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Barbara Jordan Barbara Jordan gained national recognition as a politician first in the Texas State Senate and then in the United States House of Representatives where she had a nationwide television audience as the House Judiciary Committee considered articles of impeachment against President Richard Nixon. Blessed with an incredible voice and stirring words, she electrified everyone who listened—and people did listen. Barbara Jordan was born February 21, 1936. She attended Texas Southern University, earning a degree in government before enrolling in Boston University Law School. She graduated in 1959, one of just two black women in the graduating class of 128. Shortly thereafter, Jordan passed both the Massachusetts and Texas bar exams and opened a private practice in Texas. Her first political success came while working for the Kennedy Johnson ticket in the 1960 presidential campaign, when Jordan’s black voter program led to an unprecedented eighty percent voter turnout in the predominately black precincts of Harris County. Jordan became increasingly involved in Texas politics in the early 60’s, serving as speaker for the Harris County Democratic Party and twice running unsuccessfully for the Texas House of Representatives. In 1965, Jordan ran again, this time for a newly created eleventh state senate seat. Harris County elected two black people that year—Jordan to the Senate and Curtis Graves to the House. As the first black person elected to the Texas State Senate since 1883, as well as the first woman ever elected, Jordan worked hard to fit in. In her six years in the Texas Senate, she sponsored most of the state’s environmental legislation, authored the first Texas minimum wage law, forced the state to close every discrimination clause in all of its business contracts, and pushed the first package of urban legislation through a rurally-minded state government dominated by white males. It was an impressive list of accomplishments. In 1972, Jordan was elected to the U. S. House of Representatives. With Lyndon Johnson’s help, Jordan was assigned to the Judiciary Committee. Shortly thereafter, the Watergate scandal prompted the Judiciary Committee to initiate impeachment proceedings against President Richard Nixon. Jordan disliked the idea of impeachment, but felt that the evidence demanded a presentation of Nixon’s indictment to the Senate. On July 25, 1974, during nationally televised speech in favor of impeachment, Jordan used her skill as a lawyer and as an orator to defend the constitutional issues that she felt were pertinent to her decision and to persuade others of her rectitude. Newsweek called her speech, “The most memorable indictment of Richard Nixon to emerge since the House impeachment.” In the first session of her term, Jordan proposed a civil rights amendment to the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act mandating the use of federal funds in a non-discriminatory fashion. She also introduced a bill proposing the repeal of Fair Trade Laws that interfered with free competition. Her reputation as one of the great orators of the twentieth century was sustained by her keynote address to the 1976 Democratic National Convention. She said that, “We cannot improve on the system of government handed down to us by the families of the republic. But we can find new ways to implement that system and realize our destiny.” In 1978, Jordan retired from politics to a teaching position at the University of Texas, where she was later appointed to the Lyndon B. Johnson Centennial Chair on National Policy. Though diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 1988 and later confined to a wheelchair, Jordan never slowed. In 1994, President Bill Clinton appointed her to chair a task force on illegal immigration. Her plan to create a national employment registry to monitor immigration received much praise from politicians and the public. Because of her enormous contributions, President Clinton awarded Jordan with a Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1995. Barbara Jordan died on January 17, 1996, at age 59, and was buried in the Texas State Cemetery, the first and only black woman to be honored thus. Jordan’s superior intelligence and legislative skills earned her great respect, and all who met her were impressed with her passion and generosity of spirit.For information about Ken Chapman and Associates’ Leadership Development Programs, contact Ken Chapman at 205.366.0265 or email Ken at kchapman@leaderscode.com. <End> |
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