Presidential Appointee | The HistoryMakers

J. Terry Edmonds

Speechwriter Terry Edmonds was born on September 9, 1949 in Baltimore, Maryland. The son of Naomi Parker, a waitress, Edmonds grew up in the projects of Baltimore’s inner-city. He spent time in a foster home and his family was on welfare for a number of years, but Edmonds went on to be the first in his family to attend college. He graduated from Morgan State University in 1973, with his B.A. degree in English.

In 1978, Edmonds was hired as a public relations and communications specialist at the Maryland Transit Administration. Then, in 1982, he took a position as director of public relations for Trahan, Burden and Charles Advertising. While working at Trahan, Burden and Charles, Edmonds also served as director of communications at the Joint Center for Political Studies, a Washington, D.C. think tank, from 1985 until 1987. In 1987, he was hired as a press secretary in the office of Kweisi Mfume, at that time a newly elected United States representative from Maryland. Edmonds worked in public relations for Macro Systems in 1988, Blue Cross and Blue Shield in 1989, the University Research Corporation in 1990, and R.O.W. Sciences in 1991. Then, in 1993, he was hired as a senior speechwriter for the United States Secretary of Health and Human Services, Donna Shalala. After serving under Shalala for two years, Edmonds worked as a speechwriter for President Bill Clinton in 1995, making him the first African American speechwriter for a United States President. In 1997, Edmonds was promoted to deputy director of speechwriting, and, in 1999, he was appointed by President Clinton as the director of speechwriting and assistant to the president.

In 2002, Edmonds was hired as the director of editorial management at AARP, and, in 2005, he served as the executive speechwriter for Time Warner, Inc. Edmonds then went on to work as a speechwriter for the Corporation for National and Community Service, as well as the senior advisor and speechwriter for NASA Administrator Charles Bolden. He was also appointed associate vice president and editorial director of Columbia University.

Terry Edmonds was interviewed by The HistoryMakers on October 26, 2013.

Accession Number

A2013.266

Sex

Male

Interview Date

10/26/2013

Last Name

Edmonds

Maker Category

MediaMakers

Middle Name

Terry

Occupation

Speechwriter

Presidential Appointee

Organizations

Schools

Morgan State University

Search Occupation Category

MediaMakers:Print

First Name

Birth City, State, Country

Baltimore

HM ID

EDM03

Favorite Season

Summer

State

Maryland

THM DA Link

https://da.thehistorymakers.org/storiesForBio;ID=A2013.266

Web Clip 1

https://daproductionstorage.blob.core.windows.net/media/story/video/572…

Favorite Vacation Destination

Beaches

Favorite Quote

Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.

Bio Photo

Speakers Bureau Region State

New York

Interview Description

A2013_266_EAD.pdf

A2013_266_EAC.pdf

Birth Date

9/9/1949

Birth Place Term

Baltimore

Speakers Bureau Region City

New York

Country

USA

Favorite Food

Steamed Crabs

Short Description

Speechwriter and presidential appointee J. Terry Edmonds (1949 - ) was the first African American speechwriter for a United States President.

Employment

Maryland Transit Administration

Trahan, Burden and Charles Advertising

Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies

United States House of Representatives

Macro Systems

Blue Cross Blue Shield

University Research Corporation

R.O.W. Sciences

United States Secretary of Health and Human Services

White House

AARP

Time Warner, Inc.

Corporation for National and Community Service

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

Columbia University

Favorite Color

Blue

Web Clip 2

https://daproductionstorage.blob.core.windows.net/media/story/video/572…

Timing Pairs

1107,0:1660,9:3477,33:4741,87:10271,230:18258,303:18942,310:19512,316:20424,326:27296,381:27740,388:30454,425:34696,458:36544,486:37300,496:52910,666:53270,671:66011,758:66319,763:70862,848:71401,856:83170,988:83620,996:103530,1236:104726,1252:105094,1259:106290,1272:107578,1286:116695,1366:138830,1661:141998,1729:144836,1789:145760,1808:146090,1814:148004,1857:148664,1868:154630,1917:159220,1987:163930,2027:172284,2151:181154,2243:190922,2366:197221,2431:197917,2441:204181,2557:204790,2565:231200,2885$0,0:3740,37:6065,81:6965,104:7340,110:8540,128:8915,134:10190,146:22404,284:28823,330:35393,458:37656,512:38021,518:43446,555:48918,641:50134,659:64720,929:66025,950:69448,969:69772,974:71473,999:71797,1004:83055,1161:83419,1166:85057,1202:96776,1345:101343,1389:101715,1394:102087,1399:107295,1500:112520,1526:113544,1547:114056,1563:114504,1571:117454,1605:117806,1614:122294,1698:122734,1703:123614,1716:127880,1741

DAStories

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/57238">Tape: 1 J. Terry Edmonds narrates his photographs</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/57239">Tape: 2 Slating of J. Terry Edmonds' interview</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/57240">Tape: 2 J. Terry Edmonds lists his favorites</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/57241">Tape: 2 J. Terry Edmonds describes his mother's family background</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/57242">Tape: 2 J. Terry Edmonds talks about his mother's childhood</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/57243">Tape: 2 J. Terry Edmonds describes his father and his step-father's family background</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/57244">Tape: 2 J. Terry Edmonds describes his parents' personalities</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/57245">Tape: 2 J. Terry Edmonds talks about his siblings</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/57246">Tape: 2 J. Terry Edmonds describes his earliest childhood memory</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/57247">Tape: 2 J. Terry Edmonds recalls moving around Baltimore while growing up</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/57248">Tape: 2 J. Terry Edmonds recalls his childhood interests</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/57249">Tape: 2 J. Terry Edmonds remembers the Kennedy Assassination, the March on Washington and the moon landing</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/57250">Tape: 2 J. Terry Edmonds talks about the influence of the "I Have a Dream" speech on his writing</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/57251">Tape: 2 J. Terry Edmonds describes the schools he attended during childhood</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/57252">Tape: 3 J. Terry Edmonds describes his teachers</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/57253">Tape: 3 J. Terry Edmonds recalls his childhood love of writing</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/57254">Tape: 3 J. Terry Edmonds remembers the day President Kennedy was assassinated</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/57255">Tape: 3 J. Terry Edmonds talks about reading the black press as a child</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/57256">Tape: 3 J. Terry Edmonds describes his high school interests</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/57257">Tape: 3 J. Terry Edmonds talks about his high school experience</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/57258">Tape: 3 J. Terry Edmonds describes the churches he attended in Baltimore</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/57259">Tape: 3 J. Terry Edmonds talks about being published at Morgan State University</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/57260">Tape: 3 J. Terry Edmonds reflects on the influence of Smokey Robinson</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/57261">Tape: 3 J. Terry Edmonds discusses the poetry scene at Morgan State University</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/57262">Tape: 3 J. Terry Edmonds discusses the culture of Baltimore</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/57263">Tape: 3 J. Terry Edmonds remembers his most influential professor</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/57264">Tape: 4 J. Terry Edmonds recalls how his education influenced his writing</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/57265">Tape: 4 J. Terry Edmonds discusses his poetry and his poetic influences</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/57266">Tape: 4 J. Terry Edmonds talks about his experience at Morgan State University</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/57267">Tape: 4 J. Terry Edmonds talks about his first job after graduating from Morgan State University</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/57268">Tape: 4 J. Terry Edmonds describes his early jobs in public relations</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/57269">Tape: 4 J. Terry Edmonds talks about his experience in public relations</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/57270">Tape: 4 J. Terry Edmonds talks about working in advertising</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/57271">Tape: 4 J. Terry Edmonds describes working at the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/57272">Tape: 4 J. Terry Edmonds describes becoming a speechwriter</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/57273">Tape: 4 J. Terry Edmonds talks about his experience working for public relations consulting firms</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/57274">Tape: 4 J. Terry Edmonds describes his entry into the Clinton Administration</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/57275">Tape: 5 J. Terry Edmonds remembers becoming a presidential speechwriter</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/57276">Tape: 5 J. Terry Edmonds describes the diversity of the Clinton Administration</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/57277">Tape: 5 J. Terry Edmonds talks about his routine as a speechwriter for President Bill Clinton</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/57278">Tape: 5 J. Terry Edmonds describes the collaborative process of writing speeches for President Bill Clinton</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/57279">Tape: 5 J. Terry Edmonds remembers writing emergency statements for President Bill Clinton</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/57280">Tape: 5 J. Terry Edmonds recalls advising President Bill Clinton to speak about the Million Man March</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/57281">Tape: 5 J. Terry Edmonds discusses his favorite speeches for President Bill Clinton, pt. 1</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/57282">Tape: 5 J. Terry Edmonds talks about gaining access to President Bill Clinton</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/57283">Tape: 5 J. Terry Edmonds remembers a compassionate call from President Bill Clinton</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/57284">Tape: 5 J. Terry Edmonds discusses his favorite speeches for President Bill Clinton, pt. 2</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/57285">Tape: 5 J. Terry Edmonds describes the challenges of being a speechwriter for President Bill Clinton</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/57286">Tape: 6 J. Terry Edmonds discusses President Bill Clinton's Advisory Board on Race</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/57287">Tape: 6 J. Terry Edmonds talks about his promotion to Chief Speechwriter and the 2000 State of the Union address</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/57288">Tape: 6 J. Terry Edmonds talks about the Monica Lewinsky scandal</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/57289">Tape: 6 J. Terry Edmonds reflects on working in the Clinton Administration</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/57290">Tape: 6 J. Terry Edmonds discusses writing speeches for AARP and the John Kerry campaign</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/57291">Tape: 6 J. Terry Edmonds recalls writing speeches for Time Warner CEO Richard Parsons, President Obama, and NASA Director Charles Bolden</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/57292">Tape: 6 J. Terry Edmonds reflects on the importance of inner strength</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/57293">Tape: 6 J. Terry Edmonds talks about his plans for the future</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/57294">Tape: 6 J. Terry Edmonds reflects on his legacy</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/57295">Tape: 6 J. Terry Edmonds shares his hopes and concerns for the African American community</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/57296">Tape: 6 J. Terry Edmonds talks about his family</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/57297">Tape: 6 J. Terry Edmonds discusses how he would like to be remembered</a>

DASession

1$1

DATape

5$5

DAStory

7$3

DATitle

J. Terry Edmonds discusses his favorite speeches for President Bill Clinton, pt. 1

J. Terry Edmonds talks about his routine as a speechwriter for President Bill Clinton

Transcript

What was your, I guess, favorite speech for the president [President Bill Clinton], or which one did he think was the--first of all, what did he think (simultaneous)--$$(Simultaneous)--Well I think he thought--well, there were so many I wrote for him--literally hundreds. I know whenever I see him, he always talks about the speech that he gave during the 35th anniversary of the Bloody Sunday [March 7, 1965], when he went back to Selma, Alabama to give a speech at the Edmund Pettus Bridge to commemorate the 35th anniversary of that march which, as you know, resulted in beatings by the State Troopers and [HM] John Lewis almost losing his life. And anyway, he went back on the 35th anniversary and, and gave a speech, and I gave him a refrain that 'We have another bridge to cross.' As long as African Americans are, you know, are not being treated equally, we have another bridge to cross. And he liked that refrain, and he liked that speech. My favorite speech, of course, was when he went to Morgan State University [Baltimore, Maryland] in 1997 to deliver the commencement speech and, you know, I not only had a chance to write that speech, I flew over in the helicopter with him; we flew from the White House to Morgan in Marine One, you know. People say a ticket on Air Force One is, you know, the hottest ticket in town; ticket on the Marine One is even hotter--getting on that helicopter, 'cause it's only about four people on that helicopter with the president. Anyway, I flew over with him. It was a speech about science and ethics in the 21st century, and I think we made a pledge to try to find a cure for AIDS within 10 years. But the highlight moment for me was--and this was something I did not write into the speech--was, you know, when he pointed me out as a graduate of Morgan State University and made me stand up before the graduating class and be acknowledged, and of course you can imagine how I felt; I was very proud, very humbled, and it was just a great moment because my wife was there, family, and of course the faculty and the president of Morgan, you know; they loved me ever since (laughter). So that was, that was a great moment.$$Well would you consider that to be a part of the Clinton--I guess charisma or style? Because so many people we've interviewed who served with President Clinton talk about how he seemed to personally connect with them.$$Yes, yes. He, he, he, he made an effort to connect not only with the staff, but of course with his audience and with the American people and--yeah, that was a special quality that he had.$$Okay. They say like everybody felt like he was their buddy (simultaneous)--$$(Simultaneous)--Yes, yes, yes. When you were with him, you felt, you felt like, you know, there was no one else in the room but you and him, and he was very personable and--yeah.$$Okay, okay. So those are two speeches.$How were you--what was your work day like? What was the situation like?$$No two days were alike at the White House, and it was kinda like a 24/7 situation where--you know, this was before the cell phones and, and--we had--but we had beepers; I remember I had a beeper and you had to always be ready for that beeper to go off. I would get to work maybe--I think my first meeting--when I became--you know, I, I started as a sort of a junior speechwriter but after, you know, a couple of years, I was promoted to chief speechwriter, and that day--the days were like--started--my first meeting was 7:45 in the morning; if I got out by Nine at night, that was a good day. Sometimes I would stay there 'til midnight, sometimes all night, and--$$Is this something you understood when you were weighing (simultaneous)--$$(Simultaneous)--I think I did; I mean you understand it intellectually, but you can't know it until you actually experience what it's like being on call like that and having to--it's like being a fireman in a way because when something happens in the world, the president has to make an instant statement; you have to, you know, help them craft that statement when, you know--in a very short period of time. So it, it was interesting and I--it was--after you get in there, you know, people say, "Well (unclear), you work in the White House; that must be very glamorous." It's hard work, it's a job, you know. You, you, you, you never--I will say this, I never walked into the Oval Office without a sense of history, that I knew that I was in a special place, and whenever I got to meet with the president, you know, that was always special. But a lotta the work was routine and just grueling and just producing, you know.

Read more about J. Terry Edmonds

Edwin Dorn

Presidential appointee and public policy professor Edwin Dorn was born on March 26, 1945 in Crockett, Texas to parents Edgar and Mary Dorn. Dorn attended Jack Yates High School in Houston, Texas, and in 1967, graduated Phi Beta Kappa from the University of Texas at Austin. He studied in England on a Fulbright Fellowship, received his M.A. degree from Indiana University, and completed his Ph.D. degree in political science at Yale University in 1978. He also spent two years on active duty as a captain in the U.S. Army, stationed in Germany.

From 1977 to 1981, Dorn worked in Washington, D.C. as a political appointee in the U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare and in the U.S. Department of Education. He then served as a senior researcher at the Joint Center for Political Studies, and later as a senior staff member at the Brookings Institution.

