James R. Golden was born in Florida in 1920, and he married shortly before heading to England to serve in World War II as a fighter pilot. Golden spent the last part of the war as a German POW, and he was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross, the Air Medal with 3 Oak Leaf Clusters, and the Prisoner of War Medal. After the war, Golden served on Capitol Hill for ten years as a legislative attorney and worked to obtain statehood for Alaska.Following his government service, Golden joined the Ford Motor Company where he would become Director of International Governmental Affairs and accompany Henry Ford II to China in 1978. Over his career, Golden traveled all over the world and became lifelong friends with President Jimmy Carter and First Lady Rosalynn Carter. After "retirement" in the mid-1980's, Golden was highly sought after as a consultant and continued to be active well into his eighties. He died on December 14, 2011, at age 91 and was inurned at Arlington National Cemetery.
