John R. Gregg

John R. Gregg (born September 6, 1954) is an American politician from Indiana. Gregg has described himself as a "pro-business," "gun-totin', Bible-quotin' Southern Indiana Democrat." He was a state representative in the Indiana House of Representatives from 1986–2002. He served as Majority Leader from 1990–1994, Minority Leader for a term, and as the 85th and longest serving Democratic Speaker of the Indiana House from 1996–2002.

In 2012, John Gregg was the Democratic nominee for Governor of Indiana but lost to then-Congressman Mike Pence in the closest gubernatorial election in 50 years. On April 30, 2015, John Gregg announced he was seeking the Democratic Party's nomination for governor again in 2016, citing Governor Pence's emphasis on social issues, such as the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, and his policies on public education and Hoosier workers.

Personal details

Born on September 6, 1954 to Donald R. and Beverly 'June' (née Blackwood) Gregg in Linton, Greene County, Indiana. His father operated a union construction and hauling business. John Gregg was the oldest of his parents' three sons. He grew up in small, rural Sandborn, Knox County, Indiana.

John R.

John R. (born John Richbourg, August 20, 1910, Manning, South Carolina; died February 15, 1986, Nashville, Tennessee) was an American radio disc jockey who attained fame in the 1950s and 1960s for playing rhythm and blues music on Nashville radio station WLAC. He was also a notable record producer and artist manager.

Richbourg was arguably the most popular and charismatic of the four announcers at WLAC who showcased popular African-American music in nightly programs from the late 1940s to the early 1970s. (The other three were Gene Nobles, Herman Grizzard, and Bill "Hoss" Allen.) Later rock music disc jockeys such as Alan Freed, Wolfman Jack, and others mimicked Richbourg's practice of using speech that simulated African-American street language of the mid-twentieth century.

Richbourg's highly stylized approach to on-air presentation of both music and advertising earned him popularity, but it also created identity confusion. Because Richbourg and fellow disc jockey Allen used African-American speech patterns, many listeners thought that both announcers were actually African-Americans. The disc jockeys used the mystique to their commercial and personal advantages until the mid-1960s, when their racial identities as Euro-Americans became public knowledge.