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James Willis Hensley (April 12, 1920 – June 21, 2000) was an American businessman in the beer industry. Hensley was born in
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and moved to
Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fo ...
during his youth. He was a bombardier on
B-17 Flying Fortress The Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress is a four-engined heavy bomber developed in the 1930s for the United States Army Air Corps (USAAC). Relatively fast and high-flying for a bomber of its era, the B-17 was used primarily in the European Thea ...
es during World War II and was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross. After the war he was convicted of illegal distribution of liquor and was also involved in a racetrack operation that was investigated by authorities. He founded Hensley & Co. in 1955. Headquartered in
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, it grew to become one of the largest
Anheuser-Busch Anheuser-Busch Companies, LLC is an American brewing company headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri. Since 2008, it has been wholly owned by Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV (AB InBev), now the world's largest brewing company, which owns multiple glo ...
beer
distributor A distributor is an enclosed rotating switch used in spark-ignition internal combustion engines that have mechanically timed ignition. The distributor's main function is to route high voltage current from the ignition coil to the spark plu ...
ships in the nation. One of Arizona's richest men at the time of his death, Hensley was the father of Cindy Hensley McCain and the father-in-law of
United States Senator The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...
and 2000 and 2008 presidential candidate
John McCain John Sidney McCain III (August 29, 1936 – August 25, 2018) was an American politician and United States Navy officer who served as a United States senator from Arizona from 1987 until his death in 2018. He previously served two terms ...
.


Early life, military service and family

Hensley was born on April 12, 1920 The site states: "The following material on the immediate ancestry of Cindy McCain should not be considered either exhaustive or authoritative, but rather as a first draft." It is used here because it is the only source available that gives Jim Hensley's month and day of birth, the names of his parents, and certain biographical information about his first wife. in
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to Jessie and James L. Hensley. The family was poor and his father suffered from
alcoholism Alcoholism is, broadly, any drinking of alcohol that results in significant mental or physical health problems. Because there is disagreement on the definition of the word ''alcoholism'', it is not a recognized diagnostic entity. Predomin ...
. They lived in the South until moving to Arizona; Hensley graduated from Phoenix Union High School in 1936. He married Mary Jeanne Parks, his high school sweetheart, around 1937, and worked as a paper salesman. Hensley and his older brother, Eugene, first began working in the liquor distribution business before World War II, being in the employ of Kemper Marley, Sr., an Arizona rancher who had become wealthy in that business in Phoenix and
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following the end of Prohibition. The brothers started the United Liquor Co. in Phoenix and the United Distribution Co. in Tucson. Jim Hensley then served three years as an officer in the
United States Army Air Forces The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...
during World War II. He was a bombardier on
B-17 Flying Fortress The Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress is a four-engined heavy bomber developed in the 1930s for the United States Army Air Corps (USAAC). Relatively fast and high-flying for a bomber of its era, the B-17 was used primarily in the European Thea ...
es. On his thirteenth mission, his plane was shot down over the
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; around the same time, his wife gave birth to their daughter, Kathleen Ann Hensley, in February 1943. In all, his planes were shot down two or three times. He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross. Hensley was injured during his service, and sent to a
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medical facility to recover. There he met Marguerite "Smitty" Johnson (born
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, January 16, 1919, died
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, October 11, 2006, daughter of
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parents), who had one daughter, Dixie, from a previous relationship. Hensley divorced his wife, and shortly thereafter married Marguerite on March 29, 1945 in
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while on leave from the USAAF. They had one child together, Cindy Lou Hensley, born 1954. Hensley's first daughter grew up with her mother, but he maintained occasional contact with her.


Early business career, legal issues

Following his discharge in 1945, Hensley and his brother went back to work for Marley in his United Sales Company in Phoenix and United Distributors in Tucson. In 1948, both brothers were prosecuted by the federal government and convicted of multiple counts of falsifying liquor records in a conspiracy to conceal illegal distribution of
whiskey Whisky or whiskey is a type of distilled alcoholic beverage made from fermented grain mash. Various grains (which may be malted) are used for different varieties, including barley, corn, rye, and wheat. Whisky is typically aged in wooden c ...
against post-war rationing regulations. Jim Hensley received a six-month sentence (later upheld but suspended by an appeals court) while his brother received a year in federal prison, and both were fined. In 1953, Jim Hensley and Marley were charged by federal prosecutors with falsifying liquor records. Defended by future
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William Rehnquist William Hubbs Rehnquist ( ; October 1, 1924 – September 3, 2005) was an American attorney and jurist who served on the U.S. Supreme Court for 33 years, first as an associate justice from 1972 to 1986 and then as the 16th chief justice from ...
, they were acquitted. In December 1952, the Hensley brothers bought into the Ruidoso Downs racetrack in
New Mexico ) , population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano) , seat = Santa Fe , LargestCity = Albuquerque , LargestMetro = Tiguex , OfficialLang = None , Languages = English, Spanish ( New Mexican), Navajo, ...
, with Eugene running it and Jim returning to Phoenix. pp. 92–93. In a May 1953 hearing before the New Mexico State Racing Commission, the Hensley brothers concealed the existence an equal partner, Clarence "Teak" Baldwin, who had been banned from any ownership role due to illegal bookmaking activities. A 1953
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investigation found further that Kemper Marley was a financial backer for bookmakers and had connections with Baldwin and with the bookmaking operations of organized crime, a conclusion echoed decades later by the Arizona Project investigative reporting team. The Hensley brothers gained their Ruidoso Downs racetrack license in 1953, as no New Mexico law barred convicted felons from race track ownership, although in 1955 new
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John F. Simms said he was "appalled" by the previous administration's decision to do so. Previous Governor Edwin L. Mechem had defended the approval, saying that the Hensleys had been under constant surveillance and deserved continued attention, but that no action was taken against them because the investigation showed that as race tracks go, all laws apparently were being observed. Jim Hensley sold his interest in Ruidoso Downs to his brother Eugene in 1955 (who in turn sold it to a Marley-connected company in 1969).


