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Caldwell was born in Dardanelle in Yell County in west central [[Arkansas]] to Reece E. Caldwell (1912-1971) and the former Oval Ermice Greene (1914-2000). He attended the first eleven years of school there but finished his senior year at Central High School in Tulsa. In 1958, he obtained a [[Bachelor of Arts]] in general studies from the Church of Christ-affiliated Harding College in Searcy, Arkansas. He received a [[Master of Science]] from [[Southern Methodist University]] in [[Dallas]], [[Texas]], and pursued doctoral studies at the private University of Tulsa but did not complete the terminal degree. He was called to the ministry in 1956 . As a state senator, he was the minister at the Southside Church of Christ in Rogers in Benton County in northwestern Arkansas. By happenstance, he began after-dinner speaking before various church and civic groups. For eight years before his return to Arkansas from Oklahoma, Caldwell served on stand-by in the Oklahoma Air National Guard. He and his wife, the former Laferne Muller, have four daughters.<ref name=statement>Statement of James Ray Caldwell, [[Tulsa, [[Oklahoma]], April 2010</ref>

In the 1969 legislative session, Caldwell followed Rockefeller’s lead in supporting the legalization of the sale of mixed drinks when approved through local-option elections. As a minister, Caldwell lectured against the use of liquor, but as a legislator he deemed the issue best settled locally.<ref<>Cathy K. Urwin, ''Agenda for Reform: Winthrop Rockefeller as Governor of Arkansas, 1967-71'' (Fayetteville, Arkansas: [[University of Arkansas]] Press, 1991), p. 122</ref>

Ernest Dumas, formerly of the defunct ''Arkansas Gazette'' recalls that Caldwell in 1969 and 1970 led the attempt to enact the “good government” tax increases sought by Rockefeller, but he could convince few Democratic colleagues to join him, an exception having been Morrell Gathright, a lawyer from Pine Bluff in Jefferson County.<ref>Statement of Ernest Clifton Dumas, Little Rock, Arkansas, December 9, 2011}}</ref> Budget director William Goodman described Caldwell as “trustworthy, one whom the other legislators could depend upon.” Two Democrats, Max Howell, a lawyer from Jacksonville , Arkansas, and Knox Nelson, an oilman from Pine Bluff, controlled the Senate in the era before the implementation of term limits. Goodman recalls Rockefeller having spent much of his time dealing with Howell and Nelson, rather than the few Republican legislators then in office.<ref>Statement of William Goodman, December 2011</ref><ref> William Max Howell (1915-1999) was the longest serving legislator in Arkansas history, with tenurein both the House and Senate. Knox Nelson (1926-1996), partly a victim of [[redistricting]], lost his Senate seat in the early 1990s to Jay Turner Bradford, an insurance agent from Pine Bluff.</ref>

From 1973 to 1974, Caldwell was also the Arkansas GOP chairman during a particularly bleak period for the party.<ref>''Arkansas Outlook'' (state Republican newsletter), November-December November–December 1968; ''Springdale News'', Springdale, Arkansas, July 1, 1973, ''Arkansas Outlook'', May 1973. Caldwell was correct in his prediction that his party would not regain the governorship until 1980.1973.</ref> In March 1973, a month after Rockefeller’s death, Caldwell was elected as chairman to succeed Charles T. Bernard of Earle in Crittenden County in eastern Arkansas. In this role, he opposed fielding “sacrificial lambs”<ref>In 1976, the GOP offered as its gubernatorial nominee, the "sacrificial lamb" Leon Griffith, a politically unknown master plumber then from Pine Bluff, who was crushed in the general election by Governor David Pryor. </ref> as placeholders on the ballot and expressed doubt that the GOP could win the governorship again for at least six years.<ref>''Arkansas Outlook'', May 1973</ref> Jack Bass and Walter DeVries write that in 1974 the state GOP was dependent on the possible emergence of a new political personality in the post-Rockefeller era. Bass/DeVries speculated that the GOP could be revived: “Continued urbanization and economic growth should enable the Republicans to remain viable as an alternative if the Democrats drift from moderation.”<ref>Jack Bass and Walter DeVries, ''The Transformation of Southern Politics : Social Change and Political Consequence Since 1945'' (New York: Basic Books, 1976), p. 105</ref>

