Jack Reed

Jack Raymond Reed Sr. (May 19, 1924 – January 27, 2016) was an American businessman and politician. Born in Tupelo, Mississippi, he served in the United States Army during World War II and earned degrees from Vanderbilt University and New York University before returning home to help run his family's retail business. He later assumed control over their department store after his father's death in 1956. Active in local civic affairs, he chaired the Mississippi Economic Council from 1963 to 1964 and became a vocal proponent for public education. Appointed to the Mississippi Board of Education in 1984, he chaired the body until he decided to run for the office of governor of Mississippi in 1987 as a moderate Republican. Reed lost the general election but performed better than any Republican gubernatorial candidate had in Mississippi in the 20th century to that point. In his later life he continued to advocate for public education. He died in 2016.

Early life Jack Raymond Reed was born on May 19, 1924, in Tupelo, Mississippi, to Bob and Hoyt Reed.

Reed became active in civic affairs in Tupelo. He believed that Jim Crow racial segregation and racial bigotry harmed Mississippi's economic prospects and during the 1960s encouraged white residents to remain supportive of the local public schools despite federal integration orders. Following the Ole Miss riot, in which a white mob attempted to halt the integration of the University of Mississippi, and numerous calls by politicians to close the state's public schools, Reed delivered a speech at the Heidelberg Hotel on January 22, 1963. He said, "We must support public education and keep our schools open! [...] A responsible citizen who wishes to see Mississippi prosper and realize her full economic potential can hardly do less!" This made him one of only a few prominent white Mississippians to question the state's approach towards segregation. He supported businessman Mike Sturdivant's candidacy in the 1983 Democratic gubernatorial primary. The primary and general election were won by William Allain. Despite the fact that Reed had backed one of his opponents, the governor appreciated his work on education reform and appointed him to the first lay Mississippi Board of Education in 1984. Reed was sworn in on July 2 and the board members subsequently chose him to chair the body. Reed eventually declared his candidacy as a Republican, later explaining that "it was only chance I had to get elected". He said of his personal views on the parties that "In my heart I'm a Democrat but in my head I'm a Republican." He ultimately won the Republican primary, defeating financial consultant Doug Lemon with 78 percent of the vote.

Reed ran as a moderate in the general election against Democratic State Auditor Ray Mabus. Both candidates supported education improvement, government reform, and industrial recruitment, though by different means. Mabus sought to increase teacher salaries to the Southeastern average rate within one year, while Reed proposed a five-year plan. He also sought to stress that he was "not a professional politician" and not beholden to partisan loyalties. He conducted outreach with black voters and gained the support of some black businessmen—one of the few Mississippi Republicans to do so—but struggled to gain larger black traction. He also supported abortion restrictions and school prayer. Mabus outspent Reed's campaign and won with 53 percent of the vote. Reed performed well among white rural Democrats due to his socially conservative views on abortion and prayer in school, but attracted little black support due to the nationally conservative shift of the Republican Party. He also lost some urban counties to Mabus. Nevertheless, his 46.6 percent of the vote was the largest any Republican gubernatorial candidate had received in Mississippi in the 20th century to that point. He supported Pete Johnson in the 1991 Republican gubernatorial primary.

During the 1987 campaign Reed became acquainted with U.S. Vice President George H. W. Bush. After Bush became president, he appointed Reed to a seat on the National Advisory Committee on Education Research and Improvement in 1990. Reed was made the council's chairman, but felt the body accomplished little, and he left in 1993 upon Bill Clinton's assumption of the presidency. In 2000 he served on a state commission to consider alterations to the flag of Mississippi, including the removal of its canton of the Confederate battle flag. Accepting the position only after urging from the commission chairman, William Winter, Reed later dubbed it "the low point" of his public career, expressing dismay at the public opposition to altering the flag. The commission held a public meeting chaired by him in Tupelo where many in the audience denounced the notion of taking the flag, and as a result Reed received angry letters and some protestors picketed his department store. In 2004 he and Winter lobbied for the legislature to fund the Mississippi Adequate Education Program and hosted eight public forums to build public support for the program. He jokingly referred to their partnership as "Octogenarians Against Ignorance". He died on January 27, 2016, at the age of 91. A funeral was held at First United Methodist Church in Tupelo on January 30. His son, Jack Reed Jr., served as mayor of Tupelo from 2009 to 2013.