James C. Green

{{Infobox officeholder

| honorific-prefix =

| name = Jimmy Green

| honorific-suffix =

| image = James C. Green, 1971.jpg

| imagesize =

| smallimage =

| caption = Green circa 1971

| order = 28th

| office = Lieutenant Governor of North Carolina

| term_start = January 8, 1977

| term_end = January 5, 1985

| governor = James B. Hunt, Jr.

| predecessor = James B. Hunt, Jr.

| successor = Robert B. Jordan, III

| title2 = Member of the North Carolina House of Representatives

| district2 =

| term_start2 = 1961

| term_end2 = 1976

| preceded2 =

| succeeded2 =

| order3 = 136th

| title3 = Speaker of the North Carolina House of Representatives

| term_start3 = 1975

| term_end3 = 1976

| predecessor3 = James E. Ramsey

| successor3 = Carl J. Stewart, Jr.

| birth_date = {{birth date|1921|2|24}}

| birth_place = Halifax County, Virginia, U.S.

| death_date = {{Death date and age|2000|2|4|1921|2|24}}

| death_place = Elizabethtown, North Carolina, U.S.

| restingplace = Clarkton Cemetery, Clarkton, North Carolina

| restingplacecoordinates =

| birthname = James Collins Green

| nationality = American

| party = Democratic

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}}

James Collins "Jimmy" Green (February 24, 1921 – February 4, 2000)[https://books.google.com/books?id=J5xmAAAAMAAJ&q=%22Green,+James+Collins%22+AND+%221921%22 Who's who in the South and Southwest] - Google Books. was an American politician who served as Speaker of the North Carolina House of Representatives (1975–1976) and as the 28th Lieutenant Governor of North Carolina (1977–1985).

Political career

Green served in the North Carolina House of Representatives from 1961 through 1976.{{citation needed|date=October 2011}} He was elected lieutenant governor in 1976 after defeating Howard Nathaniel Lee in a Democratic primary runoff.{{citation needed|date= February 2021}} He was sworn in on January 8, 1977.{{cite news| last = Stewart| first = Elizabeth| title = Inauguration a Chilling Experience| newspaper = King's Mountain Mirror-Herald| volume = 88| issue = 4| page = 2B| date = January 13, 1977| url = https://newspapers.digitalnc.org/lccn/sn98058845/1977-01-13/ed-1/seq-12/}}{{cite news| last = Blue| first = Cliff| title = People & Issues : Jim Green| newspaper = The News-Journal| page = 2| date = January 13, 1977| url = https://newspapers.digitalnc.org/lccn/sn93064776/1977-01-13/ed-1/seq-2}} In 1980, after a change to the Constitution of North Carolina, Green became the first lieutenant governor elected to a second term. He defeated fellow former House Speaker Carl J. Stewart, Jr. in the 1980 Democratic primary, and then went on to defeat Republican Bill Cobey in the general election.{{citation needed|date=October 2011}}

Green was charged in 1983 with accepting a bribe from an undercover FBI agent, but he was acquitted. The next year, he ran for Governor of North Carolina but finished fifth in the Democratic primary behind Rufus Edmisten. Green then threw his support to the Republican nominee, Jim Martin, giving him critical backing among conservative Democrats in eastern North Carolina. Martin went on to win the election.[http://www.carolinajournal.com/daily_journal/display.html?id=10552 Political grudges are nothing new], Carolina Journal Online, John Hood, 11 October 2013. Retrieved 17 April 2014.

Later life and death

He was convicted of income tax fraud in 1997 and was sentenced to 33 months of house arrest. The scandal was in connection with a multimillion-dollar tobacco fraud scheme.{{cite news|title=Before Black|url=http://www.newsobserver.com/2007/02/14/36300/before-black.html|work=The News Observer|access-date=2008-10-03|archive-date=March 5, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305015958/http://www.newsobserver.com/2007/02/14/36300/before-black.html|url-status=dead}}

He died in Bladen County hospital at Elizabethtown, North Carolina on February 4, 2000.{{citation needed|date=October 2011}}