Jordan, Vernon E. (Vernon Eulion), 1935-2021

<p>Vernon Eulion Jordan Jr. (August 15, 1935 – March 1, 2021) was an American business executive and civil rights activist who worked for Civil Rights Movement organizations before being chosen by President Bill Clinton as his close adviser.</p>

<p>Vernon Jordan was born in Atlanta, Georgia, to Mary Belle (Griggs) and Vernon E. Jordan Sr.; he has a brother, Windsor. He was a cousin of James Shaw, a musician who is professionally billed as The Mighty Hannibal.</p>

<p>Jordan grew up with his family in the segregated societal cosmos of Atlanta during the 1950s. He was an honors graduate of David T. Howard High School. Rejected for a summer internship with an insurance company after his sophomore year in college because of his race, he earned money for college for a few summers for college by working as a chauffeur to former city mayor Robert Maddox, then a banker. Jordan graduated from DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana, in 1957. In an interview with Robert Penn Warren for the book <i>Who Speaks for the Negro?</i>, Jordan described his difficulties at DePauw as the only black student in a class of 400. He earned a J.D. degree at Howard University School of Law in 1960. He was a member of the Omega Psi Phi and Sigma Pi Phi fraternities.</p>

<p>Jordan returned to Atlanta to join the law office of Donald L. Hollowell, a civil rights activist. The firm, including Constance Motley, sued the University of Georgia for racial discrimination in its admission policies. The suit ended in 1961 with a Federal Court order demanding the admission of two African Americans, Charlayne Hunter and Hamilton E. Holmes. Jordan personally escorted Hunter past a group of angry white protesters to the university admissions office.</p>

<p>After leaving private law practice in the early 1960s, Jordan became directly involved in activism in the field, serving as the Georgia field director for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. From the NAACP, he moved to the Southern Regional Council and then to the Voter Education Project.</p>

<p>In 1970, Jordan became executive director of the United Negro College Fund. He was president of the National Urban League from 1971 to 1981.</p>

<p>That year he resigned from the National Urban League to take a position as legal counsel with the Washington, D.C., office of the Dallas law firm of Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld.</p>

<p>Jordan, a friend and political adviser to Bill Clinton, served as part of Clinton's transition team in 1992–93, shortly after Clinton was elected president.</p>

<p>From January 2000 on, Jordan was a senior managing director with Lazard Freres & Co. LLC, an investment banking firm. He was also a member of the board of directors of multiple corporations, including American Express, J.C. Penney Corporation, Asbury Automotive Group, and the Dow Jones & Company.</p>

<p>In the 2004 presidential campaign, Jordan led debate preparation and negotiation efforts on behalf of John Kerry, the Democratic nominee for president. That year he was elected president of The Economic Club of Washington, D.C..</p>

<p>In 2006, Jordan served as a member of the Iraq Study Group, which was formed to make recommendations on U.S. policy in Iraq.</p>

<p>In May 2017, Jordan served as the commencement speaker at the 163rd commencement of Syracuse University.</p>

<p>Jordan died at his home in Washington, D.C. on March 1, 2021 at the age of 85.</p>

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<p>Lawyer and Washington power broker Vernon Jordan was born on August 15, 1935, in Atlanta. Graduating with honors from David T. Howard High School in 1953, he went on to attend DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana, where he was the only African American student in his class. At DePauw, Jordan participated in the student senate, won statewide honors in speaking competitions, played basketball and graduated in 1957. He then entered Howard University School of Law, receiving his J.D. in 1960.</p>

<p>Jordan returned to Atlanta starting his legal career working with the civil rights movement. In 1961, he helped organize the integration of the University of Georgia and personally escorted student Charlayne Hunter through a hostile white crowd. Over the next ten years, Jordan held various positions as a civil rights advocate. He served as the Georgia field secretary for the NAACP; director of the Voter Education Project for the Southern Regional Council; head of the United Negro College Fund; and as a delegate to President Lyndon B. Johnson’s White House Conference on Civil Rights.</p>

