E. Pendleton James

Edgar Pendleton James was born in October 1929 in Arkansas to Edgar and Alice Pendleton James. Soon after his birth, the family relocated to central Illinois, and by 1940, they lived in Washington. James spent his formative years being educated in Washington schools.

The family left Washington in 1948 and moved to California, where James attended Pacific University and graduated in 1954.

Upon graduation, he began working in the private sector as a personnel recruiter and, by 1970, was working for an executive recruiting firm called Heidrick & Struggles, one of the largest recruiting firms in the country.

The firm had received a call from Richard Nixon's White House asking for a representative to fly to Washington to help them for a time.  The boss sent James, and he became part of Nixon's White House staff. His main job was to recruit the best people to fill top positions.  He worked for Nixon from 1970-1973.

When Ronald Reagan was elected President in 1980, James assumed roughly the same role in that administration, serving as director of personnel for the first two years of Reagan's presidency.

James left after the first couple of years in both administrations because, in his own words, "The real job is the first two years. After that, you lose control. The appointments go out to the Cabinet officers or special interest groups, and you’re processing paperwork. The really exciting time is putting the team together. After that—I could have stayed there as long as I wanted to—it’s not exciting anymore."

James returned to the public sector but was regularly interviewed by the national press due to his vast experience with the Nixon and Reagan administrations.

In 2012, Pendleton James returned to Washington for a public reception at Five Points.