A defender of [[U.S. President]] [[Richard M. Nixon]], Caldwell questioned whether the [[Watergate]] disclosures would have much impact on the Arkansas party because of the lack of GOP opportunities then available. Caldwell called upon Republicans to continue to recruit [[African American]] voters and [[Independent]]s, something Rockefeller had pursued with considerable short-term success.<ref> ''Arkansas Outlook'', May 1973; Caldwell was correct in his prediction that his party would not regain the governorship until 1980.</ref> Caldwell claimed that many in his party did not “think in practical terms. We’re busy debating issues that don’t elect anybody.” He described the GOP as in “a serious adjustment period” since Rockefeller’s death.<ref>''Congressional Quarterly Weekly Report, ''October 26, 1974, p. 2960</ref> In 1974, the GOP had organizations in just seventeen of the seventy-five counties. The party supported its staff by sporadic fundraising activities, which netted $143,000 in 1973. The Republicans lost their best issue with the demise of the “Old Guard”, epitomized by former Governor [[Orval E. Faubus]] and his declining number of backers. Caldwell said that he believed that the GOP, despite its minority status, had made it still “possible for the right candidate to win under the right circumstances.”<ref>''Congressional Quarterly Weekly Report'', October 26, 1974, p. 2960</ref>

In December 1974, Caldwell stepped down as state chairman and was succeeded by A. Lynn Lowe, a farmer in Miller County near Texarkana, who had run in 1966 for the [[United States House of Representatives]] against David Pryor and the Republican gubernatorial nominee in 1978 against [[Bill Clinton]]. Lowe was considered conservative and was a lifelong party member.<ref>Statement of Alymer Lynn Lowe, Texarkana, Arkansas, December-January December–January 2009-2010</ref> In 1975, Lowe speculated that Vice President [[Nelson A. Rockefeller]] had retained support within the Arkansas GOP because of “the feelings for his brother,”<ref>''Arkansas Outlook,'' October 1975</ref> but Rockefeller soon removed himself for consideration to a full term in the second office.

Caldwell did not seek reelection in 1978 and was succeeded by the Democrat, later Republican convert, Kim D. Hendren] of Gravette in Benton County.<ref>Kim Hendren (born 1938) is a brother-in-law of former U.S. Senator [[Tim Hutchinson]] and former U.S. Representative [[Asa Hutchinson]]. Hendren himself lost a bid in 2010 for the Republican nomination for the U.S. Senate.</ref> At some point thereafter, Caldwell, like legislative colleague [[George E. Nowotny, Jr.]], of Fort Smith, relocated to Oklahoma, and their paths never crossed while both were residing in Tulsa. Each lost contact with former colleagues in Arkansas.<ref>Statement of James R. Caldwell, [[Tulsa, Oklahoma]], April 2010; Statement of George E. Nowotny, Jr. of Tulsa, June 2009</ref> Stricken with Parkinson’s disease, Caldwell in 2010 was writing an autobiography of his ministry and political career entitled ''Behind Closed Doors.''<ref name=statement/>

Rockefeller had few members of his own party to guide his programs through the legislature. Eleven Rockefeller [[veto]]es were overridden, far more than for other Arkansas governors.<ref>Diane Divers Blair (1938-2000) and Jay L. Barth (born 1939), ''Arkansas Government and Politics'', 2nd ed. ([[Lincoln, Nebraska|Lincoln]], [[Nebraska]]: University of Nebraska Press, 2005), p. 71</ref> He was at the beckoning of Democrats, who ultimately determined the fate of his programs. One of those Democrats, House Speaker [[Sterling R, . Cockrill]], provided assistance to Rockefeller and in 1970 even joined the Republican Party and ran for lieutenant governor when Maurice L. "Footsie" Britt decided against seeking a third term.<ref>“The Conscience of an Arkansan,” Pamphlet from the 1970 campaignof Sterling Cockrill for Lieutenant Governor</ref>

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