Jim Hensley

James Willis Hensley (April 12, 1920 – June 21, 2000) was an American businessman in the beer industry.

Hensley was born in Texas and moved to Arizona during his youth. He was a bombardier on B-17 Flying Fortresses during World War II and was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross. After the war he was convicted of illegal distribution of liquor and was also involved in a racetrack operation that was investigated by authorities.

He founded Hensley & Co. in 1955. Headquartered in Phoenix, it grew to become one of the largest Anheuser-Busch beer distributorships in the nation. One of Arizona's richest men at the time of his death, Hensley was the father of Cindy Hensley McCain and the father-in-law of United States Senator and former Republican presidential candidate John McCain.

Early life, military service and family Hensley was born on April 12, 1920 in San Antonio They lived in the South until moving to Arizona; around 1937, He was a bombardier on B-17 Flying Fortresses. He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross. who had one daughter, Dixie, from a previous relationship. Hensley divorced his wife, Hensley's first daughter grew up with her mother, but he maintained occasional contact with her. Jim Hensley received a six-month sentence (later upheld but suspended by an appeals court) while his brother received a year in federal prison, and both were fined. In a May 1953 hearing before the New Mexico State Racing Commission, the Hensley brothers concealed the existence an equal partner, Clarence "Teak" Baldwin, who had been banned from any ownership role due to illegal bookmaking activities. A 1953 New Mexico State Police investigation found further that Kemper Marley was a financial backer for bookmakers and had connections with Baldwin and with the bookmaking operations of organized crime, The Hensley brothers gained their Ruidoso Downs racetrack license in 1953, as no New Mexico law barred convicted felons from race track ownership, although in 1955 new Governor of New Mexico John F. Simms said he was "appalled" by the previous administration's decision to do so. Jim Hensley sold his interest in Ruidoso Downs to his brother Eugene in 1955 (who in turn sold it to a Marley-connected company in 1969). He was given a state liquor license despite his normally disqualifying past felony conviction. Hensley soon switched to exclusively distributing Anheuser-Busch beer. Hensley had also distanced himself from Marley, and had helped set up a local hospital; nevertheless, he was never fully accepted by the Phoenix establishment. McCain soon left to begin his Congressional career with a victory in the 1982 election for U.S. House of Representatives. Jim Hensley's past record with the law, as well as his past connection to Marley (who was suspected by the police in the 1976 car-bomb murder of Arizona Republic investigative reporter Don Bolles although by 2000 his health was poor and he had withdrawn from daily operational control. on 20 million cases of beer sold; the fifth-largest beer distributorship overall in the nation starting the Hensley Family Foundation. His frequently-amended will left his entire estate to Cindy Hensley McCain, who thus became controlling stockholder and board chair after his death. His first daughter Kathleen, her husband and children had received substantial ongoing gifts, credit cards, and college tuition payments in the decade before his death, but were left only a modest lump sum from his estate.