In 1993, President William J. Clinton nominated, and the U.S. Senate confirmed Dorn for the senior Department of Defense position of Assistant Secretary of Defense for Personnel. A year later, he was nominated and confirmed as the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness. From 1997 to 2005, Dorn served as dean of the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin, where he oversaw the creation of several new programs and set a record for fund-raising. He continues to teach at the University of Texas as a professor of public policy.

Dorn’s major publications include Rules and Racial Equality (Yale University Press) and Who Defends America (Joint Center Press). He also is the author of dozens of articles, reports, and opinion pieces. He was an advisor to two public television series: Congress: We The People, and Eyes on the Prize: America’s Civil Rights Years, and a commentator on National Public Radio’s “Tell Me More,” hosted by Michel Martin.

Dorn serves as a trustee of the Kettering Foundation, the Institute for Defense Analyses, and the Seton Family of Hospitals. In 1998, he was named a Distinguished Alumnus of the University of Texas at Austin.

Edwin Dorn was interviewed by The HistoryMakers on February 2, 2013.

Accession Number

A2013.021

Sex

Male

Interview Date

2/2/2013

5/9/2014

Last Name

Dorn

Maker Category

PoliticalMakers

EducationMakers

Marital Status

Married

Occupation

Presidential Appointee

Public Policy Professor

Organizations

Kettering Foundation

Institute for Defense Analyses

Seton Family of Hospitals

Kennedy School Innovations in Government Awards

United Way of Central Texas

Sustained Dialogue about Political and Social Change in the Arab World

Dartmouth Conference on U.S.-Russia Relations

National Public Radio (NPR)

Children\'s Defense Fund

Schools

Yale University

Indiana University

University of Texas at Arlington

First Name

Edwin

Birth City, State, Country

Crockett

HM ID

DOR07

Favorite Season

Spring

State

Texas

Favorite Vacation Destination

San Francisco, California, Petra, Jordan

Favorite Quote

The Arc Of The Moral Universe Is Long, But It Bends Toward Justice. - Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Bio Photo

Speakers Bureau Region State

Texas

Birth Date

3/26/1945

Birth Place Term

Crockett

Speakers Bureau Region City

Austin

Country

USA

Favorite Food

Fried Chicken, Salmon

Short Description

Presidential appointee and public policy professor Edwin Dorn (1945 - ) was the former Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness under President William J. Clinton, and the Dean of the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin.

Employment

University of Texas, Austin

Department of Defense

Brookings Institution

Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies

United States Department of Education

Delete

Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare

United States Army

Center for West African Studies

Favorite Color

Blue

Read more about Edwin Dorn

Edgar Duncan

Accomplished pharmacist Dr. Edgar Newton Duncan was born on February 1, 1932 in Monessen, Pennsylvania to Willie and William Duncan. Duncan’s father worked as a tailor in the first tailor shop in Monessen. Duncan’s mother, graduated from the Tuskegee Institute, became a teacher, married and passed on her love of learning to her six children. Excelling in school, Duncan knew that he wanted to go to college. After graduating from high school as class valedictorian, Duncan went on to Duquesne University.

In 1954, Duncan would be the only black student in his class to graduate from Duquesne University with a B.S. degree in pharmacy. He graduated magna cum laude. At Duquesne University, Duncan would meet Lauraine Thorne, and the two would get married in 1954. In 1956, Duncan became the first black student to graduate with his M.S. degree in hygiene from the University of Pittsburgh’s Graduate School of Public Health (GSPH). Duncan began working in the U.S. Public Health Service’s Commissioned Officers Corps, and in 1972, he became the first pharmacist to be promoted to surgeon general. After returning as Associate Dean of GSPH, he began to work with Pitt’s Partners in Education Consortium and other programs to encourage black and other minority youth to pursue health professions. These programs have made a difference for many young minority students.

In 1990, Duncan earned his Ph.D. in higher education administration from the University of Pittsburgh School of Education. He and his wife raised three sons and sent them all to college.

Duncan passed away on December 17, 2011.

Duncan was interviewed by The HistoryMakers on August 13, 2008.

Accession Number

A2008.105

Sex

Male

Interview Date

8/13/2008

Last Name

Duncan

Maker Category

MedicalMakers

PoliticalMakers

Occupation

Pharmacist

Presidential Appointee

Organizations

U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps

Schools

Duquesne University

University Of Pittsburgh Graduate School Of Public Health

University of Pittsburgh

First Name

Edgar

Birth City, State, Country

Monessen

HM ID

DUN04

Favorite Season

Fall, Spring

State

Pennsylvania

THM DA Link

https://da.thehistorymakers.org/storiesForBio;ID=A2008.105

Web Clip 1

https://daproductionstorage.blob.core.windows.net/media/story/video/599…

Favorite Quote

Right Place, Right Time, Right Person.

Bio Photo

Speakers Bureau Region State

Pennsylvania

Interview Description

A2008_105_EAD.pdf

A2008_105_EAC.pdf

Birth Date

2/1/1932

Birth Place Term

Monessen

Speakers Bureau Region City

Pittsburgh

Country

USA

Favorite Food

Pancakes

Death Date

12/17/2011

Short Description

Pharmacist and presidential appointee Edgar Duncan (1932 - 2011 ) was the first black student to graduate with a M.S. degree in hygiene from the University of Pittsburgh’s Graduate School of Public Health in 1956. He later was the first pharmacist to be promoted to Assistant Surgeon General in 1972.

Employment

Western Pennsylvania Hospital

U.S. Public Health Service Hospital

Indian Health Service

Assistant Surgeon General

Empire Blue Cross Blue Shield of New York

Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey

University of Pittsburgh Graduate School

Center for Minority Health

Web Clip 2

https://daproductionstorage.blob.core.windows.net/media/story/video/599…

Timing Pairs

0,0:3360,44:3780,49:5040,63:5880,74:6825,86:9135,153:10605,162:14202,217:17058,347:26370,435:30345,502:33320,582:40810,649:46710,720:50092,756:52406,855:53919,874:60684,935:64166,962:64943,970:66648,980:67664,990:78060,1089:78480,1096:81432,1123:81756,1130:89355,1267:101228,1410:102124,1427:103030,1436$0,0:4536,69:8568,170:9156,178:12096,226:12936,237:20228,299:20830,308:26678,443:27280,451:30828,511:34023,572:34520,580:41500,613:42236,627:44260,654:45456,677:50424,786:51068,799:55484,909:56220,922:56772,930:65230,963:66510,977:68552,993:72910,1039:79738,1092:81142,1135:81532,1141:83820,1157:86480,1198:87012,1207:87848,1220:100730,1367:101318,1381:102298,1386:106218,1439:110986,1469:112506,1500:112962,1509:116458,1569:130119,1694:130634,1701:131046,1706:131458,1711:132385,1721:134548,1787:138197,1811:144160,1987:145406,2014:146118,2035:152660,2104:153060,2113:154820,2143:156900,2173:157540,2182:157940,2188:159060,2203:159460,2209:160180,2219:160580,2225:166384,2255:173805,2321:185202,2474:195697,2590:201266,2653:202286,2665:203306,2697:204428,2710:206060,2731:209864,2768:217986,2868:220763,2887:221330,2895:221654,2900:229795,3042:246669,3223:247805,3245:248160,3251:248728,3259:249296,3271:249864,3281:250503,3291:251000,3299:252562,3340:253130,3349:267870,3534:268914,3552:269378,3557:269842,3562:273036,3603:273580,3613:277715,3650:280226,3662:284028,3703:284484,3710:284940,3717:290488,3861:296096,3929:299624,3959:299896,3964:301980,4001

DAStories

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/599079">Tape: 1 Slating of Edgar Duncan's interview</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/599080">Tape: 1 Edgar Duncan lists his favorites</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/599081">Tape: 1 Edgar Duncan describes his mother's family background</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/599082">Tape: 1 Edgar Duncan describes his mother's experiences at the Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/599083">Tape: 1 Edgar Duncan recalls visiting the Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/599084">Tape: 1 Edgar Duncan describes how his parents met and married</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/599085">Tape: 1 Edgar Duncan talks about his mother's friendships</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/599086">Tape: 1 Edgar Duncan describes his father's family background</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/599087">Tape: 1 Edgar Duncan describes his paternal ancestry</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/599088">Tape: 1 Edgar Duncan talks about his father's upbringing</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/599089">Tape: 1 Edgar Duncan recalls his family's emphasis on education</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/599090">Tape: 1 Edgar Duncan remembers his father's profession and talents</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/599091">Tape: 2 Edgar Duncan recalls his parents' personalities and who he takes after</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/599092">Tape: 2 Edgar Duncan describes his earliest childhood memories</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/599093">Tape: 2 Edgar Duncan remembers his community in Monessen, Pennsylvania</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/599094">Tape: 2 Edgar Duncan describes the sights, sounds and smells of his neighborhood</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/599095">Tape: 2 Edgar Duncan recalls his early education</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/599096">Tape: 2 Edgar Duncan recalls his early experiences of religion</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/599097">Tape: 2 Edgar Duncan describes his childhood personality</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/599098">Tape: 2 Edgar Duncan recalls his mentors in school</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/599099">Tape: 2 Edgar Duncan recalls his activities at Monessen Vocational High School in Monessen, Pennsylvania</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/599100">Tape: 2 Edgar Duncan remembers his early aspirations</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/599101">Tape: 2 Edgar Duncan recalls his valedictorian speech</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/599102">Tape: 2 Edgar Duncan remembers Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/599103">Tape: 3 Edgar Duncan describes his experiences at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/599104">Tape: 3 Edgar Duncan recalls his extracurricular activities at Duquesne University</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/599105">Tape: 3 Edgar Duncan remembers his mentors at Duquesne University</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/599106">Tape: 3 Edgar Duncan recalls attending the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/599107">Tape: 3 Edgar Duncan recalls his graduation from the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/599108">Tape: 3 Edgar Duncan recalls his accomplishments as a pharmacist in Chicago, Illinois</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/599109">Tape: 3 Edgar Duncan talks about his rank in the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/599110">Tape: 3 Edgar Duncan describes the history of the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/599111">Tape: 3 Edgar Duncan recalls his work with the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps in Washington, D.C.</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/599112">Tape: 3 Edgar Duncan recalls his promotion to assistant surgeon general</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/599113">Tape: 4 Edgar Duncan reflects upon his role as assistant surgeon general</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/599114">Tape: 4 Edgar Duncan recalls his roles at the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/599115">Tape: 4 Edgar Duncan describes his position at the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/599116">Tape: 4 Edgar Duncan recalls his role as a researcher for the Health ABC Study</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/599117">Tape: 4 Edgar Duncan remembers earning a Ph.D. degree from the University of Pittsburgh School of Education</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/599118">Tape: 4 Edgar Duncan recalls his retirement from the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/599119">Tape: 4 Edgar Duncan reflects upon his life</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/599120">Tape: 4 Edgar Duncan reflects upon his legacy</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/599121">Tape: 4 Edgar Duncan describes his hopes and concerns for the African American community</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/599122">Tape: 4 Edgar Duncan reflects upon his family</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/599123">Tape: 4 Edgar Duncan reflects upon the importance of education</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/599124">Tape: 4 Edgar Duncan describes how he would like to be remembered</a>

DASession

1$1

DATape

1$3

DAStory

11$9

DATitle

Edgar Duncan recalls his family's emphasis on education

Edgar Duncan recalls his work with the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps in Washington, D.C.

Transcript

And we had books in the house and obviously were encouraged to study, not only by our parents [Willie McMillan Duncan and William Duncan, Sr.] but by my mother's sisters [Sadie McMillan and Ruth McMillan]--remember I said they'd all gone to Tuskegee [Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute; Tuskegee University, Tuskegee, Alabama]? And the two sisters that are older than I both graduated from Tuskegee and they adopted the brother next to me [William Duncan, Jr.] and myself to help us get through college, but it was--you grew up in Monessen [Pennsylvania] and you were one of those Duncans and so then they didn't ask, "Where are you going to study," or "Do well in school." It's--, "How well were you gonna do in school?" So in the piece it says I graduated valedic- as valedictorian [from Monessen Vocational High School, Monessen, Pennsylvania] that was in part a challenge. My, this brother again next to me and one of his friends sat me down at the kitchen table one night and said, "Okay, your sister graduated sixth, your brother graduated fourth, you can graduate one, and here's what you do to do it," and that's what came to pass. It wasn't I'm you know I'm, I'm just sitting around--, "How many more books can I read? How many more formulas can I work on? How many more chemistry sets can I blow up something with." It was (laughter)--$$Okay.$$(Laughter) You had, you had--fortunately very subtle sometimes pressure.$So you're in Washington, D.C. and were you work- you were working in Washington, D.C. yourself, right?$$Right, well actually in Rockville when the promotion to assistant surgeon general came we were working out in Rockville.$$Rockville, Maryland?$$Yeah.$$Okay, so now, so you worked, you were there over ten years, right in Washington, D.C. from 1962 (simultaneous)?$$(Simultaneous) Yeah, we're in D.C.$$Until?$$From '62 [1962] to '77 [1977], fifteen years.$$Okay, s'62 [1962] to '77 [1977], okay. Now tell us about the events leading up to you being appointed assistant surgeon general?$$Well, I was working on what it--were called the health delivery programs of the [U.S.] Public Health Service, not the [U.S.] Food and Drug Administration, not NIH [National Institutes of Health], this was the part that actually delivered healthcare to the seamen [U.S. Merchant Marine], Indian [Native American] health services was part of that at the time, federal health program where people have, in companies and things, have programs for their workers and that was the part that I had started out with in Staten Island [New York] and I was still working in that area until it became clear they were not going to maintain and replace the public service health hospitals where mainly the merchant seamen, had gone and that's when I joined the Indian Health Service. Then I spent about a year working in EEO, affirmative action, equal employment opportunity, and I would tell people, "That's not a career," that you should get that job, do what you can with it and move on to some other professional career where you're simply recognized like everybody else in the workforce is recognized, and it was also a time when President Nixon [President Richard Milhous Nixon] had come on board and was decentralizing a lot of things out of Washington and sending them to the ten HEW [U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare; U.S. Department of Health and Human Services] regional offices like Chicago [Illinois] and New York [New York], San Francisco [California] and that required some coordination from the, from the headquarters back in the D.C. area and I ended up with that activity being responsible or being concerned about those ten offices, and during that time I pointed out to the person that I was working for that some of it had to do with the pay structures. That I would--I was as high as far as I could go to the rank of captain or colonel in the [U.S.] Army and there were people in secretary and general administrative jobs who were earning higher income than I did, and I was also faced with one son [Eric Duncan] going off to a high cost college and another one [Conrad Duncan] two years behind that and it was make decision time. Do you try to seek a promotion to a higher rank or move on to some, somewhere else in the industry? And so he inquired about, "Is there a problem with your being promoted?" I said, "Yeah, no pharmacist has ever done that." Regardless of what they were doing, the people in charge of pharmacy programs hadn't done it, it hadn't been done by anyone with the pharmacy designation in their, in their rank and he says, "Well let's see if we can do that." And they did it, and because I was not the first African American to become an assistant surgeon general; there'd been a physician and an engineer before me, he says, "But you're the first pharmacist," so that's what went out in the press. Obviously, if I were the first pharmacist, I was the first African American pharmacist but that's how all of that came about, and it was very interesting a few years ago when they honored the people who had become rear admiral in the, in as pharmacists in the Public Health Service [U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps]. Some were from NIH, FDA, all parts of the Public Health Service. There were eleven at that time, but it was certainly an honor to be of, to have been the first one to whatever ceiling that might be called rank ceiling I guess.

