James H. Harless

James Howard "Buck" Harless (October 14, 1919 – January 1, 2014) was an American coal and timber operator and philanthropist.

Harless was born in Taplin, West Virginia in 1919. As a young child, Harless was adopted by an aunt when he was four months old, after his mother, then aged 21, died of pneumonia. He was raised by the sister of his late mother, Rosa, and her husband George. They lived first in Mallory, in Logan County, but later moved to Gilbert, in Mingo County, when Harless was two years old. Harless attended Gilbert High School, from which he graduated in 1937. He worked first at a local garage and wrecker service, before working for several years at Red Jacket Coal Co, where he was first a laborer, and then a miner and engineer. In 1947 he gave up mining to become a part-owner and manager of a Gilbert saw-mill.

Harless grew the Gilbert Lumber Company into the multimillion-dollar International Industries Inc conglomerate, of which in 1947 he was the founder. At the time of his death he wasthe President and CEO of International Industries, which had proceeds exceeding $700 million a year. International Industries, Inc. is based primarily in natural resources such as coal mining and timber, but which also include the manufacturing, hotel and real estate industries. It conducted business from three divisions including International Resources, Inc. (coal mining and marketing company L&K Coal), Gilco Lumber (lumber production and distribution), Inc., and Benson International, Inc. (manufacturing of trailers and truck bodies) and had operations in five states serving domestic and international customers.

Harless was said to have had a "tight bond" with businessman James Justice Sr., the father of future West Virginia governor Jim Justice.

In May 2001 Harless was appointed to the Massey Energy Board of Directors. He served as the Chairman of the Public and Environmental Policy Committee until his resignation in February 2005.

Harless was inducted into the West Virginia Coal Hall of Fame. The West Virginia Mining and Reclamation Association named him the Coal Man of the Year in 1976. In 1983, the Charleston Gazette-Mail named Harless West Virginian of the Year. In 2001 he was named to the West Virginia Business Hall of Fame.

State

In the 1960s, Harless served two terms as mayor of his hometown of Gilbert. During his tenure, he oversaw the March 1963 flood that impacted the area. In the 1980s, Harless was an executive at West Virginia Roundtable Inc. and was a member of the board of trustees of West Virginia University. He resigned from both posts in June 1989, citing disappointment in governor Gaston Caperton's handling of the ongoing coal wildcat strikes, as part of the strikes against Pittston Coal.

During the 1996 gubernatorial election, Harless was an important backer of Republican candidate Cecil H. Underwood, whose upset victory was largely attributed to Harless' early support for him. In the 2004 gubernatorial election, Harless initially supported his childhood friend Dan Moore, who was seeking the Republican nomination. In the general election, however, Harless voiced his support for Democratic candidate Joe Manchin, and later also his Democratic successor Earl Ray Tomblin. Ahead of the 2006 U.S. senate election, Harless made financial contributions to Republican primary candidate Hiram Lewis, as well as Democratic incumbent Robert Byrd.

Harless made contributions to West Virginia State Senate candidates, the West Virginia Republican Party, and politicians of both the Republican and Democratic Party.

Federal

Harless was an early supporter of the 2000 presidential campaign of George W. Bush and opponent of Democratic nominee Al Gore. Gore, who was known for his prominent environmental activism, was commonly referred to in West Virginia as an environmental extremist, and Harless feared that a Gore administration would put an end to mountaintop removal mining. Leading up to the election, Harless served as finance chair of the George W. Bush campaign in West Virginia, and was credited by prominent Republicans Ken Mehlman and Karl Rove of helping Bush win the traditionally Democratic state of West Virginia. In an upset victory, that came to be described by The Wall Street Journal as a "political coup", Harless successfully helped break a long-standing tradition of Democratic victories in the state, and West Virginia's five electoral votes ultimately gave Bush the majority needed to win the election. The political fundraising campaign organized by Harless raised US$275,000 for the Bush campaign, five times more than Al Gore collected statewide. His fundraising earned him the title of Bush Pioneer, and he was described by The New York Times as "the state's most prolific Republican fund-raiser."

In 2002, Harless was appointed by president Bush to the United States Air Force Academy Board of Visitors. He also served on the Bush Transition Energy Advisory Team.

In 2004, Harless again served as West Virginia finance chair of Bush's presidential campaign. He was a vocal opponent of Bush's Democratic challenger John Kerry, and described his liberal views as "contrary to what West Virginians believe."

Harless also introduced Bush to the crowd at the West Virginia Coal Association annual meeting on July 31, 2008.

Starting in 2011, Harless made political donations to Mitt Romney's campaign for president ahead of the 2012 election.

Harless died, surrounded by his family, after a brief illness on January 1, 2014 at his home in Gilbert, West Virginia, aged 94. His death was acknowledged by West Virginia senators Jay Rockefeller and Joe Manchin, governor Earl Ray Tomblin and attorney general Patrick Morrisey, as well as representative Nick Rahall and the state Republican Party. Statements were also issued by university presidents Stephen J. Kopp, of Marshall University, and E. Gordon Gee, of West Virginia University.