James Larry Hood graduated from Centre College in Danville, Kentucky, with a BA in history and government. He received an MBA from Xavier University in Cincinnati, Ohio, and earned an MA and PhD in American history from the University of Kentucky in Lexington, Kentucky. He has published several essays and books on Kentucky and American history touching on Civil War politics and the creation of the Republican Party in Kentucky, Kentucky's participation in the nation's early twentieth century Progressive drive for political and social reform, and the Nixon administration's establishment of affirmative action policies and regulations. He has taught at Bellarmine University, Kentucky State University, and Lexington Community College and has given lectures for the Kentucky Humanities Council and various Kentucky Elderhostel programs. Retired from Kentucky state government where he worked as a manager within the health and welfare cabinet's Inspector General's Office and as a business office manager, he is presently an adjunct professor of history at the University of Kentucky.