Read more about Edgar Duncan

Gen. Colin L. Powell

General Colin L. Powell, USA (Ret.) became the 65th Secretary of State on January 20, 2001. As he stated at his confirmation hearing, the guiding principle of U.S. foreign policy during his tenure was that “America stands ready to help any country that wishes to join the democratic world.”

Powell brought extensive experience with him to his office. Before becoming Secretary of State, he served as a key aide to the Secretary of Defense and as National Security Advisor to President Reagan. He also served thirty-five years in the United States Army, rising to the rank of Four-Star General and serving as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (1989 to 1993). During this time, he oversaw twenty-eight crises including the Panama intervention of 1989 and Operation Desert Storm in the victorious 1991 Persian Gulf War.

That experience served him well, both before and particularly after the events of September 11, 2001, the day of the greatest tragedy on American soil since Pearl Harbor. As Secretary, he stood shoulder to shoulder with the President and the other members of the President’s cabinet in fighting the war on terrorism. As he often said, “winning that war is our first priority, and it will remain so for as long as necessary.”

A fervent purveyor of democratic values, Powell stressed that fighting the war on terrorism is not just a military but also a diplomatic task – the two go hand in hand. He led the State Department in major efforts to solve regional and civil conflicts – in the Middle East, between Israel and its Arab neighbors; in Sudan, Congo and Liberia; in the Balkans, Cyprus, Haiti, Northern Ireland and elsewhere. He was especially concerned with the peace and security of Afghanistan and Iraq, countries where winning the peace is as important as Coalition battlefield victories. In all areas, he used the power of diplomacy and the universal ideal of democracy to build trust, forge alliances and then begin to transform these once unstable regions into areas where societies and cultures prosper.

Powell was devoted to grasping opportunities as well as to confronting the global and regional security challenges of the 21st century. He was at the forefront of the administration’s efforts to advance economic and social development worldwide – in the fight against HIV/AIDS, in the promise of the Millennium Challenge Account, the most significant change in helping needy nations since the Marshall Plan, and in pursuing a freer trading and investment climate worldwide. These efforts, too, are not separate from the nation’s security agenda. Indeed, in testimony before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, then Secretary Powell affirmed that our main purpose is to extend democracy, prosperity, and freedom to every corner of the world. It is a process that is establishing a balance of power that favors freedom across the globe.

Born in New York City on April 5, 1937, Powell was raised in the South Bronx. His parents, Luther and Maud Powell, immigrated to the United States from Jamaica. Powell was educated in New York City public schools, graduating from Morris High School and the City College of New York (CCNY), where he earned his bachelor’s degree in geology. He also participated in ROTC at CCNY and received a commission as an Army second lieutenant upon graduation in June 1958. His further academic achievements include a M.B.A. degree from George Washington University.

Powell is the recipient of numerous U.S. military awards and decorations including the Defense Distinguished Service Medal (with 3 Oak Leaf Clusters), the Army Distinguished Service Medal (with Oak Leaf Cluster), Defense Superior Service Medal, Legion of Merit (with Oak Leaf Cluster), Soldier’s Medal, Bronze Star Medal, and the Purple Heart.

Powell’s civilian awards include two Presidential Medals of Freedom, the President’s Citizens Medal, the Congressional Gold Medal and the Secretary of Energy Distinguished Service Medal. Over two dozen countries have bestowed awards on him, including a French Legion of Honor and an honorary knighthood bestowed by H.M. Queen Elizabeth II of Great Britain.

Powell was the founding Chairman of America’s Promise – The Alliance for Youth, a national crusade to improve the lives of our nation’s youth. Established at the Presidents’ Summit for America’s Future in Philadelphia in April of 1997, and endorsed by every living U.S. President, America’s Promise aims to ensure all children in America have access to the fundamental resources needed to build and strengthen them to become responsible, productive adults. He has also been a member of the Board of Trustees of Howard University and the Board of Directors of the United Negro College Fund. Powell also served on the Board of Governors of The Boys & Girls Clubs of America and was a member of the Advisory Board of the Children’s Health Fund.

Since returning to private life, Powell has become a strategic limited partner at Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, the renowned Silicon Valley venture capital firm. He is also on the Board of Directors of Revolution Health Care, a company developing strategies for consumer-directed health care. Powell is the Founder of the Colin Powell Policy Center at his alma mater, the City College of New York, and he is helping to raise funds for the Martin Luther King, Jr., Memorial in Washington, D.C. and for the construction of an education center for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.

Powell is the author of his best-selling autobiography, My American Journey.

Powell is married to the former Alma Vivian Johnson of Birmingham, Alabama. The Powell family includes son Michael; daughters, Linda and Annemarie; daughter-in-law Jane, and grandchildren Jeffrey, Bryan and Abigail.

Accession Number

A2006.186

Sex

Male

Interview Date

4/29/2006

Last Name

Powell

Maker Category

MilitaryMakers

PoliticalMakers

Marital Status

Married

Middle Name

Occupation

Military Officer

Cabinet Appointee

Presidential Appointee

Organizations

Schools

Morris High School

City College of New York

George Washington University

Search Occupation Category

MilitaryMakers:Army

First Name

Colin

Birth City, State, Country

New York

HM ID

POW09

State

New York

THM DA Link

https://da.thehistorymakers.org/storiesForBio;ID=A2006.186

Web Clip 1

https://daproductionstorage.blob.core.windows.net/media/story/video/578…

Bio Photo

Speakers Bureau Region State

District of Columbia

Interview Description

A2006_186_EAD.pdf

A2006_186_EAC.pdf

Birth Date

4/5/1937

Birth Place Term

New York

Speakers Bureau Region City

Washington

Country

USA

Short Description

Military officer, cabinet appointee, and presidential appointee Gen. Colin L. Powell (1937 - ) served as the 65th Secretary of State, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff , and National Security Advisor. Powell, a four-star general in the U.S. Army, is also the founding Chairman of America’s Promise – The Alliance for Youth.

Employment

United States Army

United States Government

Web Clip 2

https://daproductionstorage.blob.core.windows.net/media/story/video/578…

Timing Pairs

0,0:488,12:2196,27:15330,235:16850,260:17170,265:21010,338:23450,354:23778,359:24762,373:25746,391:26484,418:35750,628:36324,650:37308,662:46694,791:52094,893:52670,910:56918,1003:57422,1012:72216,1167:73450,1172:73814,1177:75200,1184:76815,1210:77290,1216:78145,1230:81366,1271:81750,1278:83094,1330:85183,1353:87880,1400:88228,1405:95142,1480:95970,1491:98638,1555:102134,1609:103238,1630:103790,1645:104802,1660:105170,1665:105538,1670:106826,1692:112920,1716:114742,1745:115288,1752:124206,1903:124843,1911:130758,2058:131304,2065:131850,2072:141360,2204:147080,2386:150336,2457:155378,2478:155758,2484:156214,2492:157582,2519:160470,2593:161762,2623:169749,2715:180800,2974:181160,2979:182150,2993:189762,3115:190054,3120:194638,3188:201044,3327:201440,3332:206406,3389:211246,3542:213182,3570:229585,3708:234345,3858:235025,3867:237235,3910:239445,3973:248660,4111:250508,4198:254468,4286:258780,4398:271240,4564$0,0:4524,98:8076,269:16290,430:16808,438:17252,449:23424,484:28176,601:40092,791:40584,802:51442,961:52050,971:55014,1017:58017,1044:58800,1054:59409,1077:59757,1082:60975,1101:62454,1120:63498,1140:64281,1154:76370,1311

DAStories

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/578265">Tape: 1 List of sponsors for 'An Evening With Colin Powell'</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/578266">Tape: 1 Introduction to 'An Evening With Colin Powell'</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/578267">Tape: 1 Juan Williams introduces Gen. Colin L. Powell</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/578268">Tape: 1 Juan Williams greets Gen. Colin L. Powell</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/578269">Tape: 1 Gen. Colin L. Powell talks about meeting with Mikhail Gorbachev in 1988</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/578270">Tape: 1 Gen. Colin L. Powell talks about his roots in the multicultural South Bronx, New York, New York</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/578271">Tape: 1 Gen. Colin L. Powell describes his activities after retiring as Secretary of State of the United States</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/578272">Tape: 1 Gen. Colin L. Powell talks about the history of African Americans in the U.S. military</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/578273">Tape: 1 Gen. Colin L. Powell talks about his childhood in the South Bronx, New York, New York</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/578274">Tape: 1 Gen. Colin L. Powell talks about joining the Pershing Rifles at City College of New York</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/578275">Tape: 1 Gen. Colin L. Powell describes his infantry training for the U.S. Army</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/578276">Tape: 1 A review of Gen. Colin L. Powell's life and military career during the 1960s</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/578277">Tape: 1 Gen. Colin L. Powell describes his courtship of and marriage to HistoryMaker Alma Powell</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/578278">Tape: 1 Gen. Colin L. Powell talks about the Civil Rights Movement during the 1960s</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/578279">Tape: 1 Gen. Colin L. Powell describes serving in the Vietnam War</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/578280">Tape: 1 Gen. Colin L. Powell describes his experiences in graduate school at The George Washington University in Washington, D.C.</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/578281">Tape: 1 Gen. Colin L. Powell describes serving in presidential administrations in the 1970s and 1980s</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/578282">Tape: 1 Gen. Colin L. Powell talks about the Buffalo Soldiers Monument at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/578283">Tape: 1 A review of Gen. Colin L. Powell's career during the 1980s</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/578284">Tape: 1 Gen. Colin L. Powell describes his tenure as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/578285">Tape: 1 Gen. Colin L. Powell talks about the founding of America's Promise Alliance</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/578286">Tape: 1 A review of Gen. Colin L. Powell's tenure as Secretary of State of the United States</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/578287">Tape: 1 Gen. Colin L. Powell talks about the United States government's response to the 9/11 terrorist attacks</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/578288">Tape: 1 Gen. Colin L. Powell reflects upon his legacy</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/578289">Tape: 1 Gen. Colin L. Powell talks about his hopes for the future</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/578290">Tape: 1 Conclusion of 'An Evening with Colin Powell'</a>

DASession

1$1

DATape

1$1

DAStory

11$18

DATitle

Gen. Colin L. Powell describes his infantry training for the U.S. Army

Gen. Colin L. Powell talks about the Buffalo Soldiers Monument at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas

Transcript

Now, during this time, you went to--I think in '57 [1957], it's Fort Bragg [North Carolina]?$$Um-hm.$$And--for summer training, and then later, you go for infantry training to Fort--$$Benning.$$Fort Benning [Georgia]. So what was the first experience like at Fort Bragg, the summer training?$$Well, Fort Bragg, I took the bus at the New York [New York] Port Authority Bus Terminal. And my father [Luther Powell] was standing on the side, looking at me through the window of the bus as I headed off to North Carolina. And he swore he would never see me again (audience laughter). And nevertheless, I got there okay, and then driving back--I drove back with a couple of sergeants from my ROTC [Reserve Officers' Training Corps] detachment, members of the cadre. And I learned what it was like being in the South. Fort Bragg, itself, was okay, but we weren't ignorant of what the South was like. And so we drove straight through, as you used to do in those days. And we hit all of the gas stations with the three restrooms, you know, white men, white women and blacks--or whatever they put over the top. They had lots of names for us in those days. And I knew that this wasn't something I could ever be happy about. I was disappointed and mad that these kinds of things happened in the country that I was getting ready to serve. But once I got back to New York, things were fine. But I was also told by my commanders that you just do the best job you can. Don't try to change the society in the South. They were essentially saying, "Be a good soldier and let things change as you go forward." So they wanted me to do well, but they also wanted to make sure that I understood the social circumstances in which I was serving. But it wasn't always easy, especially after I got into the [U.S.] Army and [HistoryMaker] Alma [Powell] and I took our first trip south as a married couple in 1962, shortly after we married. And, you know, Alma was expecting Mike [HistoryMaker Michael Powell], and you had to just keep driving. You didn't stop. Some people forget that there were only two black motels on the north-south roads in those days. And if you couldn't get to one of them, you'd better have a relative and a lot of chicken in the back of the car (audience laughter).$$And infantry training? What was that like?$$Infantry training (simultaneous)--$$(Simultaneous) Was that segregated?$$No, no, no. The Army was completely integrated. In fact, an interesting story here is that, if I had come in ten years earlier or if any of the generals here this evening had come in ten years earlier, we never would have become generals. We sort of cut or caught the post-Truman [President Harry S. Truman] desegregation era. Truman did it as an executive order [Executive Order 9981] in 1948. He integrated the [U.S.] military. He did it as an executive order because he never would have gotten it through [U.S.] Congress to change the law. But it took another five years for the services to truly desegregate, and they did it under the pressure of the Korean War. Most of us here tonight came in, in that early '50s [1950s] to mid-to-late '50s [1950s] period when the Army looked itself squarely in the face and said, we have to do what we have been told to do and we have to do everything we can to correct for past discrimination. And as a result of that, all of us were able to be judged on the basis of our performance.$$So the bus that you rode down for the summer group and for infantry training, was that an integrated group or a segregated group that rode down?$$No, when you go into the South, then it was segregated.$$Okay.$$But coming back, of course, I drove in private cars, and that was integrated as long as you didn't try to go and eat anywhere.$$And was it difficult to get into that infantry training?$$No, no, no, no. The infantry training for me didn't turn out to be that difficult 'cause I was well prepared for it. And I discovered that I'd picked up a pretty good education in the public school system in New York, and I could compete from the very beginning with West Pointers [United States Military Academy, West Point, New York] and others from better schools. And in the [United States Army] Infantry School at Fort Benning, Georgia, the only color they recognize is green, infantry, you know, and green and blue, infantry color being blue and green being your uniform. And that's the only thing that mattered to them. And if you perform, we'll move you on. If you don't perform, we don't care what color you are.$Now, around this time, you got involved in a remarkable project that we talked about earlier, the creation of the Buffalo Soldiers Monument [Buffalo Soldier Monument, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas]. Can you tell us a little bit about that?$$Yeah, it was just a simple case that at Fort Leavenworth, which is one of our most historic posts and one of our oldest posts, everyone that ever served there had been memorialized. And I was walking around the post and I never saw anything that recognized the black soldiers that were there. And finally, the historian said, "Oh, no, no. There are two streets down by the cemetery." So I went to look for these two streets, 9th and 10th Cavalry Avenue, and they turned out to be two unpaved roads going through an abandoned trailer park. So I went back to my headquarters. I was a brigadier general, and I called in the historian. And I said, that is not gonna make it. And so you need to put your thinking cap on, because I wanna see an equestrian statue with a Buffalo Soldier on it erected on a prominent place in this post, on this post. And it took years. I left and others followed and continued the work, but I was very honored to go back and dedicate the statue some eight or nine years later. That's one of the major tourist landmarks in eastern Kansas.

