Hamilton Jordan
Hamilton Jordan | |
|---|---|
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| 8th White House Chief of Staff | |
| In office August 6, 1979 – June 12, 1980 | |
| President | Jimmy Carter |
| Preceded by | Dick Cheney |
| Succeeded by | Jack Watson |
| Personal details | |
| Born | William Hamilton McWhorter Jordan August 21, 1944 Charlotte, North Carolina, U.S. |
| Died | May 20, 2008 (aged 63) Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. |
| Political party | Democratic Party |
| Alma mater | University of Georgia |
William Hamilton McWhorter Jordan (September 21, 1944 – May 20, 2008)[1][2] was Chief of Staff to President of the United States Jimmy Carter.
Early life
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Jordan (who pronounced his last name to rhyme with "burden" rather than "cordon") was born in Charlotte, North Carolina. He grew up in Albany, Georgia. He attended the University of Georgia in Athens, Georgia and graduated with an A.B. in Political Science in 1967. After being disqualified from military service due to leg problems, he worked as a civilian volunteer in Vietnam during the war there, assisting refugees.
Political career
Jordan was a key advisor and strategist for Jimmy Carter during the 1976 presidential campaign and during Carter's administration, serving as White House Chief of Staff in 1979–1980 (Carter, who took office in 1977, had previously not seen the need formally to appoint an aide to such a post). Jordan played a powerful role in the formulation of election strategies and government policies.[citation needed]
In 1976 Jordan's youth and casual style gave him a media reputation as a fun-loving, partying, unsophisticated "good ole boy". This turned into a problem during the last year of the Carter administration, when Jordan became a lightning rod for critics of the president across the political spectrum. The media repeated rumors of coarse and even criminal behavior by Jordan, including supposed cocaine usage and anonymous sex at the infamous Studio 54 disco in New York City, by the club's owner Steve Rubell. Though extensive legal investigations failed to substantiate any of the rumors. Jordan later recalled this as a particularly painful time in his life.[citation needed] According to one often repeated story from this period, Jordan stared at the breasts of the Egyptian ambassador's wife at a Washington reception and remarked, "I have always wanted to see the pyramids".[3] The story was told in various versions, all based on anonymous sources. Jordan denied it ever took place in his memoir No Such Thing As A Bad Day. [citation needed]
In 1986, he ran for the Democratic nomination for one of Georgia's seats in the United States Senate. He lost the primary to Representative Wyche Fowler, who went on to win the general election.[citation needed]
In 1992, he became a high-level staffer on the presidential campaign of independent candidate Ross Perot.[citation needed] In later years he served both as a member of the founders council and as an important public advocate for Unity08, a political movement focused on reforming the American two party system.[citation needed]
Later life
Jordan was chief executive of the Association of Tennis Professionals when they took control of the professional men's world tennis tour in 1990.[citation needed] His nephew, R. Lawton Jordan, served as Deputy Assistant to the President and Deputy Director of the White House Office of Intergovernmental Affairs during Bill Clinton's administration.[citation needed] Jordan authored the book No Such Thing As A Bad Day in 2000.
Personal
He and his wife Dorothy, a pediatric oncology nurse, founded a camp for children with cancer – Camp Sunshine – and a camp for children with diabetes – Camp Kudzu – in Georgia.[citation needed] He was an honorary board member of the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation.[citation needed] An earlier marriage, to Nancy Konigsmark, ended in divorce.[citation needed]
His son, Hamilton Jordan Jr., is a member of the experimental metal band Genghis Tron.[citation needed] His two other children are Kathleen and Alex. Both attend Kenyon College.
Death
Jordan died on May 20, 2008, aged 63, from peritoneal mesothelioma.[citation needed] He had survived several other forms of cancer earlier in his life including diffuse histiocytic non-Hodgkin lymphoma, melanoma, and prostate cancer.[citation needed] His body was cremated.[citation needed]
References
External links
- Profile of Hamilton Jordan
- American Experience, "The Georgia Mafia", PBS, 2002
- Hamilton Jordan coming to UGA to write book on Carter presidency, UGA Office of Public Affairs News Release, Mar 9, 2005
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