Talk:Barbara Jordan

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Contents 1 ? 2 Prdecessors 3 Judiciary Committee speech 4 Sexual orientation

[edit] ?

Barbara Charline Jordan (February 21, 1936 – January 17, 1996) was an American politician from Texas. She served as a member of Congress from 1973 to 1979.

Jordan was born in Houston, Texas. She graduated magna cum laude from Texas Southern University in 1956 and from Boston University Law School in 1959. She passed the Bar Exams in Massachusetts and Texas before returning to Houston to open a law practice.

Active in the Kennedy-Johnson presidential campaign of 1960, Jordan wanted to be a part of the change. She unsuccessfully ran for the Texas House of Representatives in 1962 and 1964. Her persistence won her a seat in the Texas Senate in 1966, becoming the first African American state senator since 1883 and the first black woman to serve in that body. Reelected to a full term in the Texas Senate in 1968, she served until 1972, when she made a successful bid to represent Texas's Eighteenth Congressional District in the U.S. House, becoming the first black woman from a Southern state to serve in the House. She was reelected in 1974 and 1976. She received extensive support from President Lyndon Johnson, who helped her secure a position on the House Judiciary Committee.

In 1973, Jordan began to suffer from multiple sclerosis which eventually confined her to a wheelchair. In 1974, she made a well-known speech before the House Judiciary Committee supporting the impeachment of President Richard Nixon. She gave a speech at the 1976 Democratic National Convention that is considered by many historians to have been the best convention keynote speech in modern history. Because of her illness, Jordan retired from politics in 1979 and became a professor at the University of Texas at Austin Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs. She again was a keynote speaker at the Democratic National Convention in 1992.

Jordan kept her health and her lesbianism out of the press. Nancy Earl, her life partner for over twenty years, was her caregiver during her final illness and executor of her estate.

Jordan was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1994. It was only one of many honors given her, including election into both the Texas and National Women's Hall of Fame. In 1995, Jordan chaired a congressional commission that advocated increased restriction of immigration and increased penalties on employers that violated US immigration regulations. She was buried in the Texas State Cemetery in Austin. She was the first black woman interred there

[edit] Prdecessors

Scott Tillinghast Houston TX --208.100.206.195 19:33, 27 June 2006 (UTC)She really did not have predecessors for state Senate or U. S. House, because both the districts were new. Bill Moore was a state sentor from College Station. Robert Price was a Congressman from the Texas Panhandle. From Texas Almanac, appropriate editions.

[edit] Judiciary Committee speech

The article says that Jordan's speech in support of impeachment came after she was re-elected in 1974. But that election took place three months after Nixon resigned. It seems likely therefore that the speech took place before her re-election. I don't know. Could someone check into it? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Lkunz (talk • contribs) 9 November 2006.

It's not wrong, just badly worded. It means after reelection in 1972 she made a speech in 1974. It's trying to squeeze an event into a phrase in another sentence, and it created mush. I'll fix it some way. -- Randall Bart 20:46, 21 December 2006 (UTC)

Oh wait. You're right, that's wrong.-- Randall Bart 21:06, 21 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Sexual orientation

She's listed under the category of Lesbian politicians, yet there is no mention of her sexual orientation in her biography. If she is indeed a lesbian, it should be noted in her biography, with footnoted reference(s) documenting this. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 198.86.240.239 (talk) 02:00, 10 February 2007 (UTC).

We should get it into the article; I'll find a citation. - Jmabel | Talk 19:07, 6 March 2007 (UTC)