Raymond Edwin "Ray" Mabus, Jr. (born October 11, 1948) is an American business and political leader. Based in Mississippi, he works on international business matters, is involved in political campaigns, and serves on various corporate and charitable boards. Previously, he served as Governor of the U.S. state of Mississippi from 1988 to 1992 as a Democrat and as Ambassador to Saudi Arabia from 1994 to 1996. Image File history File links Size of this preview: 464 × 600 pixelsFull resolution‎ (554 × 716 pixels, file size: 54 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) copyright holder and subject Ray Mabus provided photo for wikipedia and other uses. ... Governors of Mississippi Territory, 1801–1817 Winthorp Sargent (Federalist) (7 May 1798–25 May 1801) William C. C. Claiborne (Democrat) (25 May 1801–1 March 1805) Robert Williams (Democrat) (1 March 1805–7 March 1809) David Holmes (Democrat) (7 March 1809–10 December 1817) Governors of the State of Mississippi... is the 12th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1988 (MCMLXXXVIII) was a leap year starting on Friday (link displays 1988 Gregorian calendar). ... is the 14th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1992 (MCMXCII) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display full 1992 Gregorian calendar). ... The Lieutenant Governor of Mississippi is the second-highest ranking executive officer in Mississippi, right below the governor. ... Brad Dye (born December 20th, 1933 in Charleston, Mississippi was a Mississippi politician who served three 4-year terms as Lieutenant Governor of Mississippi (1980-1992). ... William A. Bill Allain (born February 14, 1928) is a Mississippi politician who served as governor of that state as a Democrat from 1984 to 1988. ... Daniel Kirkwood Kirk Fordice, Jr. ... is the 284th day of the year (285th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1948 (MCMXLVIII) was a leap year starting on Thursday (link will display the 1948 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Starkville is a city in Oktibbeha County, Mississippi, United States. ... Federal courts Supreme Court Circuit Courts of Appeal District Courts Elections Presidential elections Midterm elections Political Parties Democratic Republican Third parties State & Local government Governors Legislatures (List) State Courts Local Government Other countries Atlas  Politics Portal      Further information: Politics of the United States#Organization of American political parties The Democratic... is the 284th day of the year (285th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1948 (MCMXLVIII) was a leap year starting on Thursday (link will display the 1948 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Governors of Mississippi Territory, 1801–1817 Winthorp Sargent (Federalist) (7 May 1798–25 May 1801) William C. C. Claiborne (Democrat) (25 May 1801–1 March 1805) Robert Williams (Democrat) (1 March 1805–7 March 1809) David Holmes (Democrat) (7 March 1809–10 December 1817) Governors of the State of Mississippi... Federal courts Supreme Court Circuit Courts of Appeal District Courts Elections Presidential elections Midterm elections Political Parties Democratic Republican Third parties State & Local government Governors Legislatures (List) State Courts Local Government Other countries Atlas  US Government Portal      A U.S. state is any one of the fifty subnational entities of... This article is about the U.S. state. ... Year 1988 (MCMLXXXVIII) was a leap year starting on Friday (link displays 1988 Gregorian calendar). ... Year 1992 (MCMXCII) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display full 1992 Gregorian calendar). ... The Democratic Party is one of two major political parties in the United States, the other being the Republican Party. ... For other uses, see Ambassador (disambiguation). ... Year 1994 (MCMXCIV) The year 1994 was designated as the International Year of the Family and the International Year of the Sport and the Olympic Ideal by the United Nations. ... Year 1996 (MCMXCVI) was a leap year starting on Monday (link will display full 1996 Gregorian calendar). ...

Early life

Mabus was born in Starkville and is a fourth-generation Mississippian; he grew up in Ackerman, the only child of the owner of the local hardware store. After attending public schools, he graduated from the University of Mississippi, and holds a master's degree from Johns Hopkins and a law degree, magna cum laude, from Harvard Law School. He also served in the U.S. Navy aboard the cruiser USS Little Rock,^[1] and worked as a law clerk in the United States Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. Starkville is a city in Oktibbeha County, Mississippi, United States. ... Ackerman is a town in Choctaw County, Mississippi, United States. ... The University of Mississippi, also known as Ole Miss, is a public, coeducational research university located in Oxford, Mississippi. ... The Johns Hopkins University, founded in 1876, is a private institution of higher learning located in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. ... Latin honors are Latin phrases used to indicate the level of academic distinction with which an academic degree was earned. ... Harvard Law School (colloquially, Harvard Law or HLS) is one of the professional graduate schools of Harvard University. ... The United States Navy (USN) is the branch of the United States armed forces responsible for naval operations. ... The USS Little Rock (CLG-4 — ex-CL-92, ex-CLG-4) was a United States Navy Cleveland class light cruiser that was later converted to a Galveston class guided missile cruiser. ... The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit is a federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the following United States District Courts: Western, Middle, and Eastern Districts of Louisiana Northern and Southern Districts of Mississippi Western, Eastern, Northern and Southern Districts of Texas The court is based at...

