He also worked as a field director for the NAACP and as a director of the Southern Regional Council for the Voter Education Project. eventCategory: event.slot.getSlotElementId(), Vernon Jordan: an American legend, and a good friend | The Hill Vernon Jordan, civil rights leader and adviser to Bill Clinton, dies [27][28], Jordan died at his home in Washington, D.C. on March 1, 2021, at the age of 85, and was buried in Washington DC's Oak Hill Cemetery. MEAWW brings you the best content from its global team of After speaking to 1,000 people at a League-sponsored fund-raiser he. He and his late wife had a child together, a daughter named Vickee Jordan Adams. Jordan grew up in Georgia and studied political science at DePauw University (B.A., 1957), where he distinguished himself as a compelling public speaker. Clinton thought the promise of passing comprehensive health care reform might be enough to attract Rockefellers interest, but he was wrong. hitType: 'event', The high-profile position landed him in the crosshairs of a racist in May 1980 in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Oh, plenty. They settled in for what both sensed would be the final night they shared together in the historic house. In the 2004 presidential campaign, Jordan led debate preparation and negotiation efforts on behalf of John Kerry, the Democratic nominee for president. Jordan, Clinton, Chelsea Clinton, and her husband, Marc Mezvinsky, at Hillary Clintons first presidential debate with Donald Trump, at Hofstra University, September 26, 2016. [17], In 1998 Jordan helped Monica Lewinsky, a former White House intern, find a job after she left the White House, and recommended an attorney. He didnt hold me responsible. She wore a beautiful dress that was high collared but had no back. He was accompanied by Martha Coleman at the time. window.googletag.pubads().addEventListener('slotRenderEnded', function(event) { [26], In May 2017, Jordan served as the commencement speaker at the 163rd commencement of Syracuse University. Vernon Jordan during his time as president of the National Urban League, an American civil rights group, in an undated photograph. That is, until Jordan came down from New York to talk some sense into him. Within a few hours, the networks would declare him the winner. Clinton had been approached about becoming the head of the World Wildlife Federation, chief of staff to California governor Jerry Brown, chairman of the Democratic National Committee, and president of the University of Louisville. However, Franklin accepted the commitment of crime after being guilt in another murder case. When Clinton later shared that same magnetism with Monica Lewinsky, a 20-something intern in the White House (now a Vanity Fair contributing editor), the consequences would be devastating, imperiling his presidency, and forcing Jordan into an uncomfortable role at the center of a national scandal. } He reappears in "VIP Treatment" talking to the new State's . His genius was his charm, observed ABC News veteran George Stephanopoulos, one of Clintons closest aides during the campaign and through the first term. Finally Jordan spoke. Civil rights activist Vernon Jordan dies at 85 | PBS NewsHour American lawyer and civil rights activist, Vernon Jordan has an estimated net worth of 12.5 million USD. Vernon E. Jordan Jr., a confidant of President Bill Clinton's, leaves a courthouse after testifying before a grand jury in 1998. Forty-three years later, her husband vividly recalled the first time he met Jordan, in 1977: The Urban League banquet. After that, he made himself move to the Southern Regional Council and finally to the Voter Education Project. The golf course, without any prying eyes and ears, was their private venue to share those stories. Adapted from FIRST FRIENDS: The Powerful, Unsung (And Unelected) People Who Shaped Our Presidents. [10], In 2004, she was one of the five-member board of directors of the Clinton Foundation. eventCategory: event.slot.getSlotElementId(), [9], With her husband she organized a Democratic fundraiser in 1994 that raised $3 million. He sensed a Bush vulnerability, telling Jordan as their plane crossed the Atlantic: Im out here living in the real America and Bushs popularity is based on the Gulf War. I just took a deep breath and instead of being miserable, after that, it all began to sort of fall into place. Jordan's first wife died in 1985. 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. He screwed up, and now didnt know what to do with his life. Dozens of friends and acquaintances took time to commiserate with Clinton, but that didnt change his view: his trajectory in public service had been knocked off course and he felt too depressed to chart a comeback. 