Emanuel Cleaver

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Emanuel Cleaver II
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Missouri's 5th district
Incumbent
Assumed office  January 3, 2005
Preceded by	Karen McCarthy
Born	October 26, 1944 (1944-10-26) (age 65) Waxahachie, Texas, USA
Political party	Democratic
Spouse(s)	Dianne Cleaver
Residence	Kansas City, Missouri
Alma mater	Prairie View A&M University, St. Paul School of Theology
Profession	minister
Religion	United Methodist

Emanuel Cleaver II (born October 26, 1944) is a United Methodist pastor and an American politician from the U.S. State of Missouri currently serving his third term in the U.S. House of Representatives. He represents Missouri's 5th congressional district (map), which primarily consists of the Kansas City-Jackson County Metropolitan Area. The district includes most of inner Kansas City as well as surrounding suburbs like Independence, Raytown, and Lee's Summit, Missouri. Cleaver took his seat in the U.S. House of Representatives at the start of the 109th Congress on January 4, 2005.

[edit] Early life

Born in Waxahachie, Texas, Cleaver grew up in public housing in Wichita Falls, Texas. He graduated from Prairie View A&M University where he was a member of Alpha Phi Alpha, the first intercollegiate Greek-letter fraternal organization established by African Americans. Cleaver then moved to Kansas City, Missouri where he founded a branch of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and received a Master of Divinity degree from St. Paul School of Theology.

[edit] Political career

Cleaver served as Kansas City City Councilman from 1979 to 1991 and as Mayor of Kansas City for two terms from 1991 until 1999. He was the first African American mayor of Kansas City. During the last days of his tenure as Mayor, Reverend Cleaver agreed to an international visit to London, England. On the invitation of UK NGO Operation Black Vote he assisted in campaigning for increased electoral participation in the elections for the Mayor of London and the London Assembly. His visit culminated in a keynote speech at Westminster City Hall alongside figures including Ken Livingstone, Simon Hughes and Lee Jasper.

For 10 years, the Fifth Congressional District had been represented in the U.S. House of Representatives by Democrat Karen McCarthy, who in late 2003 announced that she would not be seeking another term. Despite having served in city government for 20 years, including eight years as mayor, Cleaver posted weak numbers in the Democratic primary and general elections. Cleaver defeated former Clinton Administration official Jamie Metzl in the Democratic primary by a margin of 60-40 percent. In the general election, Republican Jeanne Patterson used her own fortune to fund her candidacy and made the race far more competitive than conventional wisdom would suggest for the Fifth District, which has long been reckoned as a very safe district for Democrats. Patterson held Cleaver to only 55 percent of the vote; by comparison, McCarthy won 65 percent in 2002.

While Cleaver's performance was somewhat weak in his first congressional race, a similar scenario occurred the last time Missouri's 5th congressional district seat was left open (with no incumbent running). In 1994, popular Democrat Alan Wheat vacated the seat for an ultimately unsuccessful bid for the U.S. Senate. That year, Karen McCarthy made her initial run for the open congressional seat, facing strong competition from Republican Ron Freeman. McCarthy won the relatively close race 53-47 percent despite a heavy advantage enjoyed by Democrats in the district during the 1990s. The district was redrawn in 2002, adding more conservative suburban and rural voters in northwestern Cass County and southeastern Jackson County. Overall, Democrats still hold a significant advantage in the district.

[edit] 2008 Presidential Campaign

During the course of the Democratic Presidential Primary, Cleaver endorsed Hillary Rodham Clinton.^[1] Cleaver claimed that African American superdelegates who supported Clinton were subjected to harassment, threatened with primary opponents and called “Uncle Tom.” He said they were told, “You’re not black if you’re not supporting Barack Obama. … It's ugly.”^[2] On March 30, 2008, he was interviewed on The Sunday Edition on CBC Radio and said he realized he was on the losing team: "Even though I don't expect the Kansas City Chiefs to beat the Indianapolis Colts, I cheer for the Kansas City Chiefs." He also explained his support for Trinity United Church of Christ and its former pastor, the Reverend Jeremiah Wright.^[3][4] According to BlackMissouri.com.^[5], U.S. Representative Jesse Jackson Jr. of Illinois asked Cleaver “if it comes down to the last day and you’re the only superdelegate? … Do you want to go down in history as the one to prevent a black from winning the White House?" “I told him I’d think about it," Cleaver explained. Cleaver said during the course of the primary he'd be shocked if Obama wasn't the next President but made it clear he still supported Hillary until she suspended her bid.

[edit] Committee Assignments

• Committee on Financial Services
  • Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit
  • Subcommittee on Housing and Community Opportunity
• Committee on Homeland Security
  • Subcommittee on Transportation Security and Infrastructure Protection
  • Subcommittee on Emergency Communications, Preparedness, and Response
• Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• U.S. Congressman Emanuel Cleaver official site

• Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Voting record maintained by The Washington Post
• Campaign finance reports and data at the Federal Election Commission
• Campaign contributions at OpenSecrets.org
• Biography, voting record, and interest group ratings at Project Vote Smart
• Issue positions and quotes at On The Issues
• Profile at SourceWatch Congresspedia
• Congressman Cleaver Says Lift Sanctions on Cuba by Steve Kraske, The Kansas City Star, April 7 2009