Maynard Jackson mayoral administrative records

Maynard Holbrook Jackson, Jr. (b. 1938-d. 2003) was an outspoken lawyer and the youngest person ever elected mayor of a major southern city. He was also the first African-American mayor of a major southern city, becoming the mayor of Atlanta, Georgia in 1973. Jackson served eight years and then returned for a third term in 1990, following Andrew Young. Among his first endeavors as mayor was the restructuring of the city charter. The Board of Alderman, on which he once served as president, was immediately transformed into an eighteen-member city council. Additionally, twenty-four neighborhood planning units (NPUs) were formed, and public hearings were promoted. Jackson believed that racial unity was imperative for Atlanta's growth as a major city, and he worked tirelessly to provide equitable opportunities for all of his constituents. Because of this stance, Jackson faced great adversity throughout his first term, as he insisted that all new business pursuits funded by the city government actively seek to hire minorities.

The third of six children born to Maynard Sr. and Irene Dobbs Jackson, Jackson was born in Dallas, Texas on March 23, 1938. His father became pastor of the Friendship Baptist Church in 1945, and the family moved to Atlanta when Jackson was eight years old. A former Spelman professor of French, his mother was an Atlanta native and one of the accomplished daughters of John Wesley Dobbs, a leading local political activist and the founder of the Georgia Voters League. Following the untimely demise of Jackson's father in 1953, Dobbs became an influential figure in his life and served as a great role model to his teenage grandson. Jackson ultimately carried on the family legacy of serving the Atlanta community.

Jackson enrolled at Morehouse College through a special early-entry program at the age of fourteen. He graduated at the age of eighteen with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science and History in 1956. His first job after college was as a claims examiner for the Ohio State Bureau of Unemployment Compensation in Cleveland. In 1958, he accepted a salesman position selling encyclopedias for P. F. Collier Company. Jackson decided to re-enter school in 1961 and attended North Carolina Central University Law School. He graduated cum laude with a Juris Doctor degree in 1964. The following year, he returned to Atlanta and passed the Georgia Bar Exam. He was then hired as a general attorney for the National Labor Relations Board. He later served with the Emory Community Legal Service Center who provided free legal services to low-income families in Atlanta.

In December 1965, Jackson married Burnella "Bunnie" Hayes Burke; they were the parents of three children Elizabeth, Brooke, and Maynard III. They divorced in 1976. Jackson married Valerie Richardson on October 7, 1977. Together, they had two children, Valerie Amanda and Alexandra.

At the age of 30, Jackson entered politics in 1968, when he ran an underfunded race for the U.S. Senate against incumbent Herman Talmadge. He won less than one-third of the statewide vote. He had reportedly entered the race because he felt the unopposed Talmadge needed some healthy competition. Jackson claimed his loss as a major victory for democracy because it demonstrated the right of any American citizen to run for political office. Nevertheless, he carried the city of Atlanta and immediately began a strong political force in the city. The following year, he was elected Atlanta's first African-American Vice-Mayor and was sworn into office on January 5, 1970. Jackson also became the president of the Board of Aldermen. While serving this role, the city charter was altered to strengthen the hand of the mayor. The new charter changed the aldermen to council members and replaced the vice mayor with the position of president of the city council. Also, during this time, he cofounded and became senior partner of Jackson, Patterson, & Parks, the first firm of African-American lawyers in the history of Georgia.

In 1973, Jackson campaigned successfully against incumbent Mayor Sam Massell to become Atlanta's first African-American mayor. He won nearly 60 percent of the vote and served two consecutive terms. His many victories included the implementation of affirmative action into city contracts. Jackson succeeded in raising the proportion of minority business contracts from less than 1 percent to more than 35 percent. Under his leadership, numerous appointments of women and African Americans were made to high offices for the first time in Atlanta's history. His most notable achievement was the construction of Atlanta's $400 million dollar international airport, the world's largest airport that was renamed the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport in 2004 in his honor. The airport represented his relentless demand that minorities and women are employed in all facets of the business. Affirmative action, however, was not just an issue for the business community. Jackson also made this a pressing matter for reform within the social departments of the Atlanta city government. The police department considered to be racially insensitive and unnecessarily forceful with the city's African-American citizens was immediately overhauled during Jackson's first term. At that time, Jackson's greatest opposition was the police chief, John Inman, who was eventually defeated in a court case to uphold affirmative action. Jackson went on to create a new Public Safety Commission and appointed an African-American activist, A. Reginald Eaves, to oversee it.

After serving two consecutive terms (1974 to 1982), Jackson returned to the private sector as a bond attorney and managing partner of the Atlanta office of Chicago-based Chapman & Cutler. He remained influential in city politics behind the scenes during the Andrew Young mayoral administration. He decided to seek a third term in 1989, running against civil rights activist Hosea Williams. Jackson received 79 percent of the vote. During his third term (1990 to 1994), his national prominence accelerated him as a spokesman for cities throughout the United States. He served as president of the National Conference of Democratic Mayors and president of the National Black Caucus of Local Elected Officials. His goal of advancing Atlanta's international stature was reached when he diligently worked with city officials to bring the 1996 Centennial Olympic Games to Atlanta. Atlanta was only the third city in the United States to be chosen to host the Olympics.

After undergoing a sextuple heart bypass surgery in 1993, Jackson declined the call to run for a fourth term due to health and personal reasons, despite having a public approval rating of 70 percent. He soon established Jackmont Hospitality, Inc., a retail and institutional food and beverage services company, with his daughter Brooke, and Jackson Securities, Inc., an investment banking firm headquartered in Atlanta. In 1996, Jackson Securities was named one of America's top five African-American investment banking companies by Black Enterprise magazine. In 2001, Jackson founded the American Voters League, a national initiative for the Democratic National Convention to increase voter turnout in local and state elections.

Maynard Jackson died of a heart attack on June 23, 2003 in Washington, D.C. at the age of 65.