It's a fitting way to perpetualize the legacy of Montgomery's Jack Campbell — conservative political strategist, media commentator and friend to all who needed a friend.
Campbell died in September 2023 at age 67 after a long battle with diabetes, cancer and stroke.
Jack was unusual in many ways. One way is that Jack is one of only a few Americans who made a fundamental political difference in two different states — Alabama and Texas.
Jack was part of the brains behind Alabama's election of its first Republican chief justice of the state Supreme Court, paving the way for Alabama to transition from a one-party Democrat state to a solid Republican state. He also was a difference-making strategist in the transition of Texas from Democrat to Republican. He was a tactician behind the defeat of Democrat Gov. Ann Richards and the election of Republican Gov. George W. Bush.
Jack Campbell drew the demarcation line between the old LBJ Democrat Texas and the present-day Greg Abbott/Ted Cruz Texas. It not only changed Texas for the better, it helped change America for the better.
The new Campbell-Underwood Free Enterprise Leadership Challenge will enable hundreds of students in Alabama and over the South to train to become leaders in free enterprise, free markets and free elections.
The training is conducted by the Jesse Helms Center, named for the late North Carolina U.S. Senator who was a strong conservative voice in the Senate and in Republican politics. Helms led the transition from the solid Democrat South to the almost-solid Republican South.
The Jesse Helms Center is the gateway organization for young students to encounter the free-market ideas that are at the heart of our republic and our economic system and to deeply engage with those ideas in a program designed to make a durable impression. Through its programming, students don't simply memorize terms out of a book, they develop profound and lasting connections to these principles.
The Free Enterprise Leadership Challenge (FELC) is a five-day summer program open to high school students entering 10th, 11th or 12th grades. It is held on college campuses across the country. Also, FELC hosts virtual sessions throughout the year. The program has graduated over 13,000 students in 30 years.
The FELC and its 13,000 graduates played a key role in the 2024 Trump ticket, which carried a higher percentage of young voters than Republicans had previously carried.
The Campbell-Underwood Endowment will pay the tuition and expenses for students to attend, starting in the summer of 2025 — a full-ride.
If you know a high schooler who needs this training for the leaders of tomorrow, click here for details and registration.
Jack Campbell graduated from Sidney Lanier High School in Montgomery, where he was elected student body president. From there, he went to work making friends and influencing people at the University of Alabama. In Tuscaloosa, he majored in history, was president of his fraternity, and graduated in 1977.
Go West, young man. Jack journeyed to Dallas, where he began honing his skills as a political strategist. One of his first career jobs was in conservative politics, working at the Texas Foundation for Conservative Studies.
Then, it was "hit the road, Jack." Back home to Alabama.
Alabama had not elected a Republican chief justice of the state Supreme Court since Reconstruction. Jack put together a grassroots team in 1994 and took a long-shot candidate, Perry O. Hooper, Sr., and made him a winner. Hooper beat his opponent in a historic election by just 262 votes.
They also had to fight off a fierce Democrat court challenge that consumed months. They won that, too, with "strategery" from Jack Campbell.
Justice Hooper's son, former State Rep. Perry Hooper, Jr., said, "This wasn't just a campaign victory. It was a seismic shift in Alabama's political landscape, a shift architected by Jack Campbell."
Jack served as a key advisor to the Alabama Chief Justice for many years.
Then, it was "hit the road, Jack" again. His talents took him back to Texas. In the early 2000s, Jack served as the political action committee director for the Texas Association of Business, where he had an immense impact on the state's education policy.
He worked for the Texas GOP and got to rub elbows with the likes of Rick Perry, who became Texas governor and Secretary of Energy during President Donald Trump's first administration.
Jack returned to Alabama in 2008. He founded two companies. One of them, Public Strategy Associates, recruited and trained candidates to run for state and federal office. The other, Spit On Strategies Group, wrote campaign manuals for candidates across various states and focused on training the next generation of public servants.
Jack Campbell became a household name later in life when he became a commentator on TV and radio. He hosted the radio program, "News & Views Nine to Noon," on WACV-FM, the leading news talk radio station in Montgomery. He and his last co-host, Joey Clark, clicked immediately, and their audience rewarded them. They became the number one political show in Alabama's capital city.
"He loved a good joke, a good drink, and a good time," Clark said. "Any man who would name his pet beagle 'Alice' just so he could pretend to be Jackie Gleason in 'The Honeymooners' – whenever that dog would act up, he'd say 'to the moon Alice!' – should be in the 'Sense of Humor Hall of Fame.'"
Friends say Jack stood out as a beacon of decency and integrity. He didn't just guide political careers, which he did in spades. He impacted the lives of everyone who had the pleasure of knowing him.
One of them was businessman J.W. "Billy" McFarland, Jr., 45, of Tuscaloosa.
"He was a mentor to me," McFarland said. "Jack had a heart of gold."
Who is the "Underwood" in the Campbell-Underwood endowment? It's another deceased leader who made a difference in two states. Nancy Underwood had been a successful attorney in Atlanta at an unusually young age. She felt called to return home to Texas to take over her family's real estate business, and it took off.
Besides the state of Texas, what is the connection between Nancy Underwood and Jack Campbell? In life, they never met, but her daughter, Courtney Underwood, worked side by side with McFarland as they birthed the idea to establish an endowment as a legacy for the two.
When Jack died on September 24, 2023, McFarland wanted to do something to honor Jack Campbell and Nancy Underwood, Courtney Underwood's mother. He approached Courtney and they agreed to establish the endowment, the Campbell-Underwood FELC Scholarship. Its goal is to help teach and train young people about free enterprise, ethical leadership, and America's founding principles.
Two real-life examples of making a difference for America can be taught to students at the FELC. Both involve Jack Campbell – helping turn Texas to conservative Republican principles and helping turn Alabama to conservative Republican principles.
Jack Campbell and Nancy Underwood — making a difference in life, making a difference in legacy.
Jim' Zig' Zeigler writes about Alabama's people, places, events, groups and prominent deaths. He is a former Alabama Public Service Commissioner and State Auditor. You can reach him for comments at ZeiglerElderCare@yahoo.com.
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