eventAction: 'click_image_ads' Clinton quietly asked Jordan to determine who on that very short list was ready to run with him. Without preamble, Clinton bore in: Will you be my attorney general?, Clinton had numerous motivations, beyond friendship. Gore immediately shot to the top, but as a fellow Southerner from the baby boomer generation, he didnt offer geographic, demographic, or even ideological diversity. Vernon Jordan obituary: civil rights leader dies at 85 - Legacy.com Vernon was so much more authoritative and seasoned than anybody else there. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). She is 87 years old as of 2020. She graduated from the University of Pennsylvania. He worked for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People as the Georgia field director. eventCategory: event.slot.getSlotElementId(), She wore a beautiful dress that was high collared but had no back. Bio, Wife, Net worth, Is Luci Baines Johnson Married? He was 85. It is possible that until that night, the two friends werent ready yet to have a conversation that would resolve whatever lingering tensions existed over the whole debacle following Clintons affair. He was a member of the board of directors of Revlon, Sara Lee, Corning, Xerox, and RJR Nabisco during the 1989 leveraged buyout fight between RJR Nabisco CEO F. Ross Johnson and Henry R. Kravis and his company KKR. [13], On May 29, 1980, Jordan was shot and seriously wounded outside the Marriott Inn in Fort Wayne, Indiana. From civil rights to business, Mr. Jordan demonstrated the highest quality of leadership and created a path forward for African-Americans where there were none. [18] His role was considered controversial given the scandal that the Clinton administration had suffered because of the president's involvement with the intern, and Jordan testified several times before the grand jury convened by independent counsel Kenneth Starr. Jordan asked for some wine; Clinton directed the only person there from the upstairs staff to fetch a bottle. Vernon Jordan during his time as president of the National Urban League, an American civil rights group, in an undated photograph. }); Civil rights leader Vernon Jordan, who was also a close advisor to former President Bill Clinton, passed away on Monday evening at the age of 85. hitType: 'event', "My last meeting with the Great Vernon Jordan in his DC office to get advice and counsel on a difficult issue facing UNCF," he captioned a photo of them together. As they began, Clinton didnt have to say out loud what both already knew: he desperately wanted Jordan in his Cabinet. [3] He was an honors graduate of David T. Howard High School. Minyvonne Burkeis a senior breaking news reporter for NBC News. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. Of all the roles Jordan would play throughout his friends presidency, though, the most important was helping him break through the clutter of opinions being offered by staffers, who sometimes didnt reveal or understand unseen agendas. His daughter, Vickee Jordan, said he "passed away peacefully. Shirley Yarbrough Jordan, the wife of Vernon E. Jordan Jr., the former president of the National Urban League, died yesterday after a short illness at Mount Sinai Hospital in Manhattan. The high-profile position landed him in the crosshairs of a racist in May 1980 in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Then the room would clear of everyone except Jordan. His wifes name is Ann Dibble Jordan (born in 1934) whom he married in 1986. But there was so much more. They then proceeded to Russia, giving Clinton a chance to witness for himself the countrys dramatic transition to a market-driven democracy. [4][8] She is a member of The Links. And I began to just think about the rest of my life and try to live in the present and for the future. Hillary would add, That conversation was a milestone in Bills decision to stay in Arkansas, stay in politics, and ultimately to run for president. if(document.querySelector("#google_image_div")){ He and his late wife had a child together, a daughter named Vickee Jordan Adams. [24] That year he was elected president of The Economic Club of Washington, D.C.[25], In 2006, Jordan served as a member of the Iraq Study Group, which was formed to make recommendations on U.S. policy in Iraq. Scroll down to explore more interesting personal facts and biography of Jordan: Born as Vernon Eulion Jordan Jr., he landed the planet on August 15, 1935, which makes his age be 85 years old as of 2020. I like being a private citizen. As Hillary herself recalled it, she had been sitting on a park bench, having just given a speech, going over the days schedule with Peter Edelman, a former Robert Kennedy aide. At six foot two and six foot five, respectively, Clinton and Jordan, with broad shoulders and radiant smiles, lit up whatever room they occupied. He is now a father to four children and a grandfather to nine kids. Soon enough, ties came off, shirttails dangled, and beer bottles emptied. Jordan, who in 1980 was badly wounded by a white supremacist sniper in Indiana, died on Monday night peacefully and "surrounded by loved ones," daughter Vickee Jordan said in a statement. After nearly six and a half hours, Clinton walked Jordan down to his car. One race in particular saddened him: the defeat of his new friend Bill Clinton. And then, in January 2001, the presidents storiesat least while he was serving as commander in chiefwould come to an end. Rockefeller, according to Jordan, said to him he was sure Clinton was going to lose the general election. Newsweek, in 1998, would note: Asked at a party earlier this year what it was he and Clinton talk about on the golf course, Jordan slyly replied: We talk pu--y. Time reported the same anecdote, but did away with all the letters except p.. Only then would he offer his opinion, a Clinton confidant explained. His first wife [Shirley] came down with MS. Ann in many ways saved his life and they created this blended family with all the kids together. Here I am, he remembered thinking, the son of a postman who grew up in the first public housing project in the country for African Americans, and Ive just spent the last six hours sharing everything with