-era Mississippi...

, who served from 1874 to 1876. Fordice successfully won re-election in 1995 against Democratic Mississippi secretary of state Dick Molpus
Dick Molpus
Richard "Dick" Molpus is a former Democratic Party Secretary of State of Mississippi and President of The Molpus Woodlands Group, LLC , a timberland investment management organization headquartered in Jackson, Mississippi....

. His second inauguration was on January 16, 1996.

An outspoken conservative, Fordice advocated tax cuts, the abolishment of affirmative action
Affirmative action
Affirmative action refers to policies that take factors including "race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation or national origin" into consideration in order to benefit an underrepresented group, usually as a means to counter the effects of a history of discrimination.-Origins:The term...

, reductions in the welfare system, expanded capital punishment, tougher prison conditions and the building of more prisons.

Fordice also alarmed Jewish groups such as B'nai B'rith
B'nai B'rith
B'nai B'rith International |Covenant]]" is the oldest continually operating Jewish service organization in the world. It was initially founded as the Independent Order of B'nai B'rith in New York City, on , 1843, by Henry Jones and 11 others....

 by referring to America as "a Christian Nation" during a Republican governors conference. South Carolina
South Carolina
South Carolina is a state in the Deep South of the United States that borders Georgia to the south, North Carolina to the north, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Originally part of the Province of Carolina, the Province of South Carolina was one of the 13 colonies that declared independence...

 governor Carroll Campbell quickly offered a correction, adding "Judeo-"
Judeo-Christian
Judeo-Christian is a term used in the United States since the 1940s to refer to standards of ethics said to be held in common by Judaism and Christianity, for example the Ten Commandments...

 as a prefix to Christian, but Fordice snapped back he meant what he said. Fordice later apologized for any offense.

Fordice also refused to discuss any increase in public school pay raise across the state, even though Mississippi ranked 49th in the nation. When teachers discussed striking he ordered any teacher that went on strike to be immediately fired.

In August 1996, Fordice signed an executive order banning recognition of same-sex marriages in Mississippi. Lawmakers said then that they would back up the executive order with a law. In 2004, Mississippi voters passed a constitutional amendment defining marriage as only between a man and a woman and further banning recognition of same-sex marriages from other states and countries.

Fordice said he would have quit his position of Governor while still in office, except that he didn't want to give the Democratic candidate, Lieutenant Governor
Lieutenant Governor of Mississippi
The Lieutenant Governor of Mississippi is the second-highest ranking executive officer in Mississippi, right below the governor. The office of lieutenant governor was established when Mississippi became a state, abolished for a few decades in the first half of the 19th century, and restored later...

 Ronnie Musgrove
Ronnie Musgrove
David Ronald "Ronnie" Musgrove is an American politician who was the 29th Lieutenant Governor of Mississippi from January 16, 1996 to January 11, 2000 and the 62nd Governor of Mississippi from January 11, 2000 to January 13, 2004 of the U.S. state of Mississippi. He was recently defeated by...

, any spot-light time of running the state before the actual election. Musgrove won the election anyway and became Mississippi's next Governor.

Fordice's tenure was also roiled by an extramarital affair with his high school sweetheart Ann G. Creson, which led to his divorce from his wife of 44 years, Pat Fordice
Pat Fordice
Patricia Owens "Pat" Fordice was the First Lady of Mississippi from 1992 until 1999 as the wife of Governor Kirk Fordice...

. The controversy included then-65-year-old Fordice's threat to "whip your ass" when reporter Bert Case went to Fordice's house to question him. After leaving office, Fordice married Ann, but they also divorced later.

After retiring, Fordice settled in Madison, Mississippi
Madison, Mississippi
Madison is a city in Madison County, Mississippi, USA. The population was 14,691 at the 2000 census. The population is currently 16,930. It is part of the Jackson Metropolitan Statistical Area. It is currently the highest income city in the state...

. He died of leukemia
Leukemia
Leukemia or leukaemia is a type of cancer of the blood or bone marrow characterized by an abnormal increase of immature white blood cells called "blasts". Leukemia is a broad term covering a spectrum of diseases...

 in Jackson
Jackson, Mississippi
Jackson is the capital and the most populous city of the US state of Mississippi. It is one of two county seats of Hinds County ,. The population of the city declined from 184,256 at the 2000 census to 173,514 at the 2010 census...

 at the age of 70 with his ex-wife Pat by his side. He is buried at Parkway Memorial Cemetery in Ridgeland, Mississippi
Ridgeland, Mississippi
Ridgeland is a city in Madison County, Mississippi, United States. The population was 20,173 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Jackson Metropolitan Statistical Area.-Geography:...

.

External links

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