Public service

Mabus began his professional career working in Washington as legal counsel to the U.S. House Agriculture Committee. Following the election of Governor William Winter, he returned to Mississippi to work in the governor's office, where the youthful staff -- which included Mabus, Dick Molpus, John Henegan and Andy Mullins -- earned the nickname "Boys of Spring" from a rival state legislator.^[2] The main hearing room for the House Agriculture Committee in 1300 Longworth House Office Building. ... William Forrest Winter (b. ... Dick Molpus ( D) was Secretary of State for Mississippi from 1987 to 1995. ...

State Auditor

In 1983, Mabus was elected state auditor and served from 1984 to 1988, during which time he recovered millions in misspent or stolen public funds and participated in a large FBI sting operation.^[3] By the time it was finished, "Operation Pretense" ensnared 57 county supervisors in 25 counties, and all but two supervisors served time in prison. By raising the profile of the State Auditor's office, Mabus fundamentally changed how county government functioned in the state.^[4]

Governor

In 1987, he defeated Tupelo businessman Jack Reed in the gubernatorial election, becoming the youngest governor in the nation at the time. Mabus, who ran on the slogan "Mississippi Will Never Be Last Again,"^[5] was billed as "the face of the New South," much like his counterpart in Arkansas at the time, Bill Clinton. Mabus was featured in a 1988 New York Times Magazine cover story titled "The Yuppies of Mississippi; How They Took Over the Statehouse" which chronicled his challenges and successes.^[6] Tupelo (IPA: [tu:pəlo]) is the largest city and county seat within Lee County, Mississippi. ... Jack Reed, running as a Tupelo businessman, won the Republican nomination for Governor of Mississippi in 1987, but lost in the general election to Democrat Ray Mabus. ... New South is a term that has been used intermittently since the American Civil War to describe the American South, in whole or in part. ... William Jefferson Bill Clinton (born William Jefferson Blythe III[1] on August 19, 1946) was the 42nd President of the United States, serving from 1993 to 2001. ... The New York Times is an internationally known daily newspaper published in New York City and distributed in the United States and many other nations worldwide. ...

During his time as governor, he passed B.E.S.T. (Better Education for Success Tomorrow), one of the most comprehensive education reform programs in America; gave teachers the largest pay raise in the nation; and was named one of Fortune Magazine’s top ten education governors.^[7] Mississippi also had record growth in new jobs, investment, tourism and exports. Categories: Magazines stubs | Time Warner subsidiaries | Business magazines ...

Because of the gubernatorial succession amendment ratified in 1987, Mabus was eligible to become the first governor to serve two successive terms in more than 100 years, and he ran for reelection in 1991. He was narrowly defeated in the general election by Republican Kirk Fordice.^[8] Daniel Kirkwood Kirk Fordice, Jr. ...

In a 1999 poll commissioned by the Jackson Clarion-Ledger, Mississippians selected Mabus as the best governor of the millennium.^[9] The daily newspaper in Jackson, Mississippi [1], the Clarion-Ledger traces its roots to The Eastern Clarion, founded in Jasper County, Mississippi in 1837. ...

Ambassador

Mabus was appointed by President Bill Clinton to be the United States ambassador to Saudi Arabia and served from 1994 to 1996. During his tenure, a 1994 border crisis involving Yemen was diffused,^[10] a 1994 crisis with Iraq was deterred,^[11] a 1995 terrorist attack was weathered,^[12] child custody disputes were addressed,^[13] and contracts worth more than $16 billion were signed between Saudi Arabian and American companies such as Boeing,^[14] AT&T^[15] and others. Also, Saudi Arabia officially abandoned the boycott of United States businesses that trade with Israel, and more than $8 million of proposed expenditures for the American mission were cut. William Jefferson Bill Clinton (born William Jefferson Blythe III[1] on August 19, 1946) was the 42nd President of the United States, serving from 1993 to 2001. ... Timeline of events related to the Iraq disarmament crisis 1990 July 24, 1990 Nine days before Iraqs invasion of Kuwait US State Department spokeswoman, Margaret Tutweiller encourages Iraq with the statement: We do not have any defence treaties with Kuwait, and there are no special defence or security commitments... The following is a timeline of acts and failed attempts that can be considered non-state terrorism. ... Child abduction is the abduction or kidnapping of a child (or baby) by an older person. ... The Boeing Company (NYSE: BA, TYO: 7661) is a major aerospace and defense corporation, originally founded by William Edward Boeing. ... This article is about the current AT&T. For the 1885-2005 company, see American Telephone & Telegraph. ...