the most powerful man on the planet. Tears started to stream down his face. Clinton knew that when his friend offered an opinion, he wasnt just providing a consiglieres judgment but a distillation of all the intelligence he had synthesized from his vast network. For his higher education, he attended DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana from where he obtained his graduation in 1957. After his graduation from Northwestern University and an MBA degree from Columbia University, he was reportedly a marketing consultant in global securities and foreign exchange at Chemical Bank in New York. The men would enjoy a productive and healthy partnershipuntil 1999, when they had a bitter falling-out after Clintons impeachment for lying about his relationship with Monica Lewinsky and Gores seething assessment of it. Forty-three years later, her husband vividly recalled the first time he met Jordan, in 1977: The Urban League banquet. Remember this guy had had a fascinating life, Clinton said, but also a tough one. Awaiting Jordan was a piping hot plate of instant grits Hillary had purchased that morning. He didnt hold me responsible. We had a heck of a crowd there and he was a big star. He was urged by the president to open doors for interviews for Monica Lewinsky when she was seeking post-White House employment. Jordan was born on August 15, 1935, in Atlanta, Georgia, to Mary Belle (Griggs) and Vernon E. Jordan Sr.[1] He had a brother, Windsor. window.googletag.pubads().addEventListener('slotOnload', function(event) { Clinton remembered it as an evening he could finally feel a measure of peace after subjecting his best friend to the hell of his impeachment mess. From 1980: Vernon Jordan discusses recovery after being shot, racism in America. We started talking and instantly I was struck by his intelligence, his charisma and mannerisms. Jordans message resonated with Clinton at the very instant he was entertaining offers that would have given him financial security and less heartache. Ad Choices, Most presidents have a bestie. }) His eyes watered. His father's name is Vernon E. Jordan Sr and his mother's name is Mary . He was apparently looking to settle in Chicago and was looking over Lockhart/Gardner, so Diane and Will consider him as a third partner. Theres a lot of anxiety here. It was clear that he had a deep, caring concern about race, and so there was an immediate affinity. And Clinton saw in Jordan those same beliefs, along with the political acumen and infectious personality to advance Black interests across all aspects of American life. Vernon and I were sitting on either side of the lectern where she was speaking, and her back was visible to Vernon. They were already well on their way to doing then what [became] second nature to [Trumps attorney general] Bill Barr. He believed Jordanan advocate for racial equality and an eminence in the corridors of power in Washington and New Yorkwas the one to keep Gingrichs conservatives at bay. Into my eyesight, she remembered, came a pair of highly polished shoes and a voice that said, Well Peter, arent you going to introduce me to this earnest young woman? I looked all the way from his shoes up to the head of this very attractive man. Vernon called me and said I think you ought to go, Clinton said. Jordan, in fact, had followed the Arkansan's career because of his long friendship with Clinton's wife, Hillary, whom he had met at a conference in Colorado in 1969. In April 1992just a dozen years after that kitchen visit from JordanBill Clinton fought off his Democratic opponents to become his partys presumptive presidential nominee. He loved to reminisce abt [sic] Benjamin Mays, Albert Dent & great HBCU presidents he knew.". Updates? And he wanted to share the moment with the man who had done so much for him over the decades. Jordan, mindful of Clintons ambitions, believed he needed some international exposure and foreign policy gravitas to become a more credible candidateespecially if he were to face off against the seasoned George H. W. Bush. The next question facing him: whom to pick as his running mate? He met Clinton as a young politician in Arkansas, and the two connected over their Southern roots and poor upbringings. How Vernon Jordan became a one-of-a-kind Washington presence Vernon Jordan, activist and former Clinton advisor, dies at 85 But the economy is in much worse shape. Jordan graduated from DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana, in 1957. I like the business things I do. Vernon Jordan, who grew up in the segregated South to become an influential leader in the American civil rights movement, Washington politics and Wall Street, has died at age 85, his daughter said on Tuesday. Jordan's first wife, Shirley Yarbrough, died in December 1985. All rights reserved. She just keeps her own counsel. They conversed by phone, in one-on-one meetings in the Oval, up in the residence. He had recently seen factories close in his home state. hitType: 'event', "The nation has lost one of its greatest champions of racial and economic justice," he said in a statement. On November 3, 1992, Bill Clinton was in his jogging clothes when the first encouraging returns started trickling in at 6:30 p.m. And I realized that it was deep. She was an associate professor at the School of Social Service Administration of the University of Chicago from 1970 to 1987, director of social services of Chicago Lying-in Hospital from 1970 to 1985, and director of the Department of Social Services for the University of Chicago Medical Center from 1986 to 1987.[1][4]. Ann Jordan (Vernon Jordan's Wife) Bio, Age, Family, Husband, Children He turned as executive director for the philanthropic organization, the United Negro College Fund in 1970. And, surprising no one, he named Jordan to co-chair the committee that would identify would-be veeps. His daughter, Vickee Jordan, said he "passed away peacefully last evening surrounded by loved ones.". New revelations about how one Trump staffer helped preserve the transfer of powerfrom the forthcoming book on the Biden White House, Monica Lewinsky: 25 Randoms on the 25th Anniversary of the Bill Clinton Calamity.
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