James W. Grant

James William "Bill" Grant (born September 21, 1943) is an American banker and former politician from Madison, Florida.

James W. Grant
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Florida's 2nd district
In office January 3, 1987 – January 3, 1991
Preceded by	Don Fuqua
Succeeded by	Douglas Peterson
Personal details
Born	(1943-02-21) February 21, 1943 Lake City, Florida, U.S.
Political party	Democrat Republican (since 1989)
Occupation	Banking

A graduate of Florida State University, he attended the University of Florida for graduate studies. He represented Florida's 2nd congressional district in the U.S. Congress from 1987 to 1991. After being elected as a Democrat from the Tallahassee-based 2nd District to succeed 12-term Democrat Don Fuqua, he switched parties to become a Republican on February 21, 1989.

He was defeated for reelection in U.S. House election, 1990 by Douglas Peterson, and ran unsuccessfully for the Senate in 1992, losing to incumbent Bob Graham. He is a fifth generation Floridian whose family has lived in North Florida since before statehood. He is a former Member of the Florida State Senate and the United States Congress and his party’s nominee to the U.S. Senate. Prior to beginning his political career, he organized and ran several North Florida commercial banks and was twice elected president of the Florida Bankers Association.

After leaving politics, he organized and is now CEO of MK Meridian, Inc, an international conflict resolution, trade, and diplomatic advisory firm. In that capacity, he has mediated numerous sovereign and commercial conflicts across Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Africa. He helped organize the United Africa Association, a 13-nation effort for promoting pan-African self-help, free-enterprise capitalism, and democracy.

In 1997, with the assistance of the government of Egypt, he negotiated the end to the first Somali civil war and authored a draft constitutional government for that nation. He has been the senior advisor to two sovereign foreign governments and twice served as Special United States Congressional Envoy to international trouble spots. He served as Executive Vice President of Worldwide Chemical, LLC, a multi-faceted chemical production facility in Ukraine with 11,000 employees and a worldwide market.