Biography

A racial milestone was achieved on January 13, 1990, when L. Douglas Wilder was sworn in as the first elected African-American governor in U.S. history. What made the event even more poignant was that he was elected not in liberal Massachusetts or trendy California, but in Virginia, the centerpiece of the Confederacy during the Civil War, where African-Americans constitute less than 20 percent of the population. Although Governor Wilder's victory was wafer-thin, it is no less remarkable that four out of five of his supporters were white in a state that once denied him admission to its law schools.

During Governor Wilder's first year in office, the shaky national economy and reduced defense spending threw Virginia into its worst budget crisis since World War II. Faced with a projected tax shortfall of $1.4 billion, the Governor implemented a successful program for reduced spending.

A 20-year veteran of Virginia politics, Governor Wilder was the first African-American elected to the Virginia State Senate in modern times, and after his election as lieutenant governor in 1985, he had become the highest-ranking African-American state official in the nation. In 1992, Wilder was a Democratic candidate for the presidential nomination. His gubernatorial term expired in 1994.

His early aggressive style and willingness to break with the leadership of his own party earned him a place among the five most influential members of the Virginia State Senate. He became chair of the powerful Privileges and Elections Committee, which oversees state appointments and voting legislation. Wilder advocated fair-housing legislation, labor union rights for public employees, and more minority hiring in private business.

In 1951, Wilder graduated from Virginia Union University in Richmond with a B.S. degree in chemistry. Shortly after graduating, he was drafted into the United States Army. During the Korean War, he received the Bronze Star for heroism in ground combat for rescuing wounded GIs and capturing enemy troops.

When he decided to take advantage of the GI Bill to study law, he had to leave the state because Virginia barred African-Americans from its law schools at the time. Following his graduation from Howard University Law School, he returned to his old neighborhood in Richmond to establish a private practice.

Throughout his political career, Wilder has volunteered his service to a number of associations, including the American Bar Association, the National Bar Association, and the Virginia State Bar.

In addition to numerous accolades and honorary degrees, Wilder has received a number of awards. They include the NAACP Spingarn Medal, the Anna Eleanor Roosevelt Medallion of Honor, and a Citation of Honor for Contributions to American Politics.

Since leaving the governor's mansion, Wilder has kept in the middle of current events. He has most recently been a part of The National Slavery Museum in Fredericksburg, VA, which will focus on education and will include lecture halls, an auditorium, classrooms, and a library of about 250,000 books concerning slavery. He also writes a column, lectures to audiences nationwide, and is associated with Virginia Commonwealth University, where he serves as a distinguished professor at the Center for Public Policy and the department of political science.