New Deal river," by a margin of 486,000 votes. He was elected the 31st Governor of Pennsylvania in the general election, defeating Democrat Charles Alvin Jones by more than 279,000 votes. He received more votes than any previous gubernatorial candidate in Pennsylvania. During his tenure as governor, James created the state Department of Commerce and the Anthracite Emergency Commission, extended the Pennsylvania Turnpike, signed a bill banning sit-down strikes, strengthened the civil service, and reinforced liquor control laws. He also turned the state's $58 million deficit into a $75 million surplus. During the early part of World War II, he established the State Council of Defense and the Selective Service Board and later created the Pennsylvania Reserve Defense Corps and the Citizens' Defense Corps for homeland defense. At the 1940 Republican National Convention in Philadelphia, he was nominated for President of the United States by Joseph N. Pew Jr. He lasted for all six ballots, and endorsed the eventual winner, Wendell Willkie. Later life and death In 1941, while still governor, James married Emily Radcliffe Case (1893-1984), a widow, and in 1943, when his term as governor ended, they returned to Plymouth where James resumed his law practice. In 1944, Governor Edward Martin appointed James to fill a vacancy on the Superior Court, on which he had previously served, but that same year he was defeated in a reelection bid to remain on the court, losing to Democrat F. Clair Ross. James died on April 27, 1973, at the age of 89, and is buried in Hanover Green Cemetery, Hanover Township, Pennsylvania. See also Plymouth, Pennsylvania References External links 1883 births 1973 deaths Republican Party governors of Pennsylvania Lieutenant Governors of Pennsylvania Pennsylvania state court judges County district attorneys in Pennsylvania Candidates in the 1940 United States presidential election 20th-century American politicians People from Plymouth, Pennsylvania Dickinson School of Law alumni 20th-century American judges