Read more about Gen. Colin L. Powell

The Honorable Togo D. West, Jr.

Former United States Secretary of the Army and former United States Secretary of Veterans Affairs Togo Dennis West, Jr. was born on June 21, 1942 in Winston-Salem, North Carolina to Togo D. West, Sr. and Evelyn E. Carter West. His grandmother named him after Japanese Admiral Heihachiro Togo, hero of 1905’s Russo-Japanese War. West grew up in East Winston, North Carolina where his mother was a teacher and his father was the principal of Atkins High School. West attended Atkins High School, graduating in 1959 as a member of the National Honor Society, valedictorian and an Eagle Scout with Bronze Palm. In 1965, he earned his B.S. degree from Howard University and worked briefly as an electrical engineer. West entered Howard University Law School and in 1967 worked as a legal intern for the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. West became managing editor of the Howard Law Journal and graduated first in his class with his J.D. degree in 1968.

After clerking for Harold R. Tyler, Jr., a federal district court judge, West was commissioned a second lieutenant in the United States Army. West served in the Judge Advocate General’s Corps where he was recognized with the Legion of Merit and the Meritorious Service Medal. He subsequently practiced law with Covington & Burling in Washington, D.C. before being appointed associate deputy attorney general by President Gerald Ford in 1975. West served in several capacities in President Jimmy Carter’s administration including general counsel to the Navy from 1977 to 1979; special assistant to the secretary and to the deputy secretary of defense in 1979; and general counsel to the United States Department of Defense from 1980 to 1981. He returned to private practice as managing partner at Patterson, Belknap, Webb and Tyler and later served as senior vice president for government relations with Northrop Corporation. In 1993, West was appointed United States Secretary of the Army by President Bill Clinton. In 1998, President Clinton appointed West as United States Secretary of Veterans Affairs. West succeeded Eddie Williams as president and CEO of the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies in 2004. In 2006, he founded TLI Leadership Group and served as its Chairman.

West was the recipient of numerous honors including being named Distinguished Eagle Scout in 1995. He later received scouting’s coveted Silver Buffalo Award and the Silver Beaver Award for his work with youth. West was married to the former Gail Berry.

West passed away on March 8, 2018 at age 75.

West was interviewed by The HistoryMakers on February 8, 2007.

Accession Number

A2007.054

Sex

Male

Interview Date

2/8/2007

7/24/2008

Last Name

West

Maker Category

LawMakers

PoliticalMakers

Middle Name

Occupation

Government Lawyer

Presidential Appointee

Organizations

Schools

St. Benedict The Moor

Atkins Academic and Technology High School

Howard University School of Law

Howard University

First Name

Togo

Birth City, State, Country

Winston-Salem

HM ID

WES03

Favorite Season

Summer

State

North Carolina

THM DA Link

https://da.thehistorymakers.org/storiesForBio;ID=A2007.054

Web Clip 1

https://daproductionstorage.blob.core.windows.net/media/story/video/475…

Favorite Vacation Destination

Anywhere Warm

Favorite Quote

I Think Therefore I Am.

Bio Photo

Speakers Bureau Region State

District of Columbia

Interview Description

A2007_054_EAD.pdf

A2007_054_EAC.pdf

Birth Date

6/21/1942

Birth Place Term

Winston-Salem

Speakers Bureau Region City

Washington

Country

USA

Favorite Food

Spaghetti, Chili

Death Date

3/8/2018

Short Description

Government lawyer and presidential appointee The Honorable Togo D. West, Jr. (1942 - 2018 ) was the Secretary of the U.S. Army, and also held positions as associate deputy attorney general and general counsel to the Navy. West served as the deputy secretary of defense, general counsel to the United States Department of Defense and became President and CEO of the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies in 2004.

Employment

Covington & Burling LLP

Judge Advocate Generals Corps

Favorite Color

North Carolina Blue

Web Clip 2

https://daproductionstorage.blob.core.windows.net/media/story/video/475…

Timing Pairs

0,0:4488,86:6379,124:6623,129:6989,141:11610,302:12100,310:13220,325:22150,435:28200,510:28488,515:30072,549:31224,572:31800,579:32088,584:33312,607:33600,612:33888,617:35328,651:36192,667:49238,899:49708,905:50084,910:56370,978:60385,1007:60677,1012:61845,1038:62283,1045:62575,1050:63086,1058:63378,1063:69510,1211:70605,1248:70970,1254:72357,1426:84296,1562:87143,1655:87873,1694:96791,1804:97400,1815:99401,1873:104524,1930:114528,2105:115737,2129:120945,2232:132680,2403:149760,2875:150320,2884:157567,2977:161945,3015:162229,3020:163365,3052:169120,3146:169678,3153:171259,3232:176150,3272:179550,3323:187690,3447$0,0:10020,163:14622,263:21980,431:26108,612:29462,649:30666,665:46644,840:55100,959:60211,1037:83660,1343:90504,1413:90864,1419:91512,1434:91800,1439:92952,1459:103720,1665:105743,1677:107163,1702:109932,1761:110926,1779:120302,1923:120806,1931:130402,2012:147092,2288:153000,2347:154420,2356:155284,2370:160952,2460:161736,2469:190174,2773:190984,2785:210009,3068:220109,3184:226124,3252:226654,3258:228816,3280:230150,3308:230382,3313:235400,3378:236048,3387:243596,3510:249894,3704:255450,3754

DAStories

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/475093">Tape: 1 Slating of The Honorable Togo D. West, Jr.'s interview, session 1</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/475094">Tape: 1 The Honorable Togo D. West, Jr. lists his favorites</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/475095">Tape: 1 The Honorable Togo D. West, Jr. describes his mother's family background</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/475096">Tape: 1 The Honorable Togo D. West, Jr. describes his mother's upbringing</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/475097">Tape: 1 The Honorable Togo D. West, Jr. describes his father's family background</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/475098">Tape: 1 The Honorable Togo D. West, Jr. remembers his paternal grandfather</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/475099">Tape: 1 The Honorable Togo D. West, Jr. talks about his Chinn ancestors</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/475100">Tape: 1 The Honorable Togo D. West, Jr. describes his paternal relatives</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/475101">Tape: 2 The Honorable Togo D. West, Jr. describes his father's education</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/475102">Tape: 2 The Honorable Togo D. West, Jr. recalls his father's early teaching career</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/475103">Tape: 2 The Honorable Togo D. West, Jr. describes how his parents met</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/475104">Tape: 2 The Honorable Togo D. West, Jr. talks about his father's career</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/475105">Tape: 2 The Honorable Togo D. West, Jr. talks about being an only child</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/475106">Tape: 2 The Honorable Togo D. West, Jr. describes his earliest childhood memory</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/475107">Tape: 2 The Honorable Togo D. West, Jr. recalls the East Winston neighborhood of Winston-Salem, North Carolina</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/475108">Tape: 2 The Honorable Togo D. West, Jr. describes his experiences of religion</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/475109">Tape: 2 The Honorable Togo D. West, Jr. describes his early interest in sports</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/475110">Tape: 2 The Honorable Togo D. West, Jr. talks about North Carolina's colleges</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/475111">Tape: 2 The Honorable Togo D. West, Jr. remembers the popularity of tobacco use</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/475112">Tape: 2 The Honorable Togo D. West, Jr. recalls the business community in Winston-Salem, North Carolina</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/475113">Tape: 3 The Honorable Togo D. West, Jr. describes his early education</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/475114">Tape: 3 The Honorable Togo D. West, Jr. describes the Safe Bus Company</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/475115">Tape: 3 The Honorable Togo D. West, Jr. recalls the black business community in Winston-Salem, North Carolina</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/475116">Tape: 3 The Honorable Togo D. West, Jr. recalls the entertainment of his youth</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/475117">Tape: 3 The Honorable Togo D. West, Jr. describes his home life</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/475118">Tape: 3 The Honorable Togo D. West, Jr. remembers joining the Boy Scouts of America</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/475119">Tape: 3 The Honorable Togo D. West, Jr. remembers a naval cruise with the Boy Scouts</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/475120">Tape: 3 The Honorable Togo D. West, Jr. describes his travels with the Boy Scouts</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/475121">Tape: 3 The Honorable Togo D. West, Jr. remembers becoming an Eagle Scout</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/475122">Tape: 4 The Honorable Togo D. West, Jr. recalls his experiences as an Eagle Scout, pt. 1</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/475123">Tape: 4 The Honorable Togo D. West, Jr. recalls his experiences as an Eagle Scout, pt. 2</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/475124">Tape: 4 The Honorable Togo D. West, Jr. remembers his academic success</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/475125">Tape: 4 The Honorable Togo D. West, Jr. describes his father's legacy as an educator</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/475126">Tape: 4 The Honorable Togo D. West, Jr. describes his interest in literature</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/475127">Tape: 4 The Honorable Togo D. West, Jr. remembers his high school teachers</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/475128">Tape: 4 The Honorable Togo D. West, Jr. describes his high school activities, pt. 1</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/475129">Tape: 4 The Honorable Togo D. West, Jr. describes his high school activities, pt. 2</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/475130">Tape: 5 Slating of The Honorable Togo D. West, Jr.'s interview, session 2</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/475131">Tape: 5 The Honorable Togo D. West, Jr. remembers school segregation in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, pt. 1</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/475132">Tape: 5 The Honorable Togo D. West, Jr. remembers school segregation in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, pt. 2</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/475133">Tape: 5 The Honorable Togo D. West, Jr. talks about segregation in Winston-Salem, North Carolina</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/475134">Tape: 5 The Honorable Togo D. West, Jr. recalls his peers at Atkins High School in Winston-Salem, North Carolina</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/475135">Tape: 5 The Honorable Togo D. West, Jr. describes his involvement in the Boy Scouts</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/475136">Tape: 5 The Honorable Togo D. West, Jr. recalls his father's interest in the U.S. military</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/475137">Tape: 5 The Honorable Togo D. West, Jr. describes his experiences at Atkins High School</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/475138">Tape: 5 The Honorable Togo D. West, Jr. describes the student body at Atkins High School</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/475139">Tape: 6 The Honorable Togo D. West, Jr. describes his high school graduation</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/475140">Tape: 6 The Honorable Togo D. West Jr. recalls his decision to attend Howard University</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/475141">Tape: 6 The Honorable Togo D. West, Jr. remembers his first impressions of Howard University</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/475142">Tape: 6 The Honorable Togo D. West, Jr. describes his engineering coursework</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/475143">Tape: 6 The Honorable Togo D. West, Jr. recalls his peers at Howard University, pt. 1</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/475144">Tape: 6 The Honorable Togo D. West, Jr. remembers Stokely Carmichael</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/475145">Tape: 6 The Honorable Togo D. West, Jr. recalls his peers at Howard University, pt. 2</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/475146">Tape: 6 The Honorable Togo D. West, Jr. recalls his summer activities</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/475147">Tape: 6 The Honorable Togo D. West, Jr. talks about his love of reading</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/475148">Tape: 7 The Honorable Togo D. West, Jr. recalls his decision to attend law school</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/475149">Tape: 7 The Honorable Togo D. West, Jr. recalls learning about the history of Howard University</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/475150">Tape: 7 The Honorable Togo D. West, Jr. recalls the Civil Rights Movement in North Carolina</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/475151">Tape: 7 The Honorable Togo D. West, Jr. talks about segregation in the South</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/475152">Tape: 7 The Honorable Togo D. West, Jr. recalls his influences at Howard University</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/475153">Tape: 7 The Honorable Togo D. West, Jr. describes his law school professors, pt. 1</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/475154">Tape: 7 The Honorable Togo D. West, Jr. remembers Patricia Roberts Harris</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/475155">Tape: 7 The Honorable Togo D. West, Jr. describes his law school professors, pt. 2</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/475156">Tape: 7 The Honorable Togo D. West, Jr. remembers Jeanus B. Parks</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/475157">Tape: 8 The Honorable Togo D. West, Jr. remembers Carl Edwin Anderson</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/475158">Tape: 8 The Honorable Togo D. West, Jr. describes the mentorship of Jeanus B. Parks</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/475159">Tape: 8 The Honorable Togo D. West, Jr. recalls meeting his wife</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/475160">Tape: 8 The Honorable Togo D. West, Jr. describes the start of his legal career</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/475161">Tape: 8 The Honorable Togo D. West, Jr. recalls working for the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/475162">Tape: 8 The Honorable Togo D. West, Jr. recalls Thurgood Marshall's appointment to the U.S. Supreme Court</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/475163">Tape: 8 The Honorable Togo D. West, Jr. recalls the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/475164">Tape: 8 The Honorable Togo D. West, Jr. describes his peers at the Howard University School of Law</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/475165">Tape: 9 The Honorable Togo D. West, Jr. remembers JeRoyd W. Greene, Jr., pt. 1</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/475166">Tape: 9 The Honorable Togo D. West, Jr. remembers JeRoyd W. Greene, Jr., pt. 2</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/475167">Tape: 9 The Honorable Togo D. West, Jr. describes the legacy of the Howard University School of Law</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/475168">Tape: 9 The Honorable Togo D. West, Jr. remembers Judge Harold R. Tyler, Jr.</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/475169">Tape: 9 The Honorable Togo D. West, Jr. describes Harold R. Tyler, Jr.'s legal career</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/475170">Tape: 9 The Honorable Togo D. West, Jr. recalls serving in the Judge Advocate General's Corps</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/475171">Tape: 9 The Honorable Togo D. West, Jr. remembers Nathaniel R. Jones</a>

DASession

1$2

DATape

2$9

DAStory

4$6

DATitle

The Honorable Togo D. West, Jr. talks about his father's career

The Honorable Togo D. West, Jr. recalls serving in the Judge Advocate General's Corps

