James Donahue was born December 28, 1953, the only son of Dora and George Donahue. As a child, James wanted for nothing. When he asked for a bike, he got the newest model Oxford's shops had to offer; if after his first fall he never used it again, Dora and George chalked it up to boyish fickleness and fulfilled James's next request just as extravagantly. The family was among the first in their neighborhood to purchase a television set, and James quickly earned the envy and respect of neighborhood kids, who loved to come over to watch Bonanza and Rawhide and to play with James' vast collection of toys. As James got a little older, he became an expert in quiz shows, and would frequently call out the answers to questions on College Bowl and Jeopardy.

With both of his parents busy with their careers, young James relished their family vacations each summer, when they could spend two weeks of uninterrupted time together. He noticed from an early age that his mother didn't help out with school bake sales like his friends' mothers and that she was always late to his school plays and pageants. Although he enjoyed Dora's bedtime stories, James grew to wish she would give him as much attention as she devoted to her books. As much as James wished for more time with his mother, he yearned for more attention from his busy father. James regarded George as a hero, and from an early age said he wanted to be "just like Dad" when he grew up.

The family's idyllic existence ended suddenly in 1968 when George died from a massive heart attack. Although Dora was able to support the now-smaller family on her income and George's life insurance, James felt obligated to help out financially, and took a part-time job after school. James continued working through high school and, between his job and his studies, had little time for socializing. Nonetheless, he found time to participate in a few school activities, and led the debate team to a state championship in his junior year. James was a brashly inquisitive student, hounding his teachers with so many questions that often it was he who controlled the tempo of class discussion.

James's fellow students were awed by his displays of acumen, but he found social life difficult. Many of his classmates opposed the war in Vietnam, and his support of the military, although articulate and persistent, won him few friends. James also disapproved of the counter-culture movement that some students espoused; he was often overheard saying pot and free love were for lazy people. James's mother even chided him once for his hardheaded views, saying, "People have a right to have fun, you know" -- a remark at which James shook his head. Indeed, as James progressed through his teenage years, mother and son seemed to have switched roles, with James keeping a strict routine and cooking dinner while Dora indulged in her career, staying late at the museum and attending academic social functions.

Although James found his mother exasperating, he also continued to feel responsible for her and, despite excellent grades, he applied only to colleges within the state, ignoring the urgings of teachers who thought he had a chance at the Ivy League. James won a full scholarship to Mississippi State near Starkville; he took an apartment near campus with two other students, but drove 100 miles back to Oxford nearly every weekend, despite Dora's frequent assurances that she could survive more than a week without him.

At college, James continued to flourish academically and, despite his commutes to Oxford, took an active role in campus life. He joined the Young Republicans as well as the forensics team and enjoyed debating current affairs with anyone who would spar with him; many an evening James could be found passionately arguing Nixon's conservative policies. Through the forensics team he met Betty Fargo, an impassioned liberal who inflamed James' romantic interest despite their opposing ideologies, and they had a yearlong romance, which ended abruptly when Betty got pregnant. James felt strongly that they should marry and Betty should drop out to raise the child, but Betty refused, and their arguments grew bitter. Betty enlisted the aid of her friends in the campus women's movement and snuck out of state to get an abortion. When he discovered what happened, James was so disgusted that he refused to speak with her again.

After his experience with Betty, James was reluctant to date again, and focused anew on his studies. Additionally, in his senior year, he took a job as clerk at the law library and, during quiet moments on his shift, read whatever volume was at hand. James was also increasingly involved in the campus ministry, helping organize volunteer projects and fundraisers for local charities. Through his work with the church James met Ida Champlin, a business major whose politics matched his own, and when he graduated in 1976 he proposed marriage. She accepted, and for James' first year in law school at the University of Mississippi, he found himself making the same commute between Oxford and Starkville -- only this time it was to see his future wife at Mississippi State, rather than his mother. James and Ida, married in 1977, had their first son, James Jr., in 1979, followed by Jennifer in 1983 and George in 1984.

As a law student at Ole Miss, James continued to excel. After graduating at the top of his class, he accepted an associate position at the esteemed Jackson firm Leeds, Harbrook & Fine, and immediately began specializing in business law. James worked for some of the state's biggest firms and gained a reputation as an uncompromising litigator in matters pertaining to labor contracts and workers' compensation. Driven by his strong beliefs in free-market capitalism, James defended companies that had run afoul of state and federal regulatory agencies, and frequently bemoaned the government bureaucracy he viewed as strangling American enterprise. Arguing a 1981 case, James quipped, "We're helping the reds with all this red tape" -- a phrase that was widely quoted in the press and which helped cement his reputation as a crusader for capitalism. With his quick wit and contentiousness, and with the support of the business community, James seemed destined for political life, and in 1984 he secured a seat in the state house as one of the youngest members ever elected to the Mississippi House of Representatives.

Since taking office, James Donahue has been re-elected twice and, in 2000, successfully ran for a seat in the State Senate. In political circles, he's viewed as a likely contender for the upcoming Mississippi Secretary of State post and possibly the governorship one day. He is said to have his eye on the national political scene, as well.

James, Ida and their children divide their time between the state capital in Jackson and Oxford, where they also have a home and where James still visits Dora on a regular basis.