As a black female conservative Republican, Kay Coles James is in contrast to the stereotype of the political far right: white men with all the standard political positions.

Make no mistake, though. James is as conservative as her Republican peers. And she offers no apologies for her views.

Since July 2001 she has been the director of the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, the latest in a series of state and national public service jobs she has held.

She is among a minority of blacks who are Republicans. And she brings to the Republican Party a distinct perspective, having spent some of her early years living in public housing in Richmond. Later, her family moved to a middle-class neighborhood where neighbors and relatives helped her mother raise six children.

With that background, James developed an appreciation of the village model of community.

"We got here by faith, strong families and communities," she said once, speaking to a women's group in Richmond.

She is outspoken, even when that entails self-criticism. In a commentary analyzing the lack of black support for the Republican Party, she criticized the party for not trying hard enough.

"Throughout the African-American community, the importance of family, faith and freedom is valued above all else. If these principles sound familiar, they should - they serve as the foundation of the Republican Party," she wrote.

"In fact," she continued, "what separates most African-American voters from membership in the Republican Party is not a question of principles at all. Rather, it is a question of trust - trust that the GOP will represent their interests in its furtherance of the principles we all share."

James has lectured as part of a Christian speakers bureau, and her socially conservative views have landed her leadership positions in a number of high-profile organizations, including the Family Research Council and the Heritage Foundation.

As 1994 graduation speaker at Hampton University, her alma mater, James said the United States was "experiencing cultural AIDS," using the incurable disease of the immune system as a metaphor for widespread social ills.

"We as a country have been the victims of an immune system that has broken down. It's gone," she told the graduates.

Her advice to the students was to "stay connected" to the communities that nurtured them as they pursued their professional goals.

Among her public service credits, James' legacy as Virginia's health and human resources secretary is reflected in the state's tough welfare-to-work program. Drafted during her tenure, the plan removed many of what were seen as disincentives to work and to build stable families.

In a similar vein, James takes on the issue of marriage in the book "Keepin' It Real: What I Wish I'd Known Before I Got Married," published in September 2001. In it, James writes about what it takes to build a healthy marriage, offering advice on finances, affection, children and dealing with the extended family.