Forrest Hood "Fob" James Jr. (born September 15, 1934) is an American politician, civil engineer, entrepreneur, and former football player.

James founded DP in his basement and, over the next 15 years, the company ultimately grew to employ 1,500 people with plants in Opelika, AL; Los Angeles, and Toronto, with sales of about $1 billion annually.

From 1972 to 1974, James served as president of the Alabama Citizens for Transportation, a statewide committee that developed a twenty-year highway program.

During his first term as governor, he nominated Oscar W. Adams Jr. to fill a vacancy on the Alabama Supreme Court, the first African American chosen for such a position.

During his first term, James drew opposition by signing into law a measure passed by the legislature that allowed teachers to lead willing students in prayer.

First he defeated in a primary and runoff election, Winton Blount, III, of Montgomery and State Senator Ann Bedsole, a moderate Republican from Mobile.

This practice affected the disproportionately large African-American inmate population in Alabama, in which a discriminatory criminal justice system played a part.

[10] Alabama became the first state to bring back the practice symbolic of and prevalent in the Jim Crow era, the post-slavery period where racism against African Americans was codified into law.

[11][12] The Governor approved other policies instituted by Jones, but he balked at the commissioner's suggestion that chain gangs be extended to include female prisoners.

James put an end to the chain gang in June 1996, because of a lawsuit brought by a coalition of community human rights groups.

[15] However, in one of his last official acts as governor, James commuted the death sentence of Judith Ann Neelley to life in prison.

[14] His reason was that the Neeley case was the only time he had seen a judge overrule the jury's unanimous decision to impose life imprisonment by issuing a death penalty.

James helped arrange a State of Alabama-paid voluntary return to the US of Lester Coleman, a former journalist accused by the federal government of committing perjury, who had been residing in Europe.

According to Redding Pitt, a federal government attorney from Montgomery, Alabama, Coleman called James, an acquaintance from the 1970s, for help in his case.

This legislation empowered the state superintendent of education to take control of schools that scored poorly on national achievement tests.

At a 1995 Alabama State Board of Education meeting, James criticized the teaching of evolution in textbooks by imitating a "slump-shouldered ape turning into an upright human".

"[21] James's most publicized religious battle was the lengthy controversy surrounding Etowah County Judge Roy S. Moore's posting of the Ten Commandments in his courtroom and the offering of a daily Christian prayer before proceedings.

U.S. District Court Judge Ira DeMent, an appointee of President George H. W. Bush, ruled in its favor, ordering the removal of the commandment plaque and cessation of the prayers because they violated the First Amendment guarantee of separation of church and state.

For a brief period he threatened to mobilize the Alabama National Guard and use force if necessary to prevent the removal of the Ten Commandments plaque from Moore's courtroom.

In October 1997, Judge DeMent issued another sweeping order forbidding certain religious practices in DeKalb County's public schools, which also aroused controversy.

The judge's order was, in part, reversed shortly after James left office, allowing students at their own choice to hold religious meetings on school grounds.

James struggled through the bitter Republican primary runoff and defeated Blount, but had little money left to finance the general election campaign.

Incumbent Lieutenant Governor Don Siegelman easily won the Democratic primary on the sole issue of establishing a state lottery to provide for college scholarships.