James Boren

James "Jim" Boren (10 December 1925 – 24 April 2010) was an American who is best known as a humorist and writer on bureaucratese, in which he poked fun at what he called "the vacuumental thinking and idiotoxicities of Washington". He was also a businessman, teacher, scholar, public servant, political operative, presidential candidate and public speaker.

James Harlan Boren was born in Wheatland, Oklahoma in 1925. He joined the United States Navy in 1942 at the age of 17, serving on the destroyer escort the William C. Cole at the Battle of Okinawa.

He studied at University of Texas at Austin (BA, PhD), California State University, Long Beach (MA), and University of Southern California (MA).

Boren initially worked in the independent oil business in Texas and Oklahoma.

In 1957 he was the campaign manager for Ralph Yarborough's successful bid to represent Texas in the United States Senate, and was Yarborough's chief of staff 1957-61. In 1961 President John F. Kennedy appointed him Deputy Director of the U.S. Economic Mission to Peru. There he conceived the idea of the Partners of the Alliance (now known as Partners of the Americas), and he spent seven years helping to build schools, equip hospitals, assist with potable water systems, and other economic development projects.

In 1970 he became President of Development Services International in Washington, D.C.

Boren then turned to reforming bureaucracy through the use of humor and political satire. He formed a spoof organization called the International Association of Professional Bureaucrats. He was in great demand as a professional speaker, and he wrote seven books, the most famous of which was When in Doubt Mumble: A Bureaucrat's Handbook. The title drew on his most famous quotation:

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