Bloomberg News Profiles Vernon Jordan in Celebration of his 80th Birthday
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Bloomberg News has featured Akin Gump senior counsel Vernon Jordan on the occasion of his 80th birthday in a story looking at his life and career.
The article, “From Jim Crow to Wall Street: Vernon Jordan Turns 80,” discusses Jordan’s early years in Georgia, including his first job “chauffeuring a white banker who was shocked that [Jordan] could read,” and the path he took to get to where he is today. Harvard University professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. said no one has played “a more pivotal role in furthering U.S. civil rights in the last half century” than Jordan.
Jordan, as the article notes, was the only black student in his class at DePauw University. He later went to Howard University School of Law and then rose quickly through the NAACP, Voter Education Project, United Negro College Fund and the Urban League. He also became a close confidant to former President Bill Clinton.
Jordan, who last year was selected by The American Lawyer for its prestigious “Lifetime Achievement Award,” opines upon various topics in the article. As for whether he envisions slowing down and retiring, Jordan said, “At some point, I’ll have to deal with that. But the notion of waking up with nothing to worry about other than your tee time scares the hell out of me.”