Coyne was born in Farmville, Virginia, and raised in Abington, Pennsylvania, the son of James Kitchenman Coyne Jr. and Pearl Beatrice Black. He graduated from Yale University in 1968 and received an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School in 1970. He was a lecturer at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania from 1974 to 1979 and was president of the George S. Coyne Chemical Corp., Inc., from 1971 to 1981. Coyne was the supervisor of Upper Makefield Township in 1980.

Congress edit

He was elected in 1980 as a Republican to the 97th Congress. He was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1982.

Later career edit

After his term in Congress, he served from 1983 to 1985 as a special assistant to President Ronald Reagan and as director of the White House Office of Private Sector Initiatives, in 1985–1986 as chief executive officer of the American Consulting Engineers Council, and as president of the American Tort Reform Association from 1986 to 1988. In 1987, he founded Americans to Limit Congressional Terms.

Coyne co-authored (with John Fund) "Cleaning House," which promoted state referendums to limit the terms of Members of Congress. In 1994 he was chosen president of the National Air Transportation Association, where he served until 2012.

He married Helen Biddle Mercer on October 24, 1970. They have three children, Alexander Black Coyne (born 1977), Katherine Mercer Coyne (born 1980) and Michael Atkinson Coyne (born 1982). He is a great-great-grandson of Philadelphia manufacturer James Kitchenman.

• United States Congress. "James K. Coyne III (id: C000845)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.

• Appearances on C-SPAN