Harold Washington

Harold Washington (April 15, 1922-November 25, 1987) was the first African-American Mayor of Chicago, Illinois. Mayoral Term: 1983-1987

Chicago's first African-American mayor, Harold Washington was able to win the primary because incumbent mayor Jane Byrne and the other challenger, Richard M. Daley, son of the late Mayor Richard J. Daley, split the white vote. Under any other conditions, Washington probably would not have had a chance at the Mayor's office. After winning the Democratic primary in a three-way race (normally tantamount to election in heavily-Democratic Chicago), he found that Bernard Epton, his Republican opponent--earlier considered merely a nominal stand-in--was supported by many white Democrats and ward organizations, including the chairman of the Cook County Democratic Party, Alderman Edward "Fast Eddie" Vrdolyak. Washington narrowly won the general election in the spring of 1983.

His first term in office was characterized by Council Wars, in which the City Council opposition, led by "The Eddies" -- Finance Chair Edward Burke, Parks Commissioner Edmund Kelly, and "Fast Eddie" Vrdolyak (pronounced as if there were a vowel after the "V"), was supported by States Atty. Richard M. Daley, Cong. William Lipinski, Cong. Dan Rostenkowski, and other powerful Democratic committeemen, who prevented him from making appointments of reform nominees to boards and commissions, and refused to enact his reform legislation.

But Washington, who had been a capable legislator throughout most of his career (State Rep, State Senator and U.S. Congressman) confronted the 29-21 majority aligned against him in City Council and used his legislative skills to rule by veto. Personal compunctions and, where those were faint, neighborhood pressure, encouraged all the African-American aldermen, and several Latino and white liberal aldermen, to support him despite pressure from The Eddies. "The 29," as the opposition were called, could never muster the 30 votes needed for a veto override. Meanwhile, in the courts Washington kept the pressure on to reverse the unfair redistricting of City Council wards that white Democrats had perpetrated during the Byrne years, and when special elections were ordered in 1986, victorious Washington-backed candidates gave him the 25-25 split he needed. His vote as chair of City Council enabled him to break the deadlock and enact his programs.

He was reelected in 1987, and his second term went smoother. Vrdolyak, a former Democratic heavyweight, became a Republican. Kelly was removed from his powerful Parks post, and Burke lost his power as Finance Chair. On November 25, 1987, Harold Washington died of a heart attack in his office.

Washington was buried in Oak Woods Cemetery in Chicago. Harold Washington College in Chicago was named for the mayor, as was the new central library of the Chicago Public Library system.

Long before Washington ran for mayor, he was convicted for tax evasion, and also disbarred for accepting payment from a client and then refusing to provide his services to the client.

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