Ray Mabus
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Raymond Edwin "Ray" Mabus, Jr. (born October 11 1948) served as Governor of the U.S. state of Mississippi from 1988 to 1992 as a Democrat, but was defeated for reelection by Republican Kirk Fordice.
Mabus grew up in Ackerman, Mississippi, the only child of a prominent timber executive. He graduated from the University of Mississippi, and after a stint in the military, entered Harvard Law School. After working for several years in Washington, DC, Mabus returned to Mississippi, joining the staff of Governor William Winter. Winter's youthful staff, which included Mabus, Dick Molpus, John Henegan, and Andy Mullins, earned the nickname "Boys of Spring" by a rival state legislator.
In 1983, Mabus was elected state auditor and served from 1984 to 1988. Mabus narrowly defeated Tupelo businessman Jack Reed in the 1987 governor election. The youthful, Harvard-educated Mabus was billed as the face of The New South, much like his counterpart in Arkansas at the time, Bill Clinton.
Mabus had a troubled tenure as governor, failing in a bid to enact a state lottery and garnering significant opposition for raising the sales tax one cent to fund education.
He was appointed by President Bill Clinton to be the United States ambassador to Saudi Arabia and served from 1994 to 1996. He is rumored to be considering a run for governor in 2007 or a run for president in 2008.