John Stuart Ballard (September 30, 1922 – April 21, 2012) was an American politician known for serving as the mayor of

Akron, Ohio Akron () is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Summit County. It is located on the western edge of the Glaciated Allegheny Plateau, about south of downtown Cleveland. As of the 2020 Census, the city prop ...

, for 13 years from 1966 until 1979. He was elected and reelected in 1963, 1967, 1971, and 1975 to become Akron's longest serving mayor until

Don Plusquellic Donald L. Plusquellic (born July 3, 1949) is the former mayor of Akron, Ohio. First elected in 1987, he became the 59th Mayor of Akron after previously serving 13 years on Akron City Council. Plusquellic has served his seventh term, making him t ...

served as mayor from 1987 until 2015. Ballard also served as Summit County prosecutor between 1957 and 1964. Ballard was a graduate from the University of Akron and the University of Michigan Law School. Ballard was a member of the Phi Kappa Tau Fraternity at the University of Akron. During World War II, he served as an infantry lieutenant in General Patton's army. He also worked as a special agent with the FBI and practiced law in Akron. As mayor of Akron, Ballard faced great challenges with the city losing 14 percent of its population in the 1970s along with race riots, labor strikes, and Vietnam War tension. When he was elected, Ballard was the first Republican mayor of Akron since 1951.

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1922 births 2012 deaths Mayors of places in Ohio 20th-century American politicians Ohio Republicans University of Michigan Law School alumni United States Army personnel of World War II {{Ohio-mayor-stub

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