Kirk Fordice

Kirk Fordice
Official portrait
61st Governor of Mississippi
In office
January 14, 1992 – January 11, 2000
LieutenantEddie Briggs
Ronnie Musgrove
Preceded byRay Mabus
Succeeded byRonnie Musgrove
Personal details
Born
Daniel Kirkwood Fordice Jr.

(1934-02-10)February 10, 1934
Memphis, Tennessee, U.S.
DiedSeptember 7, 2004(2004-09-07) (aged 70)
Jackson, Mississippi, U.S.
Resting placeParkway Memorial Cemetery, Ridgeland, Mississippi
Political partyRepublican
Spouses
(m. 1955; div. 1999)
Ann G. Creson
(m. 2000; div. 2003)
Children4
ProfessionBusinessman
Military service
Allegiance United States
Branch/service United States Army
Army Reserve
Years of service1957–1959; 1959–1977
RankColonel
Battles/warsVietnam War

Daniel Kirkwood "Kirk" Fordice Jr. (/fɔːrds/; February 10, 1934 – September 7, 2004) was an American politician and businessman who served as the 61st governor of Mississippi from 1992 to 2000. He was the first Republican governor of the state since Reconstruction, and the state's first governor elected to two consecutive four-year terms (following a 1987 amendment to the state constitution).[1]

Fordice was a staunch conservative, running on a pro-business, anti-crime, low-tax, "family values" platform.[2] He first ran for governor in 1991, championing various conservative causes, and received 51 percent of the vote, defeating Democratic incumbent Ray Mabus. He was reelected in 1995, and served until his term expired in 2000.

  1. ^ "Haley Barbour: Sixty-fourth and Sixty-fifth Governor of Mississippi: 2004-2008; 2008-2012 | Mississippi History Now". www.mshistorynow.mdah.ms.gov. Archived from the original on December 30, 2016.
  2. ^ Smothers, Ronald (October 2, 1992). "A Two-Fisted Governor With a 'Foot in Mouth' Style". The New York Times. Retrieved September 15, 2018.