Influence
Three warships of the Navy have been named Reuben James in his honor:
- Reuben James (DD-245), a four-stack Clemson-class destroyer
- Reuben James (DE-153), a Buckley-class destroyer escort
- Reuben James (FFG-57), an Oliver Hazard Perry-class frigate
There are two songs with the title Reuben James:
- The Sinking of the Reuben James is a folk song written by Woody Guthrie about the ship Reuben James (DD-245) and her sinking while on convoy duty shortly before the U.S. entered World War II. It became a hit by the Kingston Trio.
- The second song has no connection with the mariner; it is instead a reminiscence by a young man of an African-American sharecropper named Reuben James that the singer knew as a boy. It was a hit for Kenny Rogers and the First Edition in 1969, written by Barry Etris, and is devoted to his father (see the details at The Art & Music of Barry Etris). It was also recorded by Jerry Lee Lewis in 1970.
James Island of Washington state was named for James.
Read more about this topic: Reuben James
Famous quotes containing the word influence:
“Somewhere along the line of development we discover who we really are, and then we make our real decision for which we are responsible. Make that decision primarily for yourself because you can never really live anyone else’s life not even your child’s. The influence you exert is through your own life and what you become yourself.”
—Eleanor Roosevelt (1884–1962)
“My administration is pledged to follow the policies of Mr. Roosevelt in this regard, and while that pledge does not involve me in any obligation to carry them out unless I have Congressional authority to do so, it does require that I take every step and exert every legislative influence upon Congress to enact the legislation which shall best subserve the purposes indicated.”
—William Howard Taft (1857–1930)
“What arouses the indignation of the honest satirist is not, unless the man is a prig, the fact that people in positions of power or influence behave idiotically, or even that they behave wickedly. It is that they conspire successfully to impose upon the public a picture of themselves as so very sagacious, honest and well-intentioned.”
—Claud Cockburn (1904–1981)