No: 12
Date: 8/1/1976
Name: Governor J. J. Exon Jr.
It was America's bicentennial year, and Exon is shown attired in a Colonial costume. Also that year, during his second term as governor, he was featured in the Omaha Press Club Show, "The Spirits of '76." In the Face drawing, he was portrayed as a penny-pinching piggy banker with gleeful state senators throwing money into the air. A piggyback is labeled "waste not, want not," a commentary on Exon's strict budgeting for the state. A World War II Army veteran, Exon founded one of Nebraska's best-known office equipment companies before entering the political world. J. James Exon was first elected Nebraska's governor in 1970 and re-elected in 1974. He served longer than any other Nebraska governor. In 1978, he became the only governor whom Nebraskans elected directly to the U.S. Senate, where he served three terms. Among the three committees on which he served was the Senate Armed Services Committee, where he did battle to keep the new U.S. Strategic Command in Nebraska. He served as senator until 1997 and died in 2005.  Back to Top