Hensley & Co.

In 1955, Hensley founded the beer distributorship that bore his name, borrowing $10,000 against everything he had to buy a small existing distributorship. p. 131. He was given a state liquor license despite his normally disqualifying past felony conviction. At the start it had 15 workers, sold 73,000 cases of beer a year, and had a 6 percent market share. Hensley soon switched to exclusively distributing
Anheuser-Busch Anheuser-Busch Companies, LLC is an American brewing company headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri. Since 2008, it has been wholly owned by Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV (AB InBev), now the world's largest brewing company, which owns multiple glo ...
beer. Under the early names Hensley & Company Distributors and Hensley & Company Wholesale, the company saw decades of steady growth. It was aided by the Phoenix area becoming one of the fastest-growing regions of the country while the company maintained its position as Anheuser-Busch's only distributor there. Jim Hensley's tireless sales efforts and the generous wages and benefits he gave employees were also key success factors. By 1980 the business had become quite successful and Jim Hensley was a multi-millionaire. Hensley had also distanced himself from Marley, and had helped set up a local hospital; nevertheless, he was never fully accepted by the Phoenix establishment. In 1981, Hensley hired his new son-in-law
John McCain John Sidney McCain III (August 29, 1936 – August 25, 2018) was an American politician and United States Navy officer who served as a United States senator from Arizona from 1987 until his death in 2018. He previously served two terms ...
, who had married his daughter Cindy the previous year, as Vice President of Public Relations for Hensley & Co. McCain soon left to begin his Congressional career with a victory in the 1982 election for
U.S. House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...
. Jim Hensley's past record with the law, as well as his past connection to Marley (who was suspected by the police in the 1976 car-bomb murder of ''
Arizona Republic ''The Arizona Republic'' is an American daily newspaper published in Phoenix. Circulated throughout Arizona, it is the state's largest newspaper. Since 2000, it has been owned by the Gannett newspaper chain. Copies are sold at $2 daily or at $3 ...
'' investigative reporter
Don Bolles Donald Fifield Bolles (July 10, 1928 – June 13, 1976) was an American investigative reporter for '' The Arizona Republic'' who was known for his coverage of organized crime in the area, especially by the Chicago Outfit. His murder in a car ...
), were raised by McCain's opponent in the 1986 general election campaign for the
U.S. Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...
. McCain won that election handily. As his business continued to grow, Hensley became one of Arizona's richest men, although he never sought publicity. He held most of the controlling stock in Hensley & Co., although by 2000 his health was poor and he had withdrawn from daily operational control. With 500 employees, annual revenues at the time were about $220 million on 20 million cases of beer sold; Hensley & Co. was the second-largest Anheuser-Busch distributor in the nation, the fifth-largest beer distributorship overall in the nation and the 12th largest privately held company in Arizona. Jim Hensley was a major contributor to charity in the
Phoenix metropolitan area The Phoenix Metropolitan Area – also the Valley of the Sun, the Salt River Valley, or Metro Phoenix (known by most locals simply as “the Valley”) – is the largest metropolitan area in the Southwestern United States, centered on the city ...
as well, starting the Hensley Family Foundation. He also supported groups such as
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and Gilbert Rodeo Days. Hensley died in Phoenix on June 21, 2000. His frequently-amended
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left his entire estate to Cindy Hensley McCain, who became the controlling stockholder and chair of the board after his death. His first daughter Kathleen, her husband and children had received substantial ongoing gifts, credit cards, and college tuition payments in the decade before his death, but were left only one modest lump sum from his estate.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hensley, Jim 1920 births 2000 deaths United States Army Air Forces personnel of World War II 20th-century American businesspeople American philanthropists Anheuser-Busch people American brewers American drink distillers McCain family Businesspeople from Phoenix, Arizona Military personnel from San Antonio Recipients of the Distinguished Flying Cross (United States) United States Army Air Forces officers American company founders American businesspeople convicted of crimes