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Born in Robertson County, Tennessee, Jones was the son of a tobacco farmer and merchant. His father sent him to manage a tobacco factory at age 14, and at 19 he was put in charge of his uncle's lumberyards. Five years later, after his uncle died, Jones moved to Houston to manage his uncle's estate and opened a lumberyard company, which grew quickly. He quickly made his mark as a builder across Houston, and helped to secure federal funding for the Houston Ship Channel , which made the city a viable port. President Woodrow Wilson offered him the position of Secretary of Commerce, but Jones turned him down to focus on his businesses — though he could not refuse when Wilson asked him a second time to become Director General of Military Relief for the American Red Cross during World War I. After returning to his businesses, President Herbert Hoover appointed him to the Reconstruction Finance Commission , despite his Democratic affiliation. Jones later served under Franklin Roosevelt as Secretary of Commerce in 1940 — the same position he had turned down a quarter-century before — and served until 1945, when he was forced out in favor of Roosevelt's outgoing Vice PresidentThe Vice President of the United States is the second-highest executive official of the United States government, the person who is "a heartbeat from the presidency. As first in the presidential line of succession, the Vice President becomes the new Presi, Henry A. WallaceHenry Agard Wallace ( October 7, 1888 November 18, 1965) was the 33rd Vice President of the United States. Early Life Wallace was born on a farm near Orient, Adair County, Iowa, and graduated from Iowa State College at Ames in 1910. He served on the edito.

Jones was alternately a revered and feared figure in Houston and TexasTexas joined the United States of America as its 28th member state in 1845. It has the postal abbreviation TX . The state name derives from a word in a Caddoan language of the Hasinai, tejas meaning friends or allies Spanish explorers mistakenly applied t politics during his lifetime. Lyndon Johnson, infuriated by Jones's power and arrogance, reportedly referred to him behind his back as "Jesus H. Jones."