Hunt's political alliances
The bonds Hunt forged with other local North Carolina college student body presidents have assisted him in his political campaigns tremendously.
Citing this Excerpt
Oral History Interview with James B. Hunt, May 18, 2001. Interview C-0329. Southern Oral History Program Collection (#4007) in the Southern Oral History Program Collection, Southern Historical Collection, Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Full Text of the Excerpt
- JACK FLEER:
-
Had there been an organization, you as a student government president at
North Carolina State, had there been an organization of student
government presidents that provided you with contacts.
- JAMES B. HUNT:
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No, there was not. There was a state student legislature. That came the
closest to being an organization. It seems like the student body
president at Carolina and NC State and maybe at that time
Woman's College but those are the only, aren't
there four universities in the Consolidated University before we had the
whole system.
- JACK FLEER:
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Yes.
- JAMES B. HUNT:
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What was the other one?
- JACK FLEER:
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Chapel Hill, Raleigh, Greensboro—
- JAMES B. HUNT:
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Greensboro. Is there a fourth one? I can't name a fourth one.
Maybe it was just those three.
- JACK FLEER:
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Just been those three.
- JAMES B. HUNT:
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They got together from time to time but not like they do now and have for
the last probably twenty years or so.
- JACK FLEER:
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Now did those contacts that you made at that time with these leaders on
these various campuses were they contacts that have been beneficial to
you in later years?
- JAMES B. HUNT:
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Absolutely. They were the base of my support. All the contacts that I
made, my friends at NC State who went out to become agriculture teachers
and county agents and farm leaders all over the state, my contacts in
law school, students that I went to law school
with who went out to become attorneys across the state, my contacts in
student government, some involvement with education which is where I
started sort of my campaign when I ran for lieutenant governor, all of
that. I had, I don't know that I had a card file, which is
what I should have had, but I knew where to go and find those names and
addresses. I had this organization developing based on all those
contacts. Plus all the contacts from the Grange, some friends I knew in
the Farm Bureau. I was building a team.
- JACK FLEER:
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So you were at this point at least accumulating lots of names as you were
building a team.
- JAMES B. HUNT:
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I didn't know what I was going to run for. I didn't
know I was going to run. But I just I've always been a team
builder. I've always had goals that I've worked
for. I was finding people who could get a job done, who cared, who would
be involved and who could make a difference.