Terry Sanford, American lieutenant and politician, 65th Governor of North Carolina (b. 1917)
James Terry Sanford (August 20, 1917 – April 18, 1998) was an American lawyer and politician from North Carolina. A member of the Democratic Party, Sanford was the 65th governor of North Carolina (1961–1965), a two-time U.S. presidential candidate in the 1970s and a U.S. senator (1986–1993). Sanford was a strong proponent of public education and introduced a number of reforms and new programs in North Carolina's schools and institutions of higher education as the state's governor, increasing funding for education and establishing the North Carolina Fund. From 1969 to 1985, Sanford was President of Duke University.
An Eagle Scout, Sanford became an FBI special agent after graduating from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1939. During World War II, he saw combat in the European Theater and received a battlefield commission. Following his return to civilian life after World War II, Sanford attended and graduated from the University of North Carolina School of Law and began a legal career in the late 1940s, soon becoming involved in politics. A lifelong Democrat, he was noted for his progressive leadership in civil rights and education, although his opponents criticized him as a "tax-and-spend" liberal. Sanford is remembered as a major public figure of the American South after World War II.