the Democrat-turned-Republican Rubel Phillips in the 1963 general election, which presented Mississippi voters with a new-at-the-time opportunity to choose between candidates of different parties. Federal judicial service President Kennedy offered Coleman various posts, including United States Secretary of the Army and United States Ambassador to Australia, but Coleman declined. Coleman was nominated by President Lyndon B. Johnson on June 22, 1965, to a seat on the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit vacated by Judge Benjamin Franklin Cameron. Even though controversy erupted over his pro-segregation positions such as his opposition to Blacks voting, he was confirmed by the United States Senate on July 26, 1965, and received his commission on July 26, 1965. He served as Chief Judge from 1979 to 1981. He assumed senior status on May 31, 1981. His service terminated on January 31, 1984, due to his retirement. Post judicial service and death After his retirement from the federal bench, Coleman returned to the private practice of law in Choctaw County and also farmed until he suffered a severe stroke on December 11, 1990. He died on September 28, 1991, in Ackerman. Honor J. P. Coleman State Park, a state park in Mississippi, is named after him. Personal Coleman's grandson, Josiah D. Coleman is a justice of the Mississippi Supreme Court. References External links Oral History Interview with James P. Coleman at Oral Histories of the American South 1914 births 1991 deaths Democratic Party governors of Mississippi Judges of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit United States court of appeals judges appointed by Lyndon B. Johnson 20th-century American judges Democratic Party members of the Mississippi House of Representatives Justices of the Mississippi Supreme Court George Washington University Law School alumni Mississippi Attorneys General 20th-century American lawyers People from Ackerman, Mississippi 20th-century American politicians American white supremacists American segregationists