“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
In 1976, I was in college and a group of students were having an informal discussion with one of our history professors over coffee at the Student Union. This history professor, Dr. Warman, was an engaging and colorful individual and had great stories. But the topic on this particular day was politics since it was an election year. The Democratic party had many candidates, but we asked Dr. Warman who he thought would make a good candidate to go against the incumbent, Gerald Ford.
Without hesitation, he said, “Barbara Jordan, she would make a superb President.” No one in 1976 was thinking too much about a female President, let alone a Black female President. But we all knew who she was because of her role in the 1974 House Judiciary Committee debate over the impeachment of then-President, Richard Nixon.
What I recalled is that when Barbara Jordan spoke, everyone listened. In addition to her voice being strong, clear, powerful, and resolute, her arguments were cogent, intellectually sound, reasoned, and impeccable. You can listen for yourself to her speech here.
The speech was later rated among the 100 most significant American political speeches of the 20th century, based on a survey of 137 leading scholars of American public address, as compiled by Stephen E. Lucas and Martin J. Medhurst for AmericanRhetoric.com. Jordan strongly stood by the Constitution of the United States. She defended the checks and balances system, which was set in place to inhibit any politician from abusing their power. Jordan never directly said that she wanted Nixon impeached, but rather subtly and cleverly implied her thoughts. She simply stated facts that proved Nixon to be untrustworthy and heavily involved in illegal situations and quoted the drafters of the Constitution to argue that actions like Nixon's during the scandal corresponded with their understanding of impeachable offenses. It was a masterpiece of public speaking.
Jordan had just been elected to the House of Representatives from Texas in 1972. She was the first Black woman elected to the House from the South since Reconstruction and she served her district until 1979. Although she failed to gain the Democratic Party's support in 1976, she was considered as a possible running mate for the front candidate, Jimmy Carter. She delivered another historic speech at the Democratic Party Convention in support of the candidacy of Jimmy Carter, being the first Black female to ever give the Keynote address at a major party’s convention.
Barbara Jordan was born and raised in Texas and was the youngest of three children. Jordan attended Roberson Elementary School and then graduated from Phillis Wheatley High School in 1952 with honors. Her early life centered around church attendance since her father was a Baptist pastor and her mother was a teacher in the church. Through her mother, Jordan was the great-granddaughter of Edward Patton, who was one of the last African American members of the Texas House of Representatives during Reconstruction, before the disenfranchisement of Black Texans under Jim Crow rules.
Jordan also felt the sting of