While living in Riyadh, Mabus made no secret of his roots, as an American and as a Mississippian. Visitors to his embassy office and his residence were welcomed by a cavalcade of items of interest from back home -- including the Ackerman phone book on his office coffee table and the Mississippi flag, next to the American flag -- as well as a story or two about Mississippi geography, history or current events. Quincy House is the official residence of the U.S. Ambassador to Saudi Arabia, and is located in Riyadh. ...

Current activities

Mabus serves on various corporate and charitable boards, and is involved in international business. In addition, he frequently assists political campaigns, in Mississippi and nationally. In May 2007, he endorsed U.S. Sen. Barack Obama, D-IL, for president, and is serving as a senior adviser to the campaign.^[16] Barack Obama, the junior United States Senator from Illinois, announced his candidacy for the presidency of the United States in Springfield, Illinois, on February 10, 2007. ...

In August 2007, he joined the board of Enersys, the world's largest manufacturer, marketer and distributor of industrial batteries.^[17] From 2006-April 2007, he was Chairman and CEO of Foamex International and helped lead it out of bankruptcy. Less than nine months after his appointment, Foamex emerged from Chapter 11, paid every qualified creditor 100 cents on the dollar, plus interest, and preserved equity.^[18] EnerSys (New York Stock Exchange symbol ENS) is a manufactured of stored energy solutions in the fields of motive power, reserve power and aerospace. ...

Awards, honors, community service

He has been awarded the U.S. Department of Defense Distinguished Public Service Award, the U.S. Army’s Distinguished Civilian Service Award, the Martin Luther King Social Responsibility Award from the King Center in Atlanta, the National Wildlife Federation Conservation Achievement Award, the King Abdul Aziz Award from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and the Mississippi Association of Educators’ Friend of Education Award. The United States Department of Defense, abbreviated DoD or DOD and sometimes called the Defense Department, is a civilian Cabinet organization of the United States government. ... The Army is the branch of the United States armed forces which has primary responsibility for land-based military operations. ... “Martin Luther King” redirects here. ... The MLK National Historic Site honors the life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. ... This article is about the state capital of Georgia. ... The National Wildlife Federation is the largest American conservation organization, with over 5 million members and supporters in 47 state-affiliated organizations; its annual budget is over $125 million as of 2006. ...

He is active in many community activities, primarily focusing on education. Following Hurricane Katrina, he founded the Help and Hope Foundation, which works to meet the needs of children affected by the storm. This article is about the Atlantic hurricane of 2005. ...

He is a member of the RAND Center for Middle East Public Policy^[19] and the Council on Foreign Relations,^[20] and is the Distinguished Lecturer on the Middle East at the University of Mississippi. The RAND Corporation is a nonprofit global policy think tank first formed to offer research and analysis to the United States armed forces. ... The Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) is an influential and independent, nonpartisan foreign policy membership organization founded in 1921 and based at 58 East 68th Street (corner Park Avenue) in New York City, with an additional office in Washington, D.C. Through its membership, meetings, and studies, it has been...

As a photographer, his photographs have raised tens of thousands of dollars for various Mississippi charities.

He has appeared on many television programs as an expert on the Middle East, including “60 Minutes” and “Nightline.” This article is about the CBS news magazine. ... Nightline is a late-night hard and soft news program broadcast by ABC in the United States, and has a franchised formula to other networks and stations elsewhere in the world. ...

Personal and family

Mabus lives in Mississippi with his wife Lynne. He has two daughters, Elisabeth (born 1990) and Annie (born 1992), and Lynne has a daughter, Kate (born 2001). He enjoys traveling, scuba diving, skiing, swimming, photography and other outdoor activities. This article is about the year. ... Year 1992 (MCMXCII) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display full 1992 Gregorian calendar). ... Year 2001 (MMI) was a common year starting on Monday (link displays the 2001 Gregorian calendar). ...

References

External links

• Mississippi Historical Society biography
• National Governors Association biography
• White House, Office of the Press Secretary, May 11, 1994 (intent to nominate)
• White House, Office of the Press Secretary, July 5, 1994 (Yemen issues)

v • d • e Governors of Mississippi

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