Jim Bob Duggar

Jim Bob Duggar Biography

James Robert "Jim Bob" Duggar (born July 18, 1965) is an American real estate agent, politician, and television personality and was on the reality series 19 Kids and Counting. He served in the Arkansas House of Representatives (1999-2002).

Life and career

Duggar was born in Springdale, Arkansas, the son of Jimmy Lee Duggar (1936-2009) and Mary (Lester) Duggar (born 1941), who owns a real estate brokerage agency. Duggar has an older sister, Deanna.

Duggar is a licensed realtor and owns several commercial properties in his local area as an investor.

Political career

From 1999 to 2002, Duggar served in the Arkansas House of Representatives for the sixth district, which included part of northern Washington County, Arkansas. Duggar was vice chair of the House Corrections and Criminal Law Subcommittee and also participated in the Insurance and Commerce Committee and Judiciary Committee.

Duggar ran unsuccessfully in the Republican Party of Arkansas primary election for the United States Senate in 2002, losing to incumbent Senator Tim Hutchinson by a vote of 71,576 to 20,546. He next sought the Republican nomination to the Arkansas State Senate District 35 seat in 2006, losing to candidate Bill Pritchard by 200 votes.

Marriage and children

On July 21, 1984, Duggar married Michelle Ruark. Together, the couple has 19 children: Joshua ("Josh") (b. 1988), twins Jana and John-David (b. 1990), Jill (b. 1991), Jessa (b. 1992), Jinger (b. 1993), Joseph (b. 1995), Josiah (b. 1996), Joy-Anna (b. 1997), twins Jedidiah and Jeremiah (b. 1998), Jason (b. 2000), James (b. 2001), Justin (b. 2002), Jackson (b. 2004), Johannah (b. 2005), Jennifer (b. 2007), Jordyn (b. 2008), and Josie (b. 2009). The family was featured on the reality series 19 Kids and Counting from 2008 - 2015. On November 8, 2011, Duggar's wife announced she was pregnant with their 20th child, whom they named Jubilee Shalom. On December 8, 2011, it was announced she had miscarried.

Duggar and his wife have six grandchildren: Mackynzie (b. 2009), Michael (b. 2011), Marcus (b. 2013), and Meredith (b. 2015), whose parents are Josh and Anna Duggar; Israel (b. 2015), whose parents are Jill (Duggar) and Derick Dillard; and Spurgeon (b. 2015) whose parents are Jessa (Duggar) and Ben Seewald.

According to Newsweek, the Duggars follow a "pro-life-purist" belief system known as Quiverfull, which advocates that fertility should be entrusted to God, and in which they see their lifestyle and their large progenies as a denunciation of what they call "the contraceptive mentality". They see children as a blessing from God.

Duggar and his family are Independent Baptist Christians and members of the Institute in Basic Life Principles organization (aka IBLP and Advanced Training Institute), a homeschooling program run by controversial Christian minister Bill Gothard. Duggar's oldest daughter, Jana Duggar, is a leader at the IBLP's "Journey to the Heart" youth ministry.

Josh Duggar molestation revelations

On May 19, 2015, In Touch Weekly reported that Duggar had told the Arkansas State Police that his oldest son, Josh Duggar, had molested five underage girls, including family members, when he was 14-15 years old. The abuse involved touching their breast and genital regions on multiple occasions while they slept and in a few cases while they were awake.

Duggar told police he had referred his son to a program consisting of physical labor and counseling after consulting with his church's leadership. Duggar's wife stated their son was sent away from home to work for a family friend in the home remodeling business. Upon the son's return home, Duggar took him to Arkansas State Trooper Jim Hutchens, a family acquaintance. Hutchens did not take any official action but reportedly gave Duggar's son a "stern talk". With Hutchens' later arrest and convictions on child pornography charges, the case went inactive.

Duggar spoke officially to law enforcement in 2006 after his son's actions were reported to authorities by producers of The Oprah Winfrey Show, after interviewing the family and an email regarding the allegations had been sent to the show. Because the three-year statute of limitations had passed once allegations were formally documented, Duggar's son was not formally charged with criminal sexual abuse.

In a joint statement to People magazine following the report, Duggar and his wife stated, "Even though we would never choose to go through something so terrible, each one of our family members drew closer to God. We pray that as people watch our lives they see that we are not a perfect family. We have challenges and struggles every day."

Books

Duggar and his wife have written two books together, both published by Howard Books. The first is titled The Duggars: 20 and Counting!, which was released on December 2, 2008. Their second is A Love That Multiplies, which was released June 7, 2011.

Other political activities

Duggar and his wife endorsed Mike Huckabee in 2008 during his campaign for the Republican Party presidential primaries. In January 2012, the Duggars endorsed former Republican U.S. Senator Rick Santorum for president. In October 2013, the Duggar family began campaigning for Ken Cuccinelli, the unsuccessful Republican gubernatorial candidate in Virginia.