Transcript

This is what happened. The interesting thing about Dad [Togo D. West, Sr.] is he was recruited by the then principal at my high school, the school I ended up graduating from, Atkins High School [Atkins Academic and Technology High School, Winston-Salem, North Carolina], to teach math. He eventually coached basketball and football, eventually became head of the math department. Before I get to the end of it, the point is, he was employed by the same employer all his life. He went there to teach in the high school there, Atkins High School, just as it was getting going, high school for--it was the only high school for African Americans, for blacks, for the colored, in those days for Negroes, in Winston-Salem [North Carolina]. There was another one out in the county, Carver High School [Winston-Salem, North Carolina], named obviously, for George Washington Carver. Similarly, the one black high school, very competitive, the principal actively recruited from all over the East Coast. And so most people who taught at that school held degrees from outside of North Carolina by and large. And that's interesting because Winston-Salem had its own teachers college, Winston-Salem Teachers College, still there. It's now Winston-Salem State University [Winston-Salem, North Carolina]. A and T [Agricultural and Technical College of North Carolina; North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University] was just up the road in Greensboro [North Carolina]. They were turning out lots of college graduates, but this principal wanted to recruit from outside of, of North Carolina. They had the same incentives that I assume other public schools had at that time, systems, and that is, you were paid ultimately based on tenure, how long you successfully stayed there, and on educational level. So that all of them, in Dad's and Mom's [Evelyn Carter West] circle, were trying to work on their master's degrees to increase their pay. And I think, the farther along they got, the more their pay increased. And that's why I came to Washington [D.C.] so often in summer. Mom and Dad would finish up, school would close. I'd be out of school, pack us in the car--we didn't travel by train, didn't travel by bus, and drive up to Washington, D.C. We'd spend some time at the home place. Grandmother [Mary Chinn West] was there, Carlton [Carlton S. West] was there. They would leave me, drive to New York [New York] where Dad dropped Mom off and she went to Columbia [Teachers College, Columbia University, New York, New York] to the teachers college there, stayed with some friends. He went on up, initially, to Penn State [Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania], where he was getting his degree. Well, eventually, he changed that and started going up to Clark University in Worcester, Mass [Worcester, Massachusetts]. And they did that for years until they got their master's. But in all that time, he taught at Atkins, progressing until he became, by the time I was in high school, the vice principal, the assistant principal and head of the math department. And then he became the principal of the school after I had gone off to college [Howard University, Washington, D.C.]. But he worked in that one school, in that high school, teaching there, for essentially thirty-two years.$$Okay, okay.$$Who does that anymore?$$Very few people.$$(Laughter).$$At the same place all the--yeah, not these days.$So then I was on active duty as a JAG [Judge Advocate General's Corps], something I'd--my wife [Gail Berry West] and daughter [Tiffany West Smink] who were in New York [New York] with me when I came on active duty, and they stayed for six months up there while I went to my couple weeks at Fort Lee [Virginia], to get used to wearing the uniform again and then eight weeks at the University of Virginia [Charlottesville, Virginia] which is where the Army JAG school [The Judge Advocate General's Legal Center and School, Charlottesville, Virginia] has always been, separate building always right next to the law school. Whenever they moved the law school, the JAG school moves to a brand new building next to it, historically, I think. And then I thought I was gonna be assigned--they gave me orders assigning me to Fort Ord, California, which was the practice, brand new JAG. You go to a spot for a year and being assigned to Fort Ord, I knew that a year later, I'd go to Vietnam for a one-year tour, and then come back and have two years. So that, so that the--that was the expectation. My wife was ready. IBM [International Business Machines Corporation], for whom she worked as a lawyer, had said, they'd move her and us out there because we, by then, had acquired two cars, and assign her to a job near me. So we were all set. We were gonna pack up that car and get going, and we drive out. But the night before I got a call from the JAG career office saying, "We've got a spot opening in the Military Justice Division in the Pentagon [Washington, D.C.]." I was third in the class, in the JAG class, which made me a distinguished graduate. And they said, "That position is yours if you want it. We don't advise you to take it because it's poor preparation for a career in the JAG Corps." Well (laughter), I didn't intend a career in the JAG Corps. And so I called my wife and just like that, we ended up back in Washington [D.C.] with me assigned to the Pentagon as a captain. And six months after I got there, one of the deputy assistant secretaries in manpower in Veteran Affairs [U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs], a lawyer himself, who had been at Harvard [Harvard Law School, Cambridge, Massachusetts] and had been in the general counsel's honors program, was looking for an assistant and interviewed me. And so I was moved up from the army staff to the army secretary, to the office of the assistant secretary, the (unclear) in a position called assistant for civil rights, because in 1969 and '68 [1968], the [U.S.] Army, indeed, the [U.S.] military were going through some severe problems, both in Vietnam and in Europe. In Vietnam, they were in a combat theater; in Europe, they were a garrison state, but waiting for the big one. And so problems of drugs and race were cropping up everywhere. The secretary of the army then, Stan Resor [Stanley R. Resor], Democrat, wanted his assistant secretary and John Kessler [sic. Gary K. Kessler], the deputy assistant secretary, to have the ability to focus on those issues. I was not the first in that job. The other captain, not African American, who had left active duty. And so for three and a half years, I was involved--and I don't wanna overstate this, but it was right there. In the Army's development of its policies with respect to drugs and race, especially race, around the world. I traveled with the secretary. I wrote speeches for the secretary. I went to meetings in the office that years later would be mine, except that a little captain, going to a meeting in the office of the secretary of the army doesn't get to sit near the secretary. He sits way back against the wall and all the colonels sit in front of him. But that was an extraordinary time.

Read more about The Honorable Togo D. West, Jr.

Wayne Budd

Attorney Wayne Anthony Budd was born on November 18, 1941 in Springfield, Massachusetts. Educated in Springfield public schools, Budd graduated from Cathedral High School in 1959. In 1963, he received an A.B. degree cum laude in economics from Boston College. Between 1963 and 1967, he worked in the Industrial Relations Department at Ford Motor Company while attending law school at night. He attended Wayne State University School of Law in Detroit and received a J.D. degree in 1967.

Following his law school graduation, Budd served as Assistant Corporation Counsel for the City of Boston from 1968 to 1969. During that same time period, he developed a private law practice.

Budd also served as president of the Massachusetts Black Lawyers Association. In 1979, he became the first African American to head the Massachusetts Bar as President and at that time he was the youngest (at age 38) president of any state bar association.

Appointed by President George H.W. Bush in 1992, Budd served as Associate Attorney General of the United States. He oversaw the Civil Rights, Environmental, Tax, Civil and Anti-Trust Divisions at the Department of Justice, as well as the Bureau of Prisons. From 1989 to 1992, he worked as the United States Attorney for the District of Massachusetts, serving as the state’s chief federal prosecutor and representing the federal government in all matters involving civil litigation. During this time, he was recognized for his efforts in combating drugs, street crime and gang violence. Budd also served as a member of the U.S. Sentencing Commission, appointed to that position in 1994 by President Bill Clinton.

Budd is currently senior counsel in the law firm Goodwin Proctor in Boston, Massachusetts, where he specializes in business and commercial litigation. Budd had previously been a senior partner at Goodwin Proctor from 1993 to 1996.

Prior to rejoining Goodwin Proctor in 2004, Budd served as Senior Executive Vice President and General Counsel at John Hancock Financial Services, where he was responsible for directing all of the company’s legal activities as well as overseeing the compliance, human resources, governmental affairs and community relations. Before joining Hancock, Budd was Group President-New England at Bell Atlantic Corporation (now Verizon Communications) where he was responsible for policy, regulatory and legislative functions for the New England states served by Bell Atlantic.

Budd has served numerous government, public service, educational and business entities including serving as Commissioner and Chairman of the Massachusetts Civil Service Commission (1972 – 1989); as a Trustee of Boston College (1980 - 1997); as Director (former ViceChair) of the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce; and as a member of the National Board of the American Automobile Association.

Budd is the father of three daughters--Kim, a lawyer, born in 1966; Kristi, a teacher, born in 1968; and Kern, a nurse, born in 1970.

Budd was interviewed by The HistoryMakers on April 5, 2006.

Accession Number

A2006.064

Sex

Male

Archival Photo 1

Interview Date

4/5/2006

Last Name

Budd

Maker Category

LawMakers

PoliticalMakers

Occupation

Commercial Lawyer

Presidential Appointee

Organizations

Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc.

Massachusetts State Bar Associatin

Schools

William N. Deberry

Cathedral High School

Myrtle Street Junior High School

Boston College

Wayne State University School of Law

Archival Photo 2

First Name

Wayne

Birth City, State, Country

Springfield

HM ID

BUD01

Favorite Season

Fall

State

Massachusetts

THM DA Link

https://da.thehistorymakers.org/storiesForBio;ID=A2006.064

Web Clip 1

https://daproductionstorage.blob.core.windows.net/media/story/video/380…

Favorite Vacation Destination

Italy

Favorite Quote

Always Be On The Look Out For Opportunity. Don't Turn A Deft Ear Or A Blind Eye To It.

Bio Photo

Speakers Bureau Region State

Massachusetts

Interview Description

A2006_064_EAD.pdf

A2006_064_EAC.pdf

Birth Date

11/18/1941

Birth Place Term

Springfield

Speakers Bureau Region City

Boston

Country

USA

Favorite Food

Clam Strips, Lobster, Pasta

Short Description

Commercial lawyer and presidential appointee Wayne Budd (1941 - ) was senior counsel at Goodwin Proctor, and the first African American to head the Massachusetts Bar Association as president, and at that time, the youngest president of any state bar association, at age thirty-eight. He was also appointed as Associate Attorney General of the United States.

Employment

State of Massachusetts

Goodwin Procter LLP

John Hancock Financial

Bell Atlantic Corporation

United States Department of Justice

Ford Motor Company

General Electric

Favorite Color

Green

Web Clip 2

https://daproductionstorage.blob.core.windows.net/media/story/video/380…

Timing Pairs

0,0:1596,14:2280,23:4256,63:4636,69:5548,83:8208,121:10260,146:10564,152:12768,180:15808,288:16492,299:16872,305:17328,312:18012,323:19304,347:20520,367:20976,374:21888,395:30030,432:35790,520:36270,527:36910,559:37470,567:38510,581:57166,990:57506,996:58050,1004:58866,1019:59682,1034:60226,1044:61178,1082:94604,1425:98405,1441:101179,1502:101471,1507:101836,1513:105048,1561:105997,1583:110961,1668:112421,1704:113516,1721:114027,1730:125880,1791:126184,1796:127400,1826:130940,1876$0,0:960,29:6240,141:7120,153:9440,208:10080,217:10800,234:16560,372:17280,382:18880,466:22160,531:36272,625:40908,728:47555,793:48235,803:55634,877:57147,906:59995,1006:60351,1011:61152,1023:95296,1441:95984,1451:96758,1463:97446,1478:98908,1503:100112,1523:101058,1535:102262,1548:102778,1555:103122,1560:103724,1570:107680,1662:120910,1799:121801,1814:122449,1826:131359,2002:132088,2015:136452,2036:137580,2053:139020,2064

DAStories

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/380299">Tape: 1 Slating of Wayne Budd's interview</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/380300">Tape: 1 Wayne Budd lists his favorites</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/380301">Tape: 1 Wayne Budd describes his mother's family background</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/380302">Tape: 1 Wayne Budd describes his maternal grandparents</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/380303">Tape: 1 Wayne Budd describes his father's career</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/380304">Tape: 1 Wayne Budd describes his father's family background</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/380305">Tape: 1 Wayne Budd describes his maternal family's involvement in the Underground Railroad</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/380306">Tape: 1 Wayne Budd recalls his father's personality</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/380307">Tape: 1 Wayne Budd lists his siblings</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/380308">Tape: 1 Wayne Budd describes his wife and children</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/380309">Tape: 1 Wayne Budd describes his earliest childhood memories</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/379983">Tape: 2 Wayne Budd remembers his childhood neighborhood in Springfield, Massachusetts</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/379984">Tape: 2 Wayne Budd describes his early education in African American history</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/379985">Tape: 2 Wayne Budd describes his family life during childhood</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/379986">Tape: 2 Wayne Budd recalls the smells of his childhood</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/379987">Tape: 2 Wayne Budd remembers DeBerry Elementary School in Springfield, Massachusetts</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/379988">Tape: 2 Wayne Budd recalls Springfield's Myrtle Street Junior High School</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/379989">Tape: 2 Wayne Budd recalls his early aspirations</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/379990">Tape: 2 Wayne Budd remembers Springfield's Cathedral High School</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/379991">Tape: 2 Wayne Budd recalls his summer employment in high school</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/379992">Tape: 2 Wayne Budd remembers his decision to attend Boston College</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/379993">Tape: 2 Wayne Budd recalls his experience at Boston College</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/379994">Tape: 2 Wayne Budd recalls being recruited to work at Ford Motor Company</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/379995">Tape: 2 Wayne Budd describes his experiences at Wayne State University Law School</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/380310">Tape: 3 Wayne Budd recalls a professor at Wayne State University Law School, pt. 1</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/380311">Tape: 3 Wayne Budd recalls a professor at Wayne State University Law School, pt. 2</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/380312">Tape: 3 Wayne Budd remembers working at Ford Motor Company while studying law</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/380313">Tape: 3 Wayne Budd describes his decision to return to Massachusetts</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/380314">Tape: 3 Wayne Budd remembers his early law career in Boston, Massachusetts</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/380315">Tape: 3 Wayne Budd recalls joining the law firm of Hamilton and Lampson</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/380316">Tape: 3 Wayne Budd remembers establishing a law firm with Tom Reilly</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/380317">Tape: 3 Wayne Budd recalls his organizational involvements</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/380318">Tape: 3 Wayne Budd recalls serving as the U.S. attorney for Massachusetts</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/380319">Tape: 3 Wayne Budd recalls becoming an associate attorney general of the United States</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/380320">Tape: 3 Wayne Budd remembers directing the Rodney King investigation</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/380321">Tape: 4 Wayne Budd recalls serving as the United States associate attorney general</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/380322">Tape: 4 Wayne Budd recalls serving on the United States Sentencing Commission</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/380323">Tape: 4 Wayne Budd recalls working for Goodwin, Procter and Hoar LLP</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/380324">Tape: 4 Wayne Budd recalls working for NYNEX Corporation</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/380325">Tape: 4 Wayne Budd describes his community involvement</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/380326">Tape: 4 Wayne Budd describes his hobbies</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/380327">Tape: 4 Wayne Budd talks about his oldest daughter's law career</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/380328">Tape: 4 Wayne Budd recalls working as general counsel to John Hancock Financial Services Inc.</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/380329">Tape: 4 Wayne Budd describes his accomplishments at John Hancock Financial Services Inc.</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/380330">Tape: 4 Wayne Budd describes his responsibilities at Goodwin Procter LLP</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/380331">Tape: 4 Wayne Budd describes his hobbies</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/380332">Tape: 4 Wayne Budd lists his board memberships</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/380333">Tape: 4 Wayne Budd describes his hopes for Massachusetts</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/380334">Tape: 5 Wayne Budd reflects upon his life</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/380335">Tape: 5 Wayne Budd describes his hopes and concerns for the African American community</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/380336">Tape: 5 Wayne Budd talks about the importance of history</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/380337">Tape: 5 Wayne Budd shares his advice for African Americans interested in law careers</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/380338">Tape: 5 Wayne Budd describes how he would like to be remembered</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/380339">Tape: 5 Wayne Budd narrates his photographs</a>

