(17) Governor James H. Edmondson, 1959 to 1963

              Office of the GovernorMS 50 (portrait only)James Howard Edmondson, Democrat. Served from 1959 to 1963. The youngest governor in the history of the state, Edmondson was born in Muskogee, Oklahoma, September 27, 1925. He attended elementary and secondary schools in that city and enrolled in the University of Oklahoma after high school graduation. He enlisted in the U.S. Air Force in March 1942, and served until December 5, 1945. He completed his law degree in August 1948. After practicing law in Muskogee, he moved in Tulsa to become the chief prosecutor in the office of the county attorney of Tulsa. He was elected elected county attorney in 1954 and was re-elected in 1956. J. Howard Edmondson was inaugurated Governor of Oklahoma January 8, 1959, after having been elected to that post by the largest majority ever given a gubernatorial candidate in the state. He resigned from the office of Governor January 6, 1963, and was appointed to the United States Senate to fill the position left vacant by the death of Robert S. Kerr. At the time of his death on November 17, 1971, he was a practicing attorney in Oklahoma City, where he is buried.The Governor of Oklahoma is the chief executive officer of the state and is elected for a four year term. Principal powers and responsibilities are outlined by the state constitution and by statute and include certain appointive powers, the veto or approval of bills passed by the Legislature, the granting of pardons and paroles, the summoning of special sessions of the legislature, and the calling out of the militia. Moreover, the Governor is directly responsible for the preparation of the state budget, serves as an ex officio member of several boards and commissions, receives reports from various state officers and agencies, and is charged with the duty of seeing that all laws are faithfully executed in the state.