Ford, Harold, 1945-

<p>Harold Eugene Ford Sr. (born May 20, 1945) is an American politician and Democratic former member of the United States House of Representatives representing the Memphis, Tennessee area for 11 terms—from 1975 until his retirement in 1997. He was the first African-American to represent Tennessee in the U.S. Congress. He is a member of the Ford political family from Memphis.</p>

<p>During his 20 years in Congress, Ford obtained ample federal funds for his district through his membership on the House Ways and Means Committee. He advocated for increased government assistance for lower income constituents including job training, health care, and supplemental unemployment benefits with welfare as a safety net. He supported President Carter's initiatives to rebuild central cities, and opposed Reagan era cuts to programs such as Medicare and food stamps. He proposed welfare reform legislation to gradually transition recipients from welfare to work, but it was not passed.</p>

<p>His effectiveness was diminished following his 1987 indictment on bank fraud charges that alleged he had used business loans for his personal needs. Ford denied the charges and claimed the prosecution was racially and politically motivated. He lost his committee leadership roles but remained in Congress while the legal proceeding were pending. He was ultimately tried and acquitted in 1993 of all charges by a jury.</p>

<p>He chose to retire from Congress in 1996. His son Harold Jr. returned to Tennessee from New York and successfully ran for his seat. In his retirement, Harold Sr. has been active in Democratic Party affairs and has worked as a lobbyist. He lives in Florida and in the Hamptons.</p>

FORD, Harold Eugene, a Representative from Tennessee; born in Memphis, Shelby County, Tenn., May 20, 1945; graduated from Geeter High School, Memphis, Tenn. 1963; B.S., Tennessee State University, Nashville, Tenn., 1967; graduate work, Tennessee State University, 1968; A.A., mortuary science, John Gupton College, 1969; M.B.A., Howard University, Washington, D.C., 1982; worked as a mortician; member of the Tennessee state house of representatives, 1971-1974; delegate to Tennessee State Democratic convention, 1972; delegate to Democratic National Convention, 1972, 1976, 1980, 1984, 1988, 1992, and 1996; elected as a Democrat to the Ninety-fourth and to the ten succeeding Congresses (January 3, 1975-January 3, 1997); was not a candidate to the One Hundred Fifth Congress in 1996; chairman, Select Committee on Aging (One Hundred Second and One Hundred Third Congresses).

<p>Harold Eugene Ford, Sr., a United States Representative from Tennessee from 1975 to 1997, was born on May 20, 1945 in Memphis, Tennessee to Vera Davis and Newton Jackson Ford, a funeral home director. Ford’s family was part of the local black elite dating back to the beginning of the 20th Century. Ford graduated from Tennessee State University in Nashville in 1967 and later earned an M.B.A. degree from Howard University in 1982.</p>

<p>In 1974, Ford won the Democratic nomination for the Memphis-based 8th Congressional District and the right to oppose four-term Republican incumbent Dan Kuykendall. Kuykendall had first been elected to Congress in 1964, the first of the “Goldwater Republicans” to be elected from the South. Despite Kuykendall’s most recent reelection in 1972, the district was becoming more African American as many Memphis whites left the city for the suburbs. Ford also took advantage of an unprecedented voter registration drive campaign in African American Memphis. The campaign between the white conservative Republican and black liberal Democrat was hotly contested and quickly took on racial overtones.</p>

<p>When the ballots were initially counted it appeared that Kuykendall had won in a close race. However, Ford’s supporters uncovered several ballot boxes that had reportedly been in a dumpster behind the offices of the then-all white Shelby County Election Commission. When these previously uncounted votes were verified, Ford was declared the winner in what was considered a significant upset by some political analysts.</p>

<p>The first African American to represent Tennessee in the U.S. Congress, Harold E. Ford transformed his family’s entrepreneurial success into a political dynasty that shaped state and national politics. Ford’s membership on the influential House Ways and Means Committee enabled him to build support among his constituents by directing ample federal funding to his district. Elected at age 29, Ford was one of the youngest Members ever to chair a subcommittee on Ways and Means. During his more–than–two–decade career in the House, Ford strongly advocated government assistance for the poor and set out to reform welfare in the United States. “Harold Ford has been a staunch defender of justice and equality,” acknowledged William (Bill) Clay, Sr., of Missouri upon his colleague’s retirement at the end of the 104th Congress (1995–1997). “He has shown a special dedication to representing the needs of the underprivileged and has left his signature on our Nation’s welfare and employment programs.”</p>

<p>The eighth of 15 children, Harold Eugene Ford was born on May 20, 1945, in Memphis, Tennessee. Ford’s father, Newton, worked as an undertaker; his mother, Vera, was a housewife. Ford earned a bachelor of science degree from Tennessee State University in 1967 and an associate of arts degree in mortuary science from John Gupton College in Nashville, Tennessee, in 1969. On February 10, 1969, he married Dorothy Bowles. The couple had three children—Harold, Newton Jake, and Sir Isaac—before divorcing in 1999. Ford later earned a master’s degree in business administration from Howard University in 1982. After entering the family mortuary business, he ran for a seat in the Tennessee state house of representatives. “This fellow came in looking for a campaign contribution for his race for the state legislature,” Ford later recalled. “When he stepped out the door, I decided to run.” Ford lobbied support from “the silent majority—through churches, civic clubs, PTAs” and other groups of affluent blacks in Memphis. His well–organized campaign also tapped into his father’s mortuary business—an invaluable community network that laid the groundwork for his victorious bid for the state legislature in 1972. Ford made his mark early in the Tennessee house of representatives. Named majority whip in his first term, he also chaired a legislative committee that investigated utility rates and practices. During his political career, Ford used his family’s deep roots in the community to assemble a formidable machine in Memphis politics. Raised with respect for public service—his great–grandfather held a county office, and his father (unsuccessfully) campaigned for a seat in the Tennessee house—Ford also benefited from changes in the political landscape. With a spike in the number of African–American voters in the Memphis area, Ford and his family were able to solidify a power base that included representation at the federal, state, and local levels.</p>

<p>At the urging of local black politicians, Ford ran for a seat in the U.S. House in 1974 after two terms as a state legislator. He easily defeated his three opponents—Mary A. Guthrie, a Catholic nun; Joan Best, a schoolteacher; and Lee Whitman, a lawyer—in the Democratic primary, with 63 percent of the vote. Ford faced Dan Kuykendall, a four–term incumbent Republican Member, in the general election. The southwestern Tennessee congressional district boasted a diverse constituency; although redistricting increased the number of African–American voters, Ford faced an uphill battle in the majority–white district. To strengthen his standing with black voters and the liberal whites in the district, Ford ran on a bipartisan platform that emphasized economic development for the community. “Inflation knows no color . . . that’s what the people will vote on,” Ford remarked. His campaign enlisted an army of paid workers and volunteers that included blacks and whites and received financial support from black churches and luminaries such as Isaac Hayes, an African–American singer. An energetic campaigner, Ford “organized the headquarters and phone banks … put together caravans that … would wind slowly through residential neighborhoods carrying campaign workers who would put up yard signs and hand out candy to kids.” With the Watergate scandal as a backdrop to the early part of the campaign, Ford called for the immediate impeachment of President Richard M. Nixon. Kuykendall, who had faced little previous opposition, had difficulty separating himself from the embattled President. After contesting the initial results, Ford narrowly won the general election by 744 votes, becoming the first black Representative to represent Tennessee. He joined an influx of freshman Members of the House elected to the 94th Congress (1975–1977). Dubbed the “Watergate Babies,” the 75 new Democratic Representatives capitalized on an anti–Republican sentiment in the wake of the scandal.</p>