Watt, Melvin L. (Melvin Luther), 1945-
Variant namesBiographical notes:
Melvin Luther Watt (born August 26, 1945) is an American politician who was Director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency from 2014 to 2019. He was appointed by President Barack Obama. He is a former United States Representative for North Carolina's 12th congressional district, from 1993 to 2014. He is a member of the Democratic Party.
After attending segregated schools in Mecklenburg County, Watt attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, graduating Phi Beta Kappa with a business administration degree in 1967. Three years later, Watt earned his J.D. from Yale University Law School. He returned to Charlotte, where he entered the North Carolina bar. For the next 20 years, Watt worked in private practice, specializing in minority business and economic development law. Watt also served one term as a state Senator and served as campaign manager for Charlotte Mayor Harvey Gantt.
In 1992, Watt entered the Democratic primary for the newly created 12th District, a 64 percent black-majority district stretching from Gastonia to Durham. He won the four-way Democratic primary—the real contest in this heavily Democratic district— and then easily won the general election becoming the first Democrat to represent a significant portion of Charlotte since 1953. In 1993, the original version of his district was thrown out in Shaw v. Reno, and was reconfigured to exclude its far western and far eastern portions. The new 12th, however, was no less Democratic than its predecessor, and Watt was reelected 10 more times. He only faced one relatively close race in 1998.
On May 1, 2013, President Barack Obama nominated Watt to lead the Federal Housing Finance Agency, which, among other agencies, administers or has oversight for the FHA, Fannie Mae, and Freddie Mac. The U.S. Senate confirmed Watt on December 10, 2013, and he resigned from the House on January 6, 2014.
On September 27, 2018, Melvin Watt was called to testify before Congress about allegations that he had sexually harassed a female employee at the Federal Housing Finance Agency. On November 29, 2018, Watt was found guilty of two counts of misconduct. He ended his term as Director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency on January 6, 2019.
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Subjects:
Occupations:
- Businessmen
- Campaign managers
- Federal Government Administrator
- Lawyers
- Representatives, U.S. Congress
- State Senator
- U.S. Congressman
Places:
- NC, US
- CT, US
- NC, US
- NC, US
- Charlotte (N.C.) (as recorded)
- Charlotte (N.C.) (as recorded)
- Charlotte (N.C.) (as recorded)
