Carol Moseley Braun: Difference between revisions

Carol Moseley Braun
Carol Moseley Braun
	File:CarolMB.jpg
United States Senator, Illinois
	In office; January 1993 – January, 1999
Preceded by	Alan J. Dixon
Succeeded by	Peter Fitzgerald
Personal details
Nationality	american
Political party	Democratic

Browse history interactively

← Previous edit Next edit →

Content deleted Content added

VisualWikitext

Inline

Revision as of 17:11, 23 October 2006

Carol Moseley Braun (born August 16, 1947) is an American politician and lawyer, who was the first (and to date only) black woman elected to the United States Senate (representing Illinois). She briefly participated as a candidate for the Democratic nomination in the 2004 U.S. presidential election.

Early history

She was born Carol Moseley in Chicago, Illinois and educated in the Chicago public school system. Her father, a law enforcement officer and her mother was a medical technician. She graduated from the University of Illinois at Chicago in 1969 and earned a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Chicago in 1972.

Public service career

As an attorney, Moseley Braun was a prosecutor in the United States Attorney's office in Chicago from 1973 to 1977.An an Assistant United States Attorney, she worked primarily in the civil and appeleate law areas and tried cases of national importance. Her work in housing, health policy, and environmental law won her the Attorney General's Special Achievement Award. She subsequently received over 300 awards for achievements in the public interest. She left the US Attorney's office in 1977 to start a family. Her adult son Matthew, is a computer engineer.

Moseley Braun was first elected to public office in 1978, as a member of the Illinois House of Representatives. There, she rose to the post of assistant majority leader. As a State Representative, she became recognized as a champion for education, governmental refore, and civil rights. As early as 1984, she proposed a moratorium on the application in Illinoi of the death penalty. And in what became a landmark reapportionment case, Crosby vs State Board of Elections, she successfully sued her own party and the state of Illinois on behalf of African American and Hispanic citizens. When she left the state legislature in 1987, her colleagues recognized her in a resolution as "the conscience of the House." That same year, she was elected as Cook County, Illinois Recorder of Deeds, a post she held for four years.

In 1991, angered by incumbent Democratic senator Alan Dixon's vote to confirm Clarence Thomas, Moseley Braun challenged him in the primary election. Candidate Albert Hofeld's campaign ran many anti-Dixon ads, and Braun won the primary. In 1992, she became the first African American woman to be elected to the United States Senate. Her election marked the first time Illinois had elected a woman and the first time the Democratic Party had elected a black to the United States Senate. She was one of two African Americans to serve in the Senate in the 20th Century, and was the sole African American in the Senate from 1992 to 1998.

The sole woman member of the Senate Finance Committee, she advocated successfully for retirement security and health care support for working men and women. Her record of service exemplified her committment to keep the election promises she made to the voters of Illinois. While in the Senate, she also served on the Banking and Judiciary Committees. Among the highlights of her wide-ranging legislative work she

spearheaded debate on reparing the nation's crumbling schools
sponsored the brownfields tax law that provided essential impetus and support for environmental remediation
helped to craft a tax policy that assisted widows to obtain pension benefits, restored the interest deduction on college loans, encouraged retirement savings, and expanded opportunities for the poor to receive the Earned Income Tax Credit
supported laws to enact a Balanced Budget Amendment even when many Democrats were not pleased with it
pushed through farm legislation, transportation support, and economic security initiatives of value to the people of Illinois and to the nation
sponsored the creation of the Sacagawea dollar coin, honoring the contributions of women of color to this nation
sponsored the authorization of the Park Service's historic preservation of the Underground Railroad, preserving an essential part of our nation's legacy of progress on race and civil rights
was a consistent and strong voice for equal opportunity, the prevention of discrimination on the basis of rave, gender or sexual orientation, reproductive freedom, and social and economic justice.

Controversy

Her term in the Senate was marked with controversy. Before her swearing in, it was alleged that she had rewarded several campaign workers with jobs at the Cook County Recorder of Deeds. Further controversy came when several of her campaign staffers allegedly accused her campaign manager and fiance, Kgosie Matthews, of sexual harassment; Moseley Braun supported Matthews against the allegations. To celebrate their 1992 victory, Matthews and Moseley Braun flew to Matthews' native South Africa using the Concorde for one leg of their trip. Meanwhile, several aides supposedly complained that they had not been paid.

The most damaging allegation of illegal activity came when the Federal Election Commission began investigating $249,000 in unaccounted campaign expenditures in 1993. Charges had been made that Moseley Braun and Matthews had squandered the donations on trips and other personal expenditures. Numerous allegations of misappropriation were stated in various media reports.

Following the nearly five-year investigation, on January 16, 2003, the Federal Election Commission found those allegations to be without merit. No fines or sanctions were ever levied against her or her campaign. On page 7, paragraph 2 of the Final Audit Report of the Federal Election Commission (AK007596, AR 93-32approved 5/6/96) it states:.."Unless specifically discussed below, no material non-compliance was detected."

Further, the Justice Department later rejected two requests from the Internal Revenue Service to investigate Moseley Braun for criminal misappropriation of campaign funds.

In 1996, she traveled to Nigeria accompanied by Matthews, who was also a registered agent of the Nigerian government.

