Vernon Jordan Jr.
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Vernon Eulion Jr. Jordan (born August 15, 1935) is an American business executive. He has been dubbed a Washington "Power Broker" by many.
Living in Atlanta, Georgia during the 1950s, he worked as chauffer to former mayor Robert Maddox to save enough money for college. Vernon graduated from DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana, in 1957. He later received his J.D. from Howard University Law School in 1960. In the early 60s he was the Georgia field director of office of the NAACP. From the NAACP he moved to the Southern Regional Council and then to the Voter Education Project.
In 1970 he became executive director of the United Negro College Fund and later president of the National Urban League between 1972 and 1981. In 1980 he was wounded by serial killer Joseph Paul Franklin in Fort Wayne, Indiana and he later 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.
In 1981, Vernon Jordan of the National Urban League said, of the Reagan administration,
I do not challenge the conservatism of this Administration. I do challenge its failure to exhibit a compassionate conservatism that adapts itself to the realities of a society ridden by class and race distinction. (New York Times, 23 July 1981, p 17)
In 1992-1993 he was part of the transition team for incoming president Bill Clinton having been a personal friend and advisor to the then President.
In 1998 he was accused of aiding in a cover-up of the President Clinton's affair with Monica LewinskyTemplate:Fact. It was alleged that Jordan asked Lewinsky to lie to investigators and arranged a job for her in exchange for her silence however the issue later faded and was not addressed in Ken Starr's ReportTemplate:Fact. However, he did help Lewinsky find a job after a request by Clinton's secretary Betty CurrieTemplate:Fact.
Currently Vernon is Senior Managing Director with Lazard Freres & Co. LLC, an investment banking firm, from January 2000 to the present. He is also currently a member of the board of directors of multiple corporations, including American Express and the Dow Jones & Company. He is formerly a member of the board of directors of Revlon, Sara Lee, Corning and Xerox.
In 2001, his memoir, "Vernon Can Read!" was published.
In 2005 he attended the annual Bilderberg conference.
He has two grandchildren. [1]