Born in Yazoo City , Mississippi , Barbour graduated from the University of Mississippi with undergraduate and law degrees . Babour was an active Republican operative during the 1970s and 1980s , and he is often credited with building significant Republican infrastructure in Mississippi during an era when it was still dominated by Southern Democrats . He was the Republican nominee for U.S. Senate in 1982 , but lost to incumbent Democrat John C. Stennis . In 2003 , Barbour became the second Republican governor of Mississippi since Reconstruction when he defeated Democratic incumbent Ronnie Musgrove . As governor he oversaw his state 's responses to Hurricane Katrina and the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill , the state 's two most damaging environmental disasters since the 1927 Mississippi River floods . Barbour was expected to be a candidate for President in 2012 , but announced he would not run in April 2011
1927 Mississippi River floods
Great Mississippi Flood of 1927
Haley Barbour