Barbara Charline Jordan rose from Houston's Fifth Ward to become one of the most powerful voices in American political history. With her commanding presence and unmatched eloquence, she defended the Constitution with such clarity that a billboard in her hometown read: "Thank you, Barbara Jordan, for explaining the Constitution to us."
Breaking Every Barrier
Jordan's path was paved with firsts. In 1966, she became the first African American elected to the Texas Senate since Reconstruction and the first woman ever elected to that body. Her colleagues—thirty white men—came to respect her mastery of legislative detail and pragmatic approach to lawmaking.
In 1972, she was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, becoming the first African American congresswoman from the South. She quickly earned the respect of colleagues on both sides of the aisle, including President Lyndon B. Johnson, who invited her to the White House for a preview of his 1967 civil rights message.
"My faith in the Constitution is whole; it is complete; it is total. And I am not going to sit here and be an idle spectator to the diminution, the subversion, the destruction of the Constitution."
— Barbara Jordan, House Judiciary Committee, July 25, 1974The Watergate Speech
Jordan became a national figure during the 1974 Nixon impeachment hearings when her opening statement was televised nationwide. Her deep, resonant voice and meticulous reasoning captivated the nation. She spoke not as a partisan, but as a constitutional scholar, explaining with devastating clarity why the evidence demanded impeachment.
Two years later, she became the first African American and first woman to deliver a keynote address at a Democratic National Convention. Her speech on the American Dream remains one of the greatest in convention history.
A Teacher's Legacy
After three terms in Congress, Jordan chose not to seek reelection. Diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, she returned to Texas to teach at the LBJ School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin. For nearly two decades, she shaped future generations of public servants, teaching courses on political values and ethics.
In 1992, speaking from a wheelchair, she delivered another stirring keynote at the Democratic National Convention, reminding Americans that "we cannot flee the future... We must address and master the future together."
Achievements
- First African American elected to Texas Senate since Reconstruction (1966)
- First African American woman elected to Congress from the South (1972)
- First African American and first woman to deliver DNC keynote (1976)
- Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient (1994)
- Inducted into National Women's Hall of Fame (1990)
- First Black woman interred in the Texas State Cemetery
- Barbara Jordan Forever Stamp issued (2011)
Barbara Jordan passed away on January 17, 1996. The New York Times wrote that "few lawmakers in this century have left a more profound and positive impression on the nation." Her voice—that magnificent instrument of reason and righteousness—still echoes in the halls of democracy, reminding us what it means to believe wholly in the promise of America.