DASession

1$1

DATape

3$4

DAStory

8$1

DATitle

Wayne Budd recalls his organizational involvements

Wayne Budd recalls serving as the United States associate attorney general

Transcript

While you had this law practice, Budd, Wiley and Richlin, what other community and citywide involvements did you have in business or legal work?$$Very, very active counsel for the NAACP [National Association for the Advancement of Colored People] at one time. I was a lawyer assigned to restart an Urban League chapter in Boston [Massachusetts], which I did and was active with for a number of years. We represented a number, and mainly pro bono, a number of entities in the community; Roxbury Comprehensive Community Health Center [Boston, Massachusetts], Harvard Street Health Center [Harvard Street Neighborhood Health Center, Boston, Massachusetts], Whittier Street Health Center [Boston, Massachusetts]. So we did a fair number of health centers, as I think about it. But other community groups, we got involved a little bit in politics. I became the president of the Massachusetts Bar Association, kind of working my way up through the chairs. And when I was elected, I was the first African American to be elected to any state bar association.$$In the country.$$In the country, yeah. And I was elected in 1979, and it's a one-year term, so that was a great--$$What were your responsibilities as president of--$$Oh, oversee the state bar. You know, you had a full-time staff, but you were the bar leader. You were the designated lawyers of the lawyers statewide. It was a career changer. It was one of those things that, at least, for my own career, kind of took me a little bit apart from other lawyers of whatever color or stripe. You know, because if you're the state bar president, you're seen to be different. Not that you are, but you're seen that way. And that opened me up to opportunities to serve on boards, to, to, to get in line for other things. To work on task forces, for this governor, or that mayor, and, you know, and on, and on, and on.$Tell me about the process of becoming the associate attorney general of the United States. What was that process for you?$$Actually, it was interesting because, but for Bill Barr [William P. Barr], the then attorney general, I never would have gotten through the process. Apparently, when I went to the White House [Washington, D.C.] for my interviews--I never met with President Bush [President George Herbert Walker Bush], but the personnel people and the staff people who vet these things--I was deemed not to be conservative enough. So I was rejected. And they said, "Look for somebody else," to Barr. And Barr came back with, "Look, you gave me--you told me this was going to be my department, and I could pick my own people, and I want this guy." So, they yielded to him, and as a result of that, I became the associate attorney general.$$What was the highlight of that experience? You served there three years; is that correct?$$No, no actually, I was only there a year. I was there for the last year of the first Bush administration, '92 [1992], '93 [1993]. And so as--the moment the new administration, the new president raises his hand to take the oath, you're gone. You're fired. Your resignation--well, you don't even resign. You're terminated. So I got out--if the inauguration was on Tuesday, I was out on Friday, and finished up and came back home.$$What was the highlight of your tenure in this position?$$Well, actually, there was a couple, one of which was to oversee the prosecution and the prosecution team for the Rodney King case, the prosecution of four police officers in the federal court system. Although technically, the case wasn't completed by the time I left office. And the other was to revive the office of the associate. It had been, kind of, put on hold for a few years. And this attorney general decided it was important to have the position activated again. It's established by law, but to have it activated again. And so to organize that, to put together the team, and to make it work was a great experience.

Read more about Wayne Budd

J. Veronica Biggins

Corporate executive and presidential appointee J. Veronica Biggins was born on October 19, 1946 in Belmont, North Carolina to Jacqueline McDonald and university professor Andrew Williams. Her father, also a tennis professional, and a family friend funded several of the early tennis ventures of tennis legend, Arthur Ashe. Biggins and her two brothers attended Catholic schools during their formative years. They also spent two years of elementary school in Indonesia. Biggins went on to receive her B.S. degree from Spelman College and her M.A. degree from Georgia State University.

Biggins entered the business world as a management trainee at NationsBank, formerly The Citizens Southern Bank and now Bank of America. She received several promotions and was one of the highest-ranking females in banking in the country when she left the industry as Executive Vice President for Corporate Community Relations. In 1994, Biggins became Assistant to the President of the United States and Director of Presidential Personnel under William Jefferson Clinton. Her responsibilities included the placement of agency heads, ambassadors and members of the presidential boards and commissions. During the fourth world conference on women of the United Nations in 1995, Biggins served as Vice Chairman of the United States Delegation in Beijing, China. She later served as a Senior Partner at Heidrick & Struggles, an international executive consulting firm, and then as Managing Partner of Diversified Search in Atlanta, Georgia.

Biggins has served on the boards of AirTran Airways, Southwest Airlines, Avnet, NDC Health, the Georgia Research Alliance, the Woodruff Arts Center, the Atlanta Life Insurance Company, Downtown Atlanta Rotary and the International Aids Fund. She was also a fellow of Harvard University’s Advanced Leadership Initiative, and has served as Chairman of the Czech Slovak American Enterprise Fund and the Savannah College of Art and Design’s Global Board of Visitors. Biggins received a Points of Light award from President George Walker Bush and has been named to the Georgia State University Business Hall of Fame.

J. Veronica Biggins was interviewed by The HistoryMakers on February 14, 2006 and June 19, 2006.

Accession Number

A2006.016

Sex

Female

Interview Date

2/14/2006

6/19/2006

Last Name

Biggins

Maker Category

BusinessMakers

Marital Status

Married

Middle Name

Veronica

Occupation

Corporate Executive

Presidential Appointee

Organizations

Spelman College

American Bankers Association, Human Resources Division

National Association of Urban Bankers

NDCHealth

AirTran Airways

Schools

Our Lady Of The Miraculous Medal School

Notre Dame High School

Dudley High School

Spelman College

First Name

Birth City, State, Country

Belmont

HM ID

BIG01

Favorite Season

Spring

State

North Carolina

THM DA Link

https://da.thehistorymakers.org/storiesForBio;ID=A2006.016

Web Clip 1

https://daproductionstorage.blob.core.windows.net/media/story/video/326…

Favorite Vacation Destination

Beaches

Favorite Quote

Be Clear.

Bio Photo

Speakers Bureau Region State

Georgia

Interview Description

A2006_016_EAD.pdf

A2006_016_EAC.pdf

Birth Date

10/19/1946

Birth Place Term

Belmont

Speakers Bureau Region City

Atlanta

Country

USA

Favorite Food

Popcorn, Peanuts

Short Description

Corporate executive and presidential appointee J. Veronica Biggins (1946 - ) worked for Bank of America and was one of the highest-ranking women in banking when she left the industry. She also served as Director of Presidential Personnel for President Bill Clinton.

Employment

The Citizens and Southern National Bank

The Citizens and Southern Corporation

Heidrick & Struggles International, Inc.

President Bill Clinton's Administration

Favorite Color

Black, Blue

Web Clip 2

https://daproductionstorage.blob.core.windows.net/media/story/video/326…

Timing Pairs

0,0:261,4:2610,36:3219,44:4263,77:4611,82:6960,125:8439,143:9309,154:9657,159:10353,169:10788,175:13137,281:24808,472:25556,485:27120,567:27460,573:32560,669:32968,675:43100,924:43576,933:43916,939:50130,978:50698,987:52899,1027:55597,1088:56307,1099:59218,1167:60141,1184:62200,1233:62555,1239:63194,1275:65963,1316:66602,1330:71870,1359:72902,1371:74622,1422:75224,1430:80273,1481:94019,1810:97890,1946:98364,1953:104986,2043:105262,2048:106918,2091:107815,2106:108574,2119:109402,2135:109678,2140:115848,2213:120606,2350:121932,2390:130947,2441:131292,2449:146285,2851:151760,2979:153001,2998:153512,3014:153950,3021:159180,3112$0,0:2881,140:4556,200:7973,317:8308,323:10787,400:11591,504:13199,534:13534,540:13936,548:17910,568:20255,616:21126,636:23203,689:28161,797:30238,841:43610,987:45490,1022:48160,1033:48562,1041:48964,1048:51242,1074:59334,1181:60452,1207:67848,1333:78060,1439:78726,1492:81538,1566:82204,1576:84942,1661:87902,1732:88346,1738:88716,1744:89160,1751:91454,1781:99165,1851:99675,1857:100780,1899:102990,1960:106900,2090:111866,2142:113670,2190:119738,2291:120394,2304:120886,2310:122444,2336:126810,2365:127950,2387:128370,2395:128910,2405:129450,2417:129810,2424:131850,2460:132510,2478:134910,2524:135270,2531:135930,2545:137130,2583:138390,2615:138750,2623:139110,2630:139350,2635:139590,2642:139950,2649:144270,2659

DAStories

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/326940">Tape: 1 Slating of J. Veronica Biggins' interview, session 1</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/326941">Tape: 1 J. Veronica Biggins lists her favorites</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/326942">Tape: 1 J. Veronica Biggins describes her mother</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/326943">Tape: 1 J. Veronica Biggins describes her father, pt. 1</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/326944">Tape: 1 J. Veronica Biggins describes her father, pt. 2</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/326945">Tape: 1 J. Veronica Biggins describes her father's passion for tennis</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/326946">Tape: 1 J. Veronica Biggins describes her mother's family background, pt. 1</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/326947">Tape: 1 J. Veronica Biggins describes her mother's family background, pt. 2</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/326948">Tape: 1 J. Veronica Biggins describes her mother's family background, pt. 3</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/326949">Tape: 1 J. Veronica Biggins describes her maternal family background, pt. 4</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/326782">Tape: 2 J. Veronica Biggins describes her maternal great-grandfather</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/326783">Tape: 2 J. Veronica Biggins describes her paternal grandparents, pt. 1</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/326784">Tape: 2 J. Veronica Biggins describes her paternal grandparents, pt. 2</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/326785">Tape: 2 J. Veronica Biggins remembers the house her father built for his parents</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/326786">Tape: 2 J. Veronica Biggins describes her earliest childhood memories, pt. 1</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/326787">Tape: 2 J. Veronica Biggins describes her earliest childhood memories, pt. 2</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/326788">Tape: 2 J. Veronica Biggins describes community gatherings in Greensboro, North Carolina</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/326789">Tape: 2 J. Veronica Biggins remembers her early educational experiences</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/326790">Tape: 3 J. Veronica Biggins describes the segregated community of Greensboro, North Carolina</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/326791">Tape: 3 J. Veronica Biggins describes her growing consciousness of civil rights</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/326792">Tape: 3 J. Veronica Biggins talks about her older brother's law career</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/326793">Tape: 3 J. Veronica Biggins describes the sights, sounds and smells of her childhood</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/326794">Tape: 3 J. Veronica Biggins remembers Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal School</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/326795">Tape: 3 J. Veronica Biggins describes her childhood personality</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/326796">Tape: 3 J. Veronica Biggins recalls what she learned from living in Indonesia</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/326797">Tape: 3 J. Veronica Biggins describes her time in Jakarta, Indonesia</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/326798">Tape: 3 J. Veronica Biggins talks about her transition to a public high school</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/326987">Tape: 4 J. Veronica Biggins recalls moving to Benbow Park in Greensboro, North Carolina</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/326988">Tape: 4 J. Veronica Biggins remembers Greensboro's James B. Dudley High School, pt. 1</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/326989">Tape: 4 J. Veronica Biggins remembers Greensboro's James B. Dudley High School, pt. 2</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/326990">Tape: 4 J. Veronica Biggins recalls her cotillion debut</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/326991">Tape: 4 J. Veronica Biggins recalls placing second in the Jabba Walk</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/326992">Tape: 4 J. Veronica Biggins remembers her piano lessons</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/326993">Tape: 4 J. Veronica Biggins remembers her decision to attend Spelman College</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/326994">Tape: 4 J. Veronica Biggins remembers Spelman College, pt. 1</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/326995">Tape: 4 J. Veronica Biggins remembers Spelman College, pt. 2</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/326808">Tape: 5 J. Veronica Biggins talks about Dr. Michael Lomax</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/326809">Tape: 5 J. Veronic Biggins recalls her graduate studies at Atlanta's Georgia State University</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/326810">Tape: 5 J. Veronica Biggins describes her time in Washington, D.C.</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/326811">Tape: 5 J. Veronica Biggins recalls living in Washington, D.C. during the Watergate scandal</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/326812">Tape: 5 J. Veronica Biggins recalls moving from Washington, D.C. to Atlanta, Georgia</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/326813">Tape: 5 J. Veronica Biggins describes her foray into banking in Atlanta, Georgia</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/326814">Tape: 6 Slating of J. Veronica Biggins' interview, session 2</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/326815">Tape: 6 J. Veronica Biggins recalls beginning her career with The Citizens and Southern National Bank</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/326816">Tape: 6 J. Veronica Biggins recalls working as a branch manager at The Citizens and Southern National Bank of Georgia</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/326817">Tape: 6 J. Veronica Biggins describes her experience of discrimination at The Citizens and Southern National Bank of Georgia</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/326818">Tape: 6 J. Veronica Biggins explains how studying psychology prepared her for banking</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/326819">Tape: 6 J. Veronica Biggins describes her community in Atlanta, Georgia</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/326820">Tape: 6 J. Veronica Biggins describes her career at The Citizens and Southern National Bank of Georgia</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/326821">Tape: 6 J. Veronica Biggins recalls working in human resources for The Citizens and Southern Corporation</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/326822">Tape: 6 J. Veronica Biggins talks about the banking industry in the late 20th century</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/326823">Tape: 7 J. Veronica Biggins recalls The Citizens and Southern National Bank of Georgia's commitment to fairness</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/326824">Tape: 7 J. Veronica Biggins recounts The Citizens and Southern National Bank of Georgia's real estate debacle</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/326825">Tape: 7 J. Veronica Biggins talks about change management</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/326826">Tape: 7 J. Veronica Biggins recalls instituting a non-smoking policy</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/326827">Tape: 7 J. Veronica Biggins describes The Citizens and Southern National Bank of Georgia's maternity policy</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/326828">Tape: 7 J. Veronica Biggins recalls programs that she implemented at The Citizens and Southern Corporation</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/326829">Tape: 7 J. Veronica Biggins recalls her organizational involvement in the banking industry</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/326830">Tape: 7 J. Veronica Biggins reflects upon her career as head of human resources</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/326831">Tape: 7 J. Veronica Biggins describes her role as executive vice president of human resources</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/326832">Tape: 8 J. Veronica Biggins recalls the impact of the NationsBank Corporation merger</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/326833">Tape: 8 J. Veronica Biggins describes NationsBank Corporation's community involvement</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/326834">Tape: 8 J. Veronica Biggins talks about Atlanta, Georgia</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/326835">Tape: 8 J. Veronica Biggins recalls meeting the Clintons on Hilton Head Island</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/326836">Tape: 8 J. Veronica Biggins recalls her appointment to President Bill Clinton's administration</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/326837">Tape: 8 J. Veronica Biggins describes her work as director of presidential personnel, pt. 1</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/326838">Tape: 8 J. Veronica Biggins reflects upon her time in Washington, D.C., pt. 1</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/326839">Tape: 8 J. Veronica Biggins describes her work as director of presidential personnel, pt. 2</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/326840">Tape: 8 J. Veronica Biggins reflects upon her time in Washington, D.C., pt. 2</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/326841">Tape: 8 J. Veronica Biggins recalls meeting Nelson Mandela and her White House protocol training</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/326842">Tape: 8 J. Veronica Biggins recalls being recruited to Heidrick & Struggles International Inc., pt. 1</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/326368">Tape: 9 J. Veronica Biggins recalls being recruited to Heidrick & Struggles International Inc., pt. 2</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/326369">Tape: 9 J. Veronica Biggins describes her early career at Heidrick & Struggles International Inc.</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/326370">Tape: 9 J. Veronica Biggins describes the executive search process, pt. 1</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/326371">Tape: 9 J. Veronica Biggins describes the executive search process, pt. 2</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/326372">Tape: 9 J. Veronica Biggins describes her corporate board memberships</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/326373">Tape: 9 J. Veronica Biggins describes the impact of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/326374">Tape: 9 J. Veronica Biggins talks about the recruitment of minorities to corporate boards</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/326375">Tape: 9 J. Veronica Biggins reflects upon her life, pt. 1</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/326376">Tape: 9 J. Veronica Biggins reflects upon her life, pt. 2</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/326843">Tape: 10 J. Veronica Biggins describes her marriage and her daughters</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/326844">Tape: 10 J. Veronica Biggins reflects upon her life, pt. 3</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/326845">Tape: 10 J. Veronica Biggins describes her hopes and concerns for the African American community</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/326846">Tape: 10 J. Veronica Biggins reflects upon her legacy</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/326847">Tape: 10 J. Veronica Biggins narrates her photographs, pt. 1</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/326848">Tape: 10 J. Veronica Biggins narrates her photographs, pt. 2</a>

