James Lemon

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James H. Lemon Sr. (May 14, 1903 – July 20, 1977) was an American businessman and investment banker from Washington, D.C. He earned a bachelor’s degree from Princeton University in 1925. In the 1930s he was involved in contract bridge, serving as president of the Washington Bridge League and, in 1939, of the American Contract Bridge League.

In 1963, Lemon and James Johnston bought the Washington Senators, an expansion team, and ran the club from 1963 to 1967. After Johnston died in 1967, Lemon sold the team to Bob Short in 1968 but stayed on as chairman of the board with a minority stake. Short moved the Senators to Arlington, Texas, where they became the Texas Rangers.

Lemon was a frequent golf partner of President Dwight D. Eisenhower, who named him a special ambassador to Ghana. He was not related to Jim Lemon, who was a Senators figure in 1968. Lemon died in Washington in 1977 at age 74. His wife, Martha Lane McGchee, died on December 21, 1996. They had a son, James Hanson Lemon Jr.