Harold Washington (15 April 1922-25 November 1987) was a member of the US House of Representatives (D-IL 1) from 3 January 1981 to 30 April 1983 (succeeding Bennett Stewart and preceding Charles A. Hayes) and Mayor of Chicago from 29 April 1983 to 25 November 1987 (succeeding Jane Byrne and preceding David Orr).
Biography[]
Harold Lee Washington was born in Chicago, Illinois in 1922, and he grew up in the city's Bronzeville neighborhood. He worked at a meatpacking plant before serving in the US Army in the Philippines during World War II, becoming the president of Roosevelt College's student council in 1946, was the only Black student in his law class at Northwestern University, and became a Young Democrats of America political activist. Washington was elected to the state house in 1965, serving until 1976 and passing bills in honor of civil rights figures. Because of his rivalry with Chicago political boss Richard J. Daley, he frequently faced tax return problems and allegations of not performing services owed to his clients. Nevertheless, he managed to be elected to the state senate in 1976, the US Congress in 1980, and Mayor of Chicago in 1983, becoming the city's first Black mayor. Washington was backed by the Puerto Rican Young Lords and defeated the Democratic machine-backed Republican candidate Bernard Epton by a margin of 51.7% to 48%. Washington championed environmentalism, attempted to reverse city population loss and decreasing Chicago Transit Authority ridership, battled Alderman Edward Vrdolyak in the "Council Wars," and became popular among male voters under the age of 55 (with a 67% approval rating overall in March 1987). He died in November 1987, and his name lived on in the Harold Washington Party, whose candidate for Mayor in 1989 won 41% of the vote.