DASession

1$2

DATape

3$8

DAStory

2$10

DATitle

J. Veronica Biggins describes her growing consciousness of civil rights

J. Veronica Biggins recalls meeting Nelson Mandela and her White House protocol training

Transcript

The schools were integrated when my younger brother [Warren Williams] was in high school. My younger brother was one of the first to go to an integrated high school in North Carolina. And, let me remember, my younger brother was born in '54 [1954].$$Okay.$$So, I mean, you think about (simultaneous)--$$(Simultaneous) Brown versus the Board of Education [Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, 1954], right?$$--you know, Brown versus the Board of Education, you know, I remember the discussion that my parents [Jacqueline McDonald Williams and Andrew Williams] had about that. I remember, you know, driving to Gas--you know, voting, my parents voting in Greensboro, North Carolina, and then us driving to Gastonia, North Carolina to take my grandmother to the polls to vote. You know, that, you know, you had to get there early and then you had to get to Gastonia. It was a--it was quite a thing, I mean, you know, the back and forth conversations. And, for some reason I remember being, just you know, feeling, like, is something bad gonna happen because it was so much, you know, discussion about all of this. And, you know, having, you know, spent this two years out of the country in Indonesia. You know, where there all brown people and you know, everybody, you know, all, you know, brown folks were in charge. And, then, you know, to really--I think maybe before I left, I hadn't thought about in the way I thought about it when I came back. You know 'cause it was just a real, you know, I'm grown up, you know, I'm grown now, you know, not grown, but, you know, older and very conscious (simultaneous).$$(Simultaneous) Well, refresh us. How old were you when you went to Indonesia again?$$I would have been--it would have been the fifth and sixth grade for me.$$Okay. So, that would've been early '50s [1950s]--$$Yeah.$$Fifty what, is it '51 [1951], '52 [1952] or somewhere around--?$$In that time frame.$$Frame, okay.$$Yeah. That's exactly right. So, I mean, yeah, I mean, you knew, but remember, you know, here you have this community that's up to, you know, all into protecting the children and providing this, this something, you didn't go downtown that often, you know. Didn't have any money, that's part of why you didn't go downtown, you didn't have any money. But, you didn't go to the movies downtown, you went to the college, you know, you went over to the college and, you know, saw movies on campus. And, then, I remember one night my brother was out, my father had come home from--they'd had a big rally on A&T's [Agricultural and Technical College of North Carolina; North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, Greensboro, North Carolina] campus, and my, you know, father was very much involved in that. My father came home and asked my mother, you know, where my brother--had he gotten there or something. So, she hadn't heard. And, then they got a call that he'd been arrested, you know, for the sit--you know, for, for marching. And, my brother and the Julian Street [Greensboro, North Carolina] crowd basically, you know, all went, they went to jail.$How did Heidrick & Struggles [Heidrick & Struggles International Inc.], did it come out of, out of, you know, coming back?$$Yeah. But, you know, Pat Pittard [Patrick S. Pittard], and I'll go back to that. But, you know I wanna mention one thing (simultaneous)--$$(Simultaneous) Pat Pittard?$$--that happened at the White House [Washington, D.C.]. I was the White House representative when--at the airport [Washington National Airport; Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, Washington, D.C.] when Nelson Mandela landed for the first time in Washington [D.C.]. That to me--now, talk about life experiences, I probably, I mean, I just, it was, I had the, it was just great. I mean, just to--I went to the, and I, even though I went to several state dinners, what do I remember the most? I remember the state dinner that they did for Nelson Mandela. Everybody's in black tie. He had on a suit because he didn't own black tie, and I thought, isn't this fabulous. He was--it was just a defining moment I think for everyone. People, people were in awe. I mean, and people have seen--had seen a lot of people; Nelson Mandela was the--he was a showstopper by far. Just his demeanor. His, you know, taking the moment to speak to the janitors, he come in the door, I mean, you know, it was just, I mean, now, this man, it was just, it was a--really truly defining moment to have him, without a doubt. So, I wanted to not, not miss that (simultaneous).$$(Simultaneous) So, you were in charge of per- you said--$$No, no. I was the--the White House would have different people for certain things and they would ask, you know, you know, they'd be a little contingency that would, you know, be there. And, I was, and I was the White House person when Nelson Mandela landed in Washington, D.C. to meet that plane and there with the folks from the state department [U.S. Department of State] and others, too, so, really phenomenal.$$So, did you learn a lot about protocol? You know, they--$$Oh, my good--yes, yes, yes, yes, yes. I learned--I had a whole group--$$Do they have protocol training?$$Yeah. Yeah. But, I also had a group as part of the personnel group that--I had a group that reported to me that answered--I cannot tell you how many letters we got related to hired--being hired at the White House. And, we wrote the most, it was very good. The thoughtfulness of the letters that went back out to people about appreciation. And, you know, that showed great respect for the individual and, and you know, making sure just the correct, you know, how do you address individuals, all those kinds of things, really well done. Really well done.

Read more about J. Veronica Biggins

The Honorable Eric H. Holder, Jr.

Eric Himpton Holder was born on January 21, 1951, in the Bronx, New York. His mother was a telephone operator and secretary and his father was in the real estate industry. In 1969, Holder earned his high school diploma and a Regents Scholarship from Stuyvesant High School.

Holder received his B.A. degree in American history in 1973 from Columbia University where he became active in civil rights. He graduated from Columbia Law School in 1976. While a law student, he clerked for the NAACP Legal Defense Fund and the Department of Justice’s Criminal Division in 1974 and 1975, respectively. The Department of Justice clerkship led to his first job after law school, when he worked as part of the attorney general’s honors program in 1976. In this position, Holder prosecuted public officials accused of corruption, including the treasurer of the state of Florida, the ambassador to the Dominican Republic, a local judge in Pennsylvania and an assistant U.S. Attorney in New York.

In 1988, Holder was nominated by former President Ronald Reagan to become an associate judge of the Superior Court of the District of Columbia. During his five years on the bench, he presided over hundreds of civil and criminal trials. In 1993, Holder was nominated by President Bill Clinton to serve as the U.S. attorney for Washington, D.C., becoming the first African American to serve in that position. During his four-year tenure, he created a domestic violence unit, implemented a community prosecution project, and developed Operation Cease-Fire, a program aimed at getting guns out of the hands of criminals.

In 1997, President Clinton appointed Holder as the first African American deputy attorney general, the number two position in the Justice Department. As deputy attorney general, Holder supervised all of the DOJ’s litigating, enforcement, and administrative components in both civil and criminal matters. He also created Lawyers for One America, a program designed to diversify the legal profession and increase pro bono work nationally.

In 2001, Holder joined the firm of Covington and Burling as a litigation partner handling civil and criminal cases, domestic and international advisory matters and internal corporate investigations. In February of 2009, Holder was confirmed as the first African American U.S. Attorney General under the Obama Administration.

Accession Number

A2004.266

Sex

Male

Interview Date

12/17/2004

Last Name

Holder

Maker Category

LawMakers

PoliticalMakers

Marital Status

Married

Middle Name

Occupation

United States Attorney

Presidential Appointee

Organizations

Schools

P.S. 127

Joseph Pulitzer Junior High School

Columbia University

Columbia Law School

Stuyvesant High School

P.S. 148

First Name

Eric

Birth City, State, Country

New York

HM ID

HOL03

Favorite Season

Spring

State

New York

THM DA Link

https://da.thehistorymakers.org/storiesForBio;ID=A2004.266

Favorite Vacation Destination

Barbados

Bio Photo

Speakers Bureau Region State

District of Columbia

Interview Description

A2004_266_EAD.pdf

A2004_266_EAC.pdf

Birth Date

1/21/1951

Birth Place Term

New York

Speakers Bureau Region City

Washington

Country

USA

Favorite Food

Salmon

Short Description

United states attorney and presidential appointee The Honorable Eric H. Holder, Jr. (1951 - ) was the first African American U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia and the first African American Deputy Attorney General for the United States. In February of 2009, Holder was confirmed as the first African American U.S. Attorney General under the Obama Administration.

Employment

NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund.

United States. Attorney-General

District of Columbia. Superior Court

United States. Department of Justice

Covington & Burling

Favorite Color

Blue

DAStories

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/8482">Tape: 1 Slating of Eric Holder interview</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/8483">Tape: 1 Eric Holder's favorites</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/8484">Tape: 1 Eric Holder talks about his mother's background</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/8485">Tape: 1 Eric Holder talks about his father's background</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/8486">Tape: 1 Eric Holder discusses his parents' age difference</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/8487">Tape: 1 Eric Holder remembers his grandmothers</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/8488">Tape: 1 Eric Holder recalls his earliest memory</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/8489">Tape: 1 Eric Holder comments on his ancestry</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/8490">Tape: 1 Eric Holder talks about his childhood environs</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/8491">Tape: 1 Eric Holder remembers elementary school experiences</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/8492">Tape: 2 Eric Holder discusses his junior high school experiences and interests</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/8493">Tape: 2 Eric Holder recalls his teenage social development</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/8494">Tape: 2 Eric Holder details his high school years at Stuyvesant</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/8495">Tape: 2 Eric Holder details the explosive atmosphere on Columbia University's campus in the late 1960s</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/8496">Tape: 2 Eric Holder shares his reasoning for choosing Columbia Law School</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/8497">Tape: 2 Eric Holder describes the intensity of his law school experience at Columbia Law School</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/8498">Tape: 2 Eric Holder comments on his clerkship with NAACP Legal Defense Fund</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/8499">Tape: 2 Eric Holder remembers his clerkship at the Department of Justice</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/8500">Tape: 2 Eric Holder recounts early experiences after graduating from law school</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/8501">Tape: 2 Eric Holder talks about the climate of the Department of Justice in the late 1970s</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/8502">Tape: 3 Eric Holder discusses cases during his tenure at the Justice Department</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/8503">Tape: 3 Eric Holder explains how Washington D.C.'s violence epidemic influenced his judicial career</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/8504">Tape: 3 Eric Holder comments on judicial policies he disagreed with</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/8505">Tape: 3 Eric Holder talks about the intensity of the U.S. Senate confirmation process</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/8506">Tape: 3 Eric Holder recalls accomplishments as the U.S. attorney for Washington, D.C.</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/8507">Tape: 3 Eric Holder shares his thoughts on former DC mayor, Marion Barry</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/8508">Tape: 3 Eric Holder reveals the political aspects behind the U.S. attorney for Washington, D.C.</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/8509">Tape: 3 Eric Holder contrasts the Clinton and Bush administrations</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/8510">Tape: 3 Eric Holder discusses time spent as U.S. Deputy Attorney General</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/8511">Tape: 3 Eric Holder explains the political climate of Washington, D.C. in the late 1990s</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/8512">Tape: 3 Eric Holder describes his experience as U.S. Acting Attorney General</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/8513">Tape: 3 Eric Holder shares his thoughts on blacks gaining more jobs in policy-making roles</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/8514">Tape: 4 Eric Holder gives an overview of his duties at Covington and Burling</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/8515">Tape: 4 Eric Holder comments on Osama Bin Laden and Saddam Hussein</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/8516">Tape: 4 Eric Holder shares thoughts on the war in Iraq</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/8517">Tape: 4 Eric Holder contemplates future career plans</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/8518">Tape: 4 Eric Holder talks about law as a career</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/8519">Tape: 4 Eric Holder explains the importance of history</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/8520">Tape: 4 Eric Holder speaks of his sister-in-law, Vivian Malone, the first black graduate of the University of Alabama</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/8521">Tape: 4 Eric Holder notes the profound influence the "Autobiography of Malcolm X" had upon his life</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/8522">Tape: 4 Eric Holder shares his hopes and concerns for the black community</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/8523">Tape: 4 Eric Holder comments on his personal progress</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/8524">Tape: 4 Eric Holder gives the names of his children</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/8525">Tape: 4 Eric Holder considers his legacy</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/8526">Tape: 4 Eric Holder discusses the importance of The HistoryMakers project</a>

Read more about The Honorable Eric H. Holder, Jr.

Zina Pierre

As a high-ranking member of President Bill Clinton's administration, Zina C. Pierre worked on issues and programs affecting the lives of women, African Americans and small business owners. Born in 1964 in Annapolis, Maryland, and educated at Catholic University of America, Pierre is the founding president and CEO of the Washington Linkage Group, a political lobbying and consulting firm.

Early in her career, Pierre worked in television journalism as a writer, field reporter and producer. She then moved into the government following Clinton's inauguration in 1993 as a speechwriter. She worked in the Labor Department as communications director for the Women's Bureau. In that capacity, she developed public relations strategies and campaigns for informing women of their rights in the workplace. This included a ten-city tour for the "Don't Work in the Dark" initiative.

Pierre was appointed to director of the Small Business Administration. She was responsible for the department's "Welfare to Work" initiative, for which she developed partnerships with public and private entities to hire approximately 200,000 former welfare recipients. In 2000, Pierre worked as one of the highest-ranking African American women in the White House, serving as special assistant to the president on intergovernmental affairs. In that role, she served as a presidential liaison to city and county governments across the country, promoting the presidential agenda on a local level. Pierre also worked to bridge the "digital divide" by making technology accessible to people from low-income backgrounds.