<p>In 1971, Jordan was appointed president and CEO of the National Urban League, where he spearheaded the organization’s growth. On May 29, 1980, a white supremacist attempted to kill Jordan. After a successful recuperation, in 1981 Jordan resigned from the National Urban League to take a position as legal council with the Washington, D.C. office of the law firm of Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer and Feld. His active practice includes corporate, legislative and international clients. Jordan's close friend is former President Bill Clinton and during Clinton's presidency, Jordan became one of Washington’s most influential power brokers. Currently he is a partner in the investment firm of Lazard Frere & Company in New York.</p>

<p>Vernon Eulion Jordan, civil rights leader, lawyer, and presidential advisor, was born in Atlanta, Georgia on August 15, 1935. Growing up in the segregated American South, Jordan attended David T. Howard High School, where he graduated with honors in 1953.</p>

<p>Upon graduation Jordan entered DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana, where he was the only African American in his class. A gifted athlete, Jordan excelled at basketball until his graduation in 1957.</p>

<p>Jordan went on to law school at Howard University in Washington, D.C., where he obtained his J. D. degree in 1960. Jordan quickly began civil rights work, joining the firm of Donald Hollowell in Atlanta. In 1961, the firm won a lawsuit on behalf of Hamilton Holmes and Charlayne Hunter who became the first black students admitted to the University of Georgia.</p>

<p>In 1961, Jordan was appointed Field Secretary for the Georgia chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). Here Jordan organized boycotts of local businesses that refused to hire African Americans, engaged in fundraising campaigns, and led massive voter registration drives throughout the South.</p>

<p>In 1964 he was selected to be Director for the Southern Regional Council’s (SRC) Voter Education Project. As Director, Jordan expanded his previous work in voter registration campaigns to eleven states. An emerging national civil rights figure, Jordan was hand-picked by President Johnson for inclusion in his influential Civil Rights Conference.</p>

<p>In 1970, Jordan was appointed Director of the United Negro College Fund, where he assisted in raising $10,000,000 for disadvantaged African American youth. Then, from 1972 to 1981, Jordan served as President of the National Urban League, where in a nine-year period he tripled the organization’s budget. In 1980, while at the Urban League he launched the State of Black America Reports, a scholarly annual publication that statistically analyzed social and economic progress among black Americans.</p>

<p>On May 29, 1980, Jordan was shot by a sniper’s bullet while in Fort Wayne, Indiana. White supremacist Joseph Paul Franklin was charged with the crime. Pleading not guilty, Franklin was acquitted, but later admitted to the assassination attempt as well as the murder of many other black Americans. While in the hospital Jordan was visited by President Carter, an event which became the first news story to ever appear on what was then the new Cable News Network (CNN).</p>

<p>Upon his recovery Jordan resigned from the Urban League, taking a position as legal counsel for the Washington, D.C. firm of Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer, and Feld. While there Jordan took many prominent clients, including Arkansas Governor Bill Clinton. In 1992, Jordan was chosen by President-elect Clinton to lead his transition team. Jordan later served as an advisor for President Clinton, becoming one of his closest friends and political allies. In 1999, Jordan testified before Congress during President Clinton’s impeachment trial regarding the Monica Lewinsky scandal.</p>

<p>Jordan authored two books: his autobiography <i>Vernon Can Read: A Memoir</i> (2001), and <i>Make It Plain: Standing Up and Speaking Out</i> (2008). His numerous awards included the Alexis de Tocqueville Award in 1977, the Barnard Medal of Distinction in 1983, and the NAACP’s prestigious Spingarn Award in 2001. He was a life member of the Council on Foreign Relations, and a member of Sigma Pi Phi fraternity.</p>

<p>After 2000 Jordan served as Senior Managing Director for the investment banking firm Lazard Freres & Co. LLC. He resided in Washington, D.C. with his family, until his death at his home on March 1, 2021. His daughter Vickee Jordan confirmed his death. No cause was given. He was 85 years old.</p>

<p>Survivors include his second wife Ann, his daughter Vickee, three step-children, and two grandchildren.</p>