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. They then proceeded to Russia, giving Clinton a chance to witness for himself the countrys dramatic transition to a market-driven democracy. He and his late wife had a child together, a daughter named Vickee Jordan Adams. }); }); Vernon Jordan, civil rights activist and former President Clinton Under his leadership, the organization added 17 chapters and its budget grew to more than $100 million. Morial said the organization would not be where it is today without Jordan. Although he never held political office, Jordan served as a key adviser in the 1990s to U.S. Pres. Jordan asked for some wine; Clinton directed the only person there from the upstairs staff to fetch a bottle. Go-between (he told Mike Espy he had to go as secretary of agriculture, helped win Warren Christopher a larger role as secretary of state and sounded out Gen. Colin L. Powell for a Cabinet job). Ive already got a dinner, but I can come by after, say around nine, Jordan told him, as independent and honest with the president as always. After advising Bill Clintons 1992 presidential campaign, he helped guide the new presidents transition into office but never took any political appointment, preferring instead to remain behind the scenes as one of Clintons closest friends and a powerful political force in and beyond the nations capital. He wasnt interested. [29][30], Jordan married Shirley (ne Yarbrough), who died in 1985. And he said to me after we were walking out, Shes a very attractive lady and that was a beautiful dress. Dinner with Vernon and Ann, his equally exceptional wife, might include members of Congress, the Secretary-General of the United Nations, cabinet members, CEOs, professional football owners . eventAction: 'load' Jordan was born in 1934 in Tuskegee, Alabama, United States. [9], After leaving private law practice in the early 1960s, Jordan became directly involved in activism in the field, serving as the Georgia field director for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. They have a daughter,[31] Vickee Jordan Adams,[32] who has worked in public and media relations for Wells Fargo and FGS Global. ", Clinton knew Jordan so well by then that he recognized what he could and couldnt talk him into. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). Vernon Jordan and Bill Clinton in Gainesville, Virginia, 2000. She is 87 years old as of 2020. If that happened, Rockefeller planned to run for president himself in 1996. A few hours later, Jordan pulled up to the South Portico in his red Cadillac convertible and went to the second-floor kitchen, where the president was waiting. Vernon Jordan is married to Ann Dibble Jordan since 1986. His daughter, Vickee Jordan, said he "passed away peacefully. He published an autobiography, Vernon Can Read! [10] From the NAACP, he moved to the Southern Regional Council and then to the Voter Education Project.[10]. Vernon Jordan is an American lawyer and civil rights activist who has sadly passed away today, March 2nd, at the age of 85. },false) Gone was the confidence that had so impressed Jordan at their first meeting. [33], In 1986 he remarried, to Ann Dibble Jordan and adopted her four children - Antoinette "Toni", Mercer, Janice and Jacqueline. Bill listened to representatives of the Bush administration give answers to questions about domestic policy, economic policy, Hillary remembered, and he thought their answers were so weak that I knew he came out of it very fired up and thinking maybe he would actually run that year. In 1955, she graduated from Vassar College with her BA degree and later received her masters from the School of Social Service Administration at the University of Chicago. Lyndon B. Johnsons civil rights conference. Interestinglyand never disclosed beforethe man Clinton ultimately picked, Senator Al Gore of Tennessee, was not on that short list. eventAction: 'click_image_ads' And I know its the best thing for me. But the economy is in much worse shape. Clinton quietly asked Jordan to determine who on that very short list was ready to run with him. When the meeting finally ended at midnight, the two men, exhausted, were aware they not only liked each otherbut they had just made a historic match. Jordan was also the executive director of the United Negro College Fund in 1980 and 1981. if(document.querySelector("#google_image_div")){ The History Makers - Biography of Vernon E. Jordan, Jr. New Georgia Encyclopedia - Biography of Vernon Jordan, Vernon E. Jordan, Jr. - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up), National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. Vernon Kay shares meaning behind special ring from Tess Daly Join Vanity Fair to receive full access to VF.com and the complete online archive now. He is most noted for his amazing role in the ClintonLewinsky scandal. I like not having a hassle with the political press. Jordan offered a persuasive alternative: Ive watched a lot of presidents. 2023 Cond Nast. His eyes watered. But I felt that I had to ask because I thought the country was so divided. [13], On May 29, 1980, Jordan was shot and seriously wounded outside the Marriott Inn in Fort Wayne, Indiana. From the early 1970s to late 1987, she worked as an associate professor at the School of Social Service Administration of the University of Chicago. His wifes name is Ann Dibble Jordan (born in 1934) whom he married in 1986. This article about an American businessperson born in the 1930s is a stub. His first wife died in 1985. He worked as Bill Clinton's close adviser. Then Jordan appeared as the lone voice in the wilderness. He was a cousin of James Shaw, a musician who was professionally billed as The Mighty Hannibal. }); Two of them are from his first wifes side and rest from his three children from his second wifes side named Janice, Mercer, and Toni. He left his private law practice and started getting involved in activism in the field. Ann was born in 1935 in Tuskegee, Alabama. Plus, Clinton didnt know if the two would mesh personally. After studying law at Howard University (J.D., 1960), Jordan joined the effort to desegregate colleges and universities and helped lead Black student Charlayne Hunter through a group of whites protesting the University of Georgias integration policy in 1961. Speaking to Now Magazine in 2010, the star - who is a huge Elvis Presley. 