James A. Rhodes Ohio Colossus by Tom Diemer, Lee Leonard, and Richard G. Zimmerman

It is somewhat surprising that a major biography of former Ohio governor Jim Rhodes was not penned until 2014. No single individual has figured as prominently in Ohio political history, yet until this book Rhodes was relegated to a smattering of journal articles and book chapters. Diemer, Leonard, and Zimmerman provide a much-needed overview of the life of the colorful Ohio governor.

Three authors collaborated on this book, all of whom were journalists who worked the Columbus political beat for a variety of newspapers and wire services. The authors covered Ohio politics at different times in the career of Rhodes, and they offer interesting anecdotes about Rhodes and his associates. Even readers already familiar with Rhodes will find much in this book that helps provide deeper insights into the character and personality of the self-described hustler-turned-politician.

Rhodes, observed one source quoted by the authors, should not be viewed as a mere opportunistic populist who changed when new opinion poll data emerged. Instead, Rhodes “already knew what people were thinking…he did not have to go and ask them…Jim Rhodes was one of the great political minds in Ohio because he thought like the people” (141). For all his flaws, argued the authors, Jim Rhodes had an innate ability to understand what voters wanted, and his formula for political success was simple: “find out what people want and then do it – or at least try” (xxii).

The single recurrent theme in the political career of Jim Rhodes was to put Ohioans to work, preferably in a good-paying industrial setting. “Jobs and Progress” was the campaign slogan in the first successful gubernatorial run by Rhodes in 1962, and Rhodes focused on the same message in his subsequent campaigns. The relentless campaign mantra about jobs made for occasional boredom among reporters covering the candidate’s speeches; the authors recalled that reporters organized cash pools to bet on how many times Rhodes would say the word “jobs” in a given speech. Reporters who “bet on the high side usually stood the best chance of winning” (36).

While this work straddles the line between popular and scholarly history, it is scrupulously footnoted, drawing on a wide range of primary sources, including interviews conducted by the authors with Rhodes and various other Ohio political leaders. The authors also make use of government documents, newspaper articles, and archival materials to develop their examination of Rhodes. The book follows a chronological approach, tracing the early life of Rhodes through his retirement years.

The authors are quite conscientious in identifying areas in which there are competing versions of recollections of the past, especially with regard to Rhodes’s childhood and young adulthood. Generally they simply present these conflicting narratives (such as claims by Rhodes that as a child he lived for a period of time in a refurbished chicken coop, or the various versions of summarizing his short academic experience at The Ohio State University) and allow readers to draw their own conclusions.

The authors also take a nuanced approach regarding Rhodes and the Kent State Massacre. They acknowledge the incendiary rhetoric Rhodes delivered in a campaign speech that may have contributed to the chaos on the Kent State campus in 1970, but they also examine the effects that his tough stance on campus unrest may have held for his Senate campaign. The authors cite private polling conducted by the Rhodes campaign that suggest that the law-and-order approach by Rhodes may have actually closed a polling gap as high as eight percent held by his opponent, Robert A. Taft, Jr. The authors quoted a county Republican Party chair who offered the following assessment of the effects of the shootings at Kent State on the 1970 senatorial primary: “Between the polls that showed Taft far ahead and Election Day, something had to [have] happen[ed]…I think it was the Governor’s move to keep...