biographical statement

James B. Kelly, III represented the 28th Legislative District as a Republican Member in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives from 1971- 1976. His first political campaign in 1970 focused on the primary issue of the fiscal state of affairs in Pennsylvania. During this campaign, he was only 28 years old and defeated the incumbent William Appleton A graduate of Shady Side Academy, the American Institute of Foreign Trade, and Virginia Polytechnic Institute, Kelly began his life as an engineer, mainly traveling in Europe and Algeria. He then returned to the United States and was the campaign assistant for Richard Schweiker from Pennsylvania during his first run for United States Senate. Once Schweiker won the election, Kelly became his special assistant from 1968-1970 before running for the Pennsylvania House of Representatives.

James B. Kelly’s run for election in 1970 was eventful as Rocco Viola, one of his competitors, took him to court on the grounds that he did not meet the citizenship requirements to run for the Pennsylvania Legislature. Yet, Kelly won the case and defeated Viola in the general election helped by the slogan, “your effective new voice in the legislature” (various newspaper clippings). He was also endorsed by friend and former Governor of Pennsylvania, William Scranton.

While in the House, J. B. Kelly was adamant in fixing the state’s fiscal problems and it is on that that he mainly focused his legislation efforts. In his Oral History Interview, Kelly claims that he was “kind of a lightning rod for much of my six years in the Legislature” with his efforts to mend the state’s deficit. Also, Kelly was able to work out a design for Interstate 79 for his district and was active in legislation with prisoners, young people, and the mentally challenged. He also was involved in legislation that would require security guards to have training which became the subject of Milton Lipson’s book On Guard: the Business of Private Security and can be found in Box 1, Folder 21. In 1976, Kelly decided to run for the United States Congress rather than continue in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives. He did not win the primary election to receive the Republican nomination and retired from political office.

He became the Manager of Commercial Development at Dravo International, an engineering company in Pittsburgh, and traveled to Spain, Italy, and China. After his time with Dravo, he returned to the States and became part of the Reagan Administration as Deputy Assistant Secretary responsible for Africa, the Near East, and South East Asia and also became the lead man in Iraq.

After his time with President Reagan, he went to work for a few other international companies as the head of international operations, started his own technology company around 1996 and then sold it in 2005. He is currently the C.E.O of a software company called Flighter Explorer and resides in Maryland.

Found in 2 Collections and/or Records: