1. Rubel Lex Phillips was an American politician and lawyer.
28 Facts About Rubel Phillips
1. 2.
Rubel Phillips grew up poor in Alcorn County, Mississippi, and graduated from the University of Mississippi School of Law.
3.
Rubel Phillips ran as a Republican in the 1963 Mississippi gubernatorial election, the first person to do so since 1947.
4.
Rubel Phillips never ran for office again but continued to fundraise for Republican candidates throughout the rest of his life.
5.
Rubel Phillips thereafter became an executive at the Stirling Homex Corporation, but was incarcerated and disbarred after becoming involved in a scheme to inflate profit figures to investors and regulators.
6.
Rubel Phillips died at an assisted living facility in Ridgeland, Mississippi, in 2011.
7.
Rubel Lex Phillips was born on March 29,1925, in Alcorn County, Mississippi, to William T Phillips and Ollie Fare Phillips.
8.
Rubel Phillips had four brothers, including future writer Thomas Hal Phillips.
9.
Rubel Phillips graduated from Alcorn Agricultural High School in 1943 and enlisted in the United States Navy.
10.
Rubel Phillips served for four years, including duty in the Pacific Theater of World War II, and retained an officer's commission in the force until he retired from the navy with the rank of commander in 1963.
11.
Rubel Phillips graduated from Millsaps College and the University of Mississippi School of Law.
12.
Rubel Phillips was elected to the Mississippi Public Service Commission in 1955 as its northern district member.
13.
Rubel Phillips succeeded Howard H Little, who unsuccessfully ran against Nellah Massey Bailey for State Tax Collector rather than seek reelection.
14.
Rubel Phillips announced his resignation from the Public Service Commission on December 20,1957, to join a law firm in Jackson.
15.
Rubel Phillips's resignation went into effect on January 1,1958.
16.
Rubel Phillips justified his switch in party affiliation by arguing that the Republican Party offered Mississippi "a program of genuine conservatism and local responsibility" and accusing the "National Democratic Party" of promoting socialism.
17.
Rubel Phillips backed education reform, civil service reform, and right-to-work legislation.
18.
Rubel Phillips lost the election, garnering only 38 percent of the vote.
19.
Eager to continue to build up the Republican Party in Mississippi, state Republican chairman Clarke Reed and finance director Billy Mounger convinced Rubel Phillips to run again in the 1967 Mississippi gubernatorial election.
20.
Rubel Phillips backed the reinstatement of compulsory school attendance legislation, the disbanding of the Mississippi Milk Commission and the repeal of the two-year residency requirement for prospective voters in the state.
21.
Rubel Phillips supported a freeze on state government hiring, which Williams rejected, arguing it would deny employment opportunities to young people.
22.
Rubel Phillips was endorsed by the black-dominated and civil rights-oriented Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party, which praised his call to improve the state's race relations and reduce the restriction of black economic advancement.
23.
Rubel Phillips denounced their support as a "kiss of death type endorsement".
24.
Rubel Phillips lost overwhelmingly to Williams, only garnering 30 percent of the vote, much of it coming from black voters registered in wake of the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
25.
Rubel Phillips never ran for office again but continued to fundraise for Republican candidates throughout the rest of his life.
26.
Rubel Phillips was sentenced to pay a $5,000 fine and 10 months of incarceration.
27.
Rubel Phillips successfully sought reinstatement to the bar in September 1982 and resumed practicing law in Jackson.
28.
Rubel Phillips died on June 18,2011, at an assisted living facility in Ridgeland, Mississippi.