In 1998, after George Will wrote a column reviewing the allegations of corruption against her, she responded to Will's comments, saying that "I think because he couldn't say nigger, he said corrupt."^[1] She also compared Will to a Ku Klux Klansman, saying "I mean this very sincerely from the bottom of my heart: He can take his hood and put it back on again, as far as I'm concerned."^[2] Later, Braun apologized for her remarks.^[1]

Opposed by a self-financed candidate and outspent by a margin of 3 to 1, she lost reelection by less than 2% of the vote in 1998. In 1999, President Clinton named her special consultant to the Department of Education on school construction and nominated her to become the Ambassador to New Zealand and Samoa. Once the Chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee called a hearing on the nomination, she was confirmed by a vote of the full Senate of 98-2. As Ambassador her portfolio included New Zeland, Samoa, the Cook Islands, and Antarctica. She traveled extensively throught the region and was very well received, becoming the first US Ambassador to be made an honorary member of the Te Atiawa Maori tribe. She describes this part of her public service as being "Ambassador to Paradise," a position she held until 2001. Braun was given the regular security clearance and was officially absolved of all of the insinuations of wrongdoing by all investigations previously undertaken.

Presidential campaign

She announced her intention to run for the Democratic presidential nomination in February of 2003. On January 15, 2004, four days before the Iowa caucuses, Moseley Braun dropped out of the race and endorsed Howard Dean.

Life after politics

She currently runs a private law firm, Moseley Braun LLC in Chicago. Additionally, Moseley Braun has launched a line of organic food products called Ambassador Organics.^[3]

Moseley Braun is divorced and resides in Hyde Park, Chicago. She has one child, an adult son.

Electoral history

1998 Race for U.S. Senate
- Peter Fitzgerald (R), 51%
- Carol Moseley-Braun (D) (inc.), 47%

1992 Race for U.S. Senate
- Carol Moseley-Braun (D), 53%
- Richard Williamson (R), 43%

1992 Democratic Primary for U.S. Senate
- Carol Moseley-Braun, 38%
- Alan Dixon (inc.), 35%
- Albert Hofeld, 18%

References

^ ^a ^b Associated Press, "Moseley-Braun Lashes Out At Columnist, Apologizes", CNN, 9 September 1998.
^ "Moseley-Braun loses to Republican Fitzgerald", CNN, 3 November 1998.
^ AP (2006). Carol Moseley Braun Launches Organic Food Line. Retrieved May 21, 2006

External links

Preceded by Alan J. Dixon	U.S. senator (Class 3) from Illinois 1993 – 1999 Served alongside: Paul Simon, Richard Durbin	Succeeded by Peter Fitzgerald

[Braun_Will_CNN-1] Associated Press, "Moseley-Braun Lashes Out At Columnist, Apologizes", CNN, 9 September 1998.

[2] "Moseley-Braun loses to Republican Fitzgerald", CNN, 3 November 1998.

[3] AP (2006). Carol Moseley Braun Launches Organic Food Line. Retrieved May 21, 2006

[1]

[2]

[3]

@@ Line 48: / Line 48: @@
 In 1998, after [[George Will]] wrote a column reviewing the allegations of corruption against her, she responded to Will's comments, saying that "I think because he couldn't say nigger, he said corrupt."<ref name="Braun_Will_CNN">''[[Associated Press]]'', [http://www.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/1998/09/08/braun.ap/ "Moseley-Braun Lashes Out At Columnist, Apologizes"], ''[[CNN]]'', 9 September 1998.</ref> She also compared Will to a [[Ku Klux Klan]]sman, saying "I mean this very sincerely from the bottom of my heart: He can take his hood and put it back on again, as far as I'm concerned."<ref>[http://www.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/stories/1998/11/03/election/senate/illinois/ "Moseley-Braun loses to Republican Fitzgerald"], ''[[CNN]]'', 3 November 1998.</ref>  Later, Braun apologized for her remarks.<ref name="Braun_Will_CNN"/>
-Opposed by a self-financed candidate and outspent by a margin of 3 to 1, she lost reelection  by less than 2% of the vote in 1998.  In 1999, President Clinton named her special consultant to the Department of Education on school construction and nominated her to become the Ambassador to New Zealand and Samoa. Once the Chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee called a hearing on the nomination, she was confirmed by a vote of the full Senate of 98-2.  As Ambassador her protfolio included New Zeland, Samoa, the Cook Islands, and Antarctica.  She traveled extensively throught the region and was very well received, becoming the first US Ambassador to be made an honorary member of the Te Atiawa Maori tribe.  She describes this part of her public service as being "Ambassador to Paradise," a position she held until 2001.
+Opposed by a self-financed candidate and outspent by a margin of 3 to 1, she lost reelection  by less than 2% of the vote in 1998.  In 1999, President Clinton named her special consultant to the Department of Education on school construction and nominated her to become the Ambassador to New Zealand and Samoa. Once the Chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee called a hearing on the nomination, she was confirmed by a vote of the full Senate of 98-2.  As Ambassador her portfolio included New Zeland, Samoa, the Cook Islands, and Antarctica.  She traveled extensively throught the region and was very well received, becoming the first US Ambassador to be made an honorary member of the Te Atiawa Maori tribe.  She describes this part of her public service as being "Ambassador to Paradise," a position she held until 2001.
 Braun was given the regular security clearance and was officially absolved of all of the insinuations of wrongdoing by all investigations previously undertaken.