After leaving the White House, Pierre started the Washington Linkage Group. She also served as director of the National Council of Black Mayors Corporate Advisory Council, and as vice chairperson of the Future PAC, a national African American women's political action committee. Pierre is frequently sought out for her views on women's issues and politics, and is the recipient of many awards and commendations. She is an associate pastor at her childhood church in Annapolis and is working on a master's degree in divinity.

Accession Number

A2003.133

Sex

Female

Interview Date

6/14/2003

Last Name

Pierre

Maker Category

PoliticalMakers

Occupation

Government Relations Chief Executive

Presidential Appointee

Presidential Advisor

Organizations

First Name

Zina

Birth City, State, Country

Annapolis

HM ID

PIE01

Favorite Season

March, May

State

Maryland

THM DA Link

https://da.thehistorymakers.org/storiesForBio;ID=A2003.133

Web Clip 1

https://daproductionstorage.blob.core.windows.net/media/story/video/908…

Favorite Vacation Destination

Sun City, South Africa

Favorite Quote

At The End Of The Day.

Bio Photo

Speakers Bureau Region State

District of Columbia

Interview Description

A2003_133_EAD.pdf

A2003_133_EAC.pdf

Birth Date

12/29/1964

Birth Place Term

Annapolis

Speakers Bureau Region City

Washington

Country

USA

Favorite Food

Crab ( Maryl Blue)

Short Description

Government relations chief executive, presidential appointee, and presidential advisor Zina Pierre (1964 - ) was Special Assistant to the President on Intergovernmental Affairs under President Bill Clinton, and founded the Washington Linkage Group, one of the few minority owned political lobbying and consulting firms in Washington D.C.

Employment

United States Women's Bureau

United States Small Business Administration

White House

Washington Linkage Group

Favorite Color

Black

Web Clip 2

https://daproductionstorage.blob.core.windows.net/media/story/video/908…

Timing Pairs

0,0:42820,335:57409,588:75452,841:76844,862:77192,867:86410,966:87190,983:87736,991:112567,1310:124445,1466:130445,1581:147610,1788:155030,1852:163082,1960:164408,2027:182440,2245$0,0:20386,228:51595,657:52015,662:65000,768:65468,773:81024,950:91793,1128:92416,1136:111645,1399:132844,1672:133168,1677:139452,1724:146404,1851:147431,1869:154778,1992:155331,2000:155647,2005:166690,2080:180210,2303

DAStories

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/90801">Tape: 1 Slating of Zina Pierre's interview</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/90802">Tape: 1 Zina Pierre lists her favorites</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/90803">Tape: 1 Zina Pierre describes her family background</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/90804">Tape: 1 Zina Pierre describes her parents</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/90805">Tape: 1 Zina Pierre describes her household as a child</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/90806">Tape: 1 Zina Pierre describes her aunt and cousin</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/90807">Tape: 1 Zina Pierre describes the sights, sounds, and smells of growing up in Annapolis, Maryland</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/90808">Tape: 1 Zina Pierre shares her school memories</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/90809">Tape: 1 Zina Pierre describes her school activities</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/90810">Tape: 1 Zina Pierre recalls her interest in religion as a child</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/90811">Tape: 2 Zina Pierre talks about moving away from home at age fifteen</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/90812">Tape: 2 Zina Pierre describes attending Anne Arundel Community College in Maryland</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/90813">Tape: 2 Zina Pierre describes attending The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C.</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/90814">Tape: 2 Zina Pierre recalls working briefly for the National Rifle Association (NRA)</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/90815">Tape: 2 Zina Pierre describes working at the Gannett Company and becoming a production assistant on the USA Today television show</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/90816">Tape: 2 Zina Pierre describes her various jobs in television production</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/90817">Tape: 2 Zina Pierre remembers working at News Channel 8 in Washington, D.C.</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/90818">Tape: 2 Zina Pierre describes how she was hired as a communications aide in the Clinton administration</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/90819">Tape: 2 Zina Pierre outlines her career trajectory during the Clinton administration</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/90820">Tape: 2 Zina Pierre describes working as the Director of the Welfare to Work Initiative at the U.S. Small Business Administration</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/90821">Tape: 3 Zina Pierre describes the Welfare to Work initiative</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/90822">Tape: 3 Zina Pierre recalls the challenges of people on welfare</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/90823">Tape: 3 Zina Pierre talks about the challenges of ministry</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/90824">Tape: 3 Zina Pierre describes becoming a Baptist minister and attending Howard University School of Divinity</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/90825">Tape: 3 Zina Pierre describes becoming the Special Assistant to the President for Intergovernmental Affairs</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/90826">Tape: 3 Zina Pierre recalls her first meeting with Bill Clinton as Special Assistant to the President for Intergovernmental Affairs</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/90827">Tape: 3 Zina Pierre talks about the impeachment of President Bill Clinton</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/90828">Tape: 3 Zina Pierre talks about her mentors</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/90829">Tape: 3 Zina Pierre describes the 2000 Presidential Election</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/90830">Tape: 4 Zina Pierre remembers the final days of the Clinton administration</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/90831">Tape: 4 Zina Pierre remembers saying goodbye to President Bill Clinton</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/90832">Tape: 4 Zina Pierre describes becoming CEO of Washington Linkage Group</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/90833">Tape: 4 Zina Pierre describes her hopes and concerns for the black community</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/90834">Tape: 4 Zina Pierre talks about how she does not have regrets</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/90835">Tape: 4 Zina Pierre reflects upon her legacy</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/90836">Tape: 4 Zina Pierre narrates her photographs, pt. 1</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/89624">Tape: 5 Zina Pierre narrates her photographs, pt. 2</a>

DASession

1$1

DATape

2$3

DAStory

8$1

DATitle

Zina Pierre describes how she was hired as a communications aide in the Clinton administration

Zina Pierre describes the Welfare to Work initiative

Transcript

I had an opportunity to cover the inaugural ball of President [Bill] Clinton. And I was just so enthralled and excited about all of the things that were happening, in terms of this new person who came out of nowhere and became President of the United States, even amidst all of the issues that he was facing then with the allegations that were taking place then.$$This is '92 [1992], right?$$This is '92 [1992]. But I was impressed with him, because he had a message for the people, and it was for all people. And I'll never forget going to, we covered the...There were a number of us that they had... they sent off, News Channel 8 sent off, they sent, provided us with gowns, sent us to a hair salon. And we all split up and went to various balls. And the minute I saw him, I knew I wanted to work for him. It was something about his message that made me feel like I was someone, and that I counted. And so, I'll never forget when someone came to me, it was just by chance. Someone from the administration came to our studio, and I was assigned to escort them back to the studio to be interviewed by one of the anchors. And I just boldly said to the woman, "Do you have a communications or a press office?" And she goes, "Yeah, by chance, yeah, we do." And I said, "I'd love to find out more about that." And so she said, "Well, get me your resume." And I went over to my computer and printed off my resume. And I gave her my resume there, and then I officially sent her a letter and another resume and told them that I was very much interested in being afforded an opportunity for an interview. And that was granted. And so they called me in, I guess, about two months after begging (Laughter) and I had two interviews with two people at the same time. And really, the rest is history. You know, most people's stories are that they worked on the campaign trail, etc., etc. I did a lot of local political stuff in terms of volunteerism and campaign stuff, but never anything on the national level. And so, never in a million years would I have thought that I would have--this little girl from Annapolis, Maryland--would have been working for the President of the United States. And it was a very humbling experience for me.$I was in the story of the Welfare to Work Initiative--$$That's right.$$--and how rewarding it was. I remember we were putting together a videotape to show to businesses... to use as a piece to show businesses the importance of getting involved in the Welfare to Work Initiative, and the benefits of doing so. And we were interviewing several women had surpassed the odds. And one woman was Sarian Bouma. And Sarian became our poster child, because she was a self-made millionaire.$$Can you spell her name for us?$$B-O-U-M-A is the last name. First name is S-A-R-I-A-N.$$She was, she came from Africa?$$Yes, she was African. She came from, I think she came from East Africa. And she came over with a very abusive husband... pregnant... and didn't know a soul in this country, but knew that she had some rights when she got here. And she packed up her bags one day after she had the baby, took the baby along with her to a shelter, went to the House of Ruth, and the rest is sort of history for her. She's... now she owns a thriving multi-million dollar business. It's a cleaning service. A number of her contracts are defense contracts. And she, the great thing that I love about her is that she never forgot where she came from, and she began to hire people off the welfare rolls. In fact, her vice-president would... When I remember her vice-president working for her company she was cleaning bathrooms. And Sarian mentored her all the way up to vice-president of her company. And I remember us interviewing Sarian, and I remember interviewing this one girl, Tamika, who said "People think that we're lazy and we're shiftless. But don't they understand that there is no raise on welfare. And so, if they think that we're living high off the hog every year, that's not true." And it really gave, for me, a different perspective of what I saw, too. Because it... there were points and times where I felt like, "Well, my tax dollars are going to people who can be out here working just like I am." And when I got to understand and know some of the people that actually are on the welfare rolls, many of these women don't want to be on it, and they want the dignity of a paycheck just like anybody else. But there were just circumstances that prevented them from being able to do so.

Read more about Zina Pierre

Bob Nash

Businessman and government adviser Bob Nash was born on September 26, 1947 in Texarkana, Arkansas. After graduating from Washington High School, Nash attended the University of Arkansas, earning a B.A. degree in sociology in 1969. From there, he attended Howard University in Washington, D.C., earning his master’s degree in urban studies in 1972.

While attending night school at Howard, Nash worked for the City of Washington in the Deputy Mayor’s Office as a management analyst and later as an administrative assistant in the City Manager’s Office of Fairfax, Virginia. Upon completion of his M.A. degree, Nash went to work in the National Training and Development Service, serving as an administrative officer, and remained there for two years. Nash returned to Arkansas in 1974, working first at the state's Department of Planning before being hired by the Winthrop Rockefeller Foundation as vice president. There, he was responsible for rural economic development and grant management. In 1983, Nash was appointed by Governor Bill Clinton to serve as the senior executive assistant for economic development, and in 1989, he was appointed president of the Arkansas Development Finance Authority. Following Clinton’s election to the presidency, Nash was once again nominated for a position in his administration, first serving in the Department of Agriculture, and in 1995, he was named assistant to the president and director of presidential personnel. Today, Nash serves as vice chairman of ShoreBank Corporation in Chicago. ShoreBank operates banks, nonprofit and for-profit organizations and provides consulting services throughout the Midwest and eighteen foreign countries.

In addition to his governmental and private sector work, Nash is active with several organizations, including serving on the board of directors of the Urban League of Little Rock, Arkansas; Mercy Housing; and the Southern Center for International Studies. He also serves as the chairman of several of ShoreBank’s nonprofit ventures, such as the Neighborhood Institute and Enterprise Detroit and Cleveland. Nash and his wife, Janis, live in Chicago. He has two children from a previous marriage.

Nash was interviewed by The HistoryMakers on October 7, 2003.

Accession Number

A2003.249

Sex

Male

Interview Date

10/7/2003

10/8/2003

Last Name

Nash

Maker Category

PoliticalMakers

Marital Status

Married

Middle Name

Occupation

Presidential Appointee

Organizations

Schools

Washington High School

AM&N College

Howard University

First Name

Bob

Birth City, State, Country

Texarkana

HM ID

NAS01

Favorite Season

Fall

State

Arkansas

THM DA Link

https://da.thehistorymakers.org/storiesForBio;ID=A2003.249

Favorite Vacation Destination

Negril, Jamaica

Favorite Quote

To whom much is given, much is required.

Bio Photo

Speakers Bureau Region State

Arkansas

Interview Description

A2003_249_EAD.pdf

A2003_249_EAC.pdf

Birth Date

9/26/1947

Birth Place Term

Texarkana

Speakers Bureau Region City

Little Rock

Country

USA

Favorite Food

Cabbage

Short Description

Presidential appointee Bob Nash (1947 - ) is the vice chairman ShoreBank, and was a presidential appointee under the Clinton Administration.

Employment

City of Washington, D.C.

City Manager's Office, Fairfax County, VA

National Training & Development Service

State Department of Planning, Arkansas

Winthrop Rockefeller Foundation

Office of the Governor, Arkansas

Arkansas Development Finance Authority

United States Department of Agriculture

White House

ShoreBank Corporation

Favorite Color

Blue

DAStories

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/11272">Tape: 1 Slating of Bob Nash interview</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/11273">Tape: 1 Bob Nash's favorites</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/11274">Tape: 1 Bob Nash shares his family background</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/11275">Tape: 1 Bob Nash describes his childhood in Texarkana, Arkansas</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/11276">Tape: 1 Bob Nash discusses his schooling in Texarkana, Arkansas</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/11277">Tape: 1 Bob Nash talks about his college aspirations as a young man</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/11278">Tape: 1 Bob Nash explains his decision to attend Arkansas AM&N College</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/11279">Tape: 1 Bob Nash remembers his social activism while in college</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/11280">Tape: 1 Bob Nash talks about Arkansas AM&N College</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/11281">Tape: 2 Bob Nash talks about race discrimination at Texarkana College</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/11282">Tape: 2 Bob Nash details his experience at Arkansas AM&N College</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/11283">Tape: 2 Bob Nash discusses his work as an employment counselor after graduating college</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/11284">Tape: 2 Bob Nash explains his decision to pursue a master's degree at Howard University</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/11285">Tape: 2 Bob Nash describes his internship with Mayor Walter Washington of Washington, D.C.</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/11286">Tape: 2 Bob Nash explains the start of his career in local government and politics</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/11287">Tape: 2 Bob Nash details his work at the Winthrop Rockefeller Foundation</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/11288">Tape: 2 Bob Nash discusses working in Bill Clinton's gubernatorial administration</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/11289">Tape: 3 Bob Nash recounts episodes from Bill Clinton's presidential campaign trail</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/11290">Tape: 3 Bob Nash describes his role in President Bill Clinton's administration</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/11291">Tape: 3 Bob Nash details challenges faced by the Clinton administration</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/11292">Tape: 3 Bob Nash reflects on Al Gore's 2000 presidential campaign</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/11293">Tape: 3 Bob Nash discusses President Bill Clinton's approach to issues of race</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/11294">Tape: 3 Bob Nash details his career pursuits after the Clinton administration</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/11295">Tape: 4 Bob Nash defines community development banks</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/11296">Tape: 4 Bob Nash expresses his hopes and concerns for the black community</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/11297">Tape: 4 Bob Nash considers his legacy</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/11298">Tape: 4 Bob Nash considers running for political office</a>

<a href="https://da.thehistorymakers.org/story/11299">Tape: 4 Bob Nash reflects on his life's course</a>

Read more about Bob Nash

Subscribe to Presidential Appointee