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. }); Theres a lot of anxiety here. 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. Its too bad they ran out of fabric before they finished it. And so began Bill Clintons closest adult friendshipfittingly, in laughter, and not surprisingly about women, which would become a frequent topic of conversation. He survived a white supremacist's assassination attempt in 1980 but was wounded by gunshot. 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. From 1970 to 1985, she also served as the Director of Social Services of Chicago Lying-in Hospital. [4] In an oral history interview archived at the Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History, an interview conducted in 1964 with Robert Penn Warren for the book Who Speaks for the Negro?, Jordan described his difficulties at DePauw as the only black student in a class of 400. Bruce Lindsey, one of Clintons closest advisors, would marvel at how crucial that was to the president. Expand 1 of 101 Betty. [5] He earned a Juris Doctor at Howard University School of Law in 1960. 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And Hillary thought: if Vernon believed she could do it and maintain her integrity and be who she was, it made her think she could do it. Hillary agreed: It was important to have his voice in that decision. He was a member of the Omega Psi Phi and Sigma Pi Phi fraternities. Vernon Jordan stands at a perfect height above 5 feet and 5 inches. Conduit to the high and mighty (he took Mr. Clinton in 1991 to the Bilderberg conference in Germany, an exclusive annual retreat for politicians and businessmen). What have I observed and learned in the quarter century since? A cause of death was not immediately released. ga('ads.send', { 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. 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. Omissions? Jordan was shot with a hunters rifle outside his hotel after returning from dinner following a speaking engagement. His father's name is Vernon E. Jordan Sr and his mother's name is Mary . Jordan grew up in Atlanta, Georgia, and graduated in 1957 from DePauw University. At DePauw, Jordan participated in the student senate . Biography. Corrections? ga('ads.send', { Vernon E. Jordan Jr., lawyer and D.C. political power broker, dies at Language links are at the top of the page across from the title. Jordan also secured a job at Revlon for Monica Lewinsky, a White House intern whose affair with Clinton spawned a scandal. Yes, he is. Jordan, in fact, had followed the Arkansans career because of his long friendship with Clintons wife, Hillary, whom he had met at a conference in Colorado in 1969. Jordan is vice chairman and secretary of WETA-TV,[5] and an honorary trustee of the University of Chicago and The Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C.[6] She is the former chairman of the National Symphony Orchestra, and former trustee of the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. He is now a father to four children and a grandfather to nine kids. From 1971 to 1981, he worked as the president of the National Urban League for a decade. Ann Jordan - Wikipedia }); Vernon Jordan, activist, former Clinton adviser, dies at 85 He was 85. He died peacefully at his home surrounded by his wife and family, Jordan's niece Ann Walker told CNN. At six foot two and six foot five, respectively, Clinton and Jordan, with broad shoulders and radiant smiles, lit up whatever room they occupied. But he is downright effusive when it comes to his wife of 10 years. 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. hitType: 'event', There was nothing we didnt talk aboutwhat happened in that house over the last eight years, all the fun we had together, what it meant to us, Jordan said. And, surprising no one, he named Jordan to co-chair the committee that would identify would-be veeps. He needed someone with superior discretion and judgment to help guide the process. pg.acq.push(function() { Vernon Eulion Jordan Jr., was born in Atlanta on Aug. 15, 1935, the second of Vernon and Mary Belle Jordan's three sons. Vernon Jordan obituary: civil rights leader dies at 85 - Legacy.com Mostly, though, Jordan was there to provide supportand unvarnished advice. (Jordan would testify twice about this and other matters, emerging relatively unblemished after Clintons second-term scandal and impeachment.) [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. And you need me more as a friend than in the government. And I also realized how dependent I had grown on him, just because we got each other. Vernon would make you feel you were being taken into his confidence and you could trust him, that he wasnt going to screw you. Vernon died on March 1, 2021, at the age of 85. Morial recalls the "deranged" man was targeting Reverend Jesse Jackson and shot Jordan instead. Several weeks before, the voters of Arkansas had rejected Clintons second gubernatorial run, making him the youngest ex-governor in American history. Their banter would play out at Thanksgiving at Camp David and Christmas Eve parties at the Jordans D.C. home; on Marthas Vineyard during summer vacations; and in the Oval Office. }); Vernon has one daughter, Vickee Jordan Adams with his first wife Shirley (ne Yarbrough) who died in 1985. ga('ads.send', { Vernon was an American business executive and civil rights activist in the United States. He will be missed. [12], That year he resigned from the National Urban League to take a position as legal counsel with the Washington, D.C., office of the Dallas law firm of Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld. But in his personal life, the 42nd president counted one man, first and foremost, as his best friend: the power broker and civil rights leader Vernon Jordan, who died in March at age 85. Joseph Paul Franklin, the avowed white supremacist who targeted Blacks and Jews in a cross-country killing spree from 1977 to 1980, later admitted to shooting Jordan. The president-elect could tell he was giving the matter serious reflection. 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. Vernon E. Jordan, Jr.'s Biography - The HistoryMakers Jordan asked the government to pay him $302,719, but he was paid only $1,215. On July 6, Clinton placed a call to Gore and offered him a place on the ticket. Jordan personally escorted Hunter past a group of angry white protesters to the university admissions office. Jordan was honored as The New Jewish Home's Eight over Eighty Gala 2017 honoree. Bio, Age, Real Name (Jorge Soriano), Nationality. His wife's name is Ann Dibble Jordan (born in 1934) whom he married in 1986. He met Clinton as a young politician in Arkansas, and the two connected over their Southern roots and poor upbringings. His memoir called Vernon Can Read! Three days later, in a nod to just how much he trusted and valued his best friend, Clintons first official announcement as president-elect was to announce Vernon Jordan as chairman of his presidential transition committee. He was apparently looking to settle in Chicago and was looking over Lockhart/Gardner, so Diane and Will consider him as a third partner. Yes, he is. (Eventually Clinton would appoint more women and people of color to more high-level positions than any previous president.) He has been in the industry for the past many decades through Jordan has amassed both fame and popularity. Clinton sized up his opponents and concluded he could beat them. I like being a private citizen. For his higher education, he attended DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana from where he obtained his graduation in 1957. 2021 Gary Ginsberg and reprinted by permission from Twelve Books, an imprint of Hachette Book Group, New York, N.Y. All rights reserved. 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. He was awarded the Barnard Medal of Distinction which is the highest honor from Barnard College in 1983. 4. Notifications can be turned off anytime from browser settings. [23] McColough served as a mentor and friend of Jordan's until McColough's death. It was very important to his decision.. March 2, 2021 at 9:40 a.m. EST. The two men had met three years earlier in Little Rock at a banquet for the National Urban League. Back in 1988, New York Times reported she is a communications training specialist at the Burson-Marsteller public relations firm in New York. Although Jordan held no official role in the Clinton White House, he was highly influential and had such labels as the first friend. He approached Colin Powell about becoming secretary of state and encouraged Clinton to pass the North American Free Trade Agreement in 1993. Jordan has four children; Antoinette Bush, Mercer Cook, Janice Roberts, and Jacqueline Cook. if(document.querySelector("#ads")){ Vernon Jordan, civil rights icon and former Clinton adviser, dies at 85 In 1981 Jordan moved into private law practice, joining the Washington, D.C., office of a Texas law firm in 1982 and quietly exerting his influence in corporate and political affairs for an increasingly elite clientele. When the wine arrived, Clinton, who rarely drinks, remembered, I didnt pay attention to it, but later I found out it was some super valuable bottle to the White House. In a tweet, the organization's president, Michael Lomax, called his death a "heartbreaking loss" and reflected on the last time the two saw each other. Vernon Jordan was a wonderful friend to Hillary, Chelsea, and me, in good times and bad. A person who often witnessed their banter described it as highly exaggerated, highly sexualized, mostly playful; it had a 19th-hole quality to it. He added: You have to remember, they were very similar in their personalities, very attractive and sensual people, and also enormously attractive to women. Each was fully aware of his own appeal, and the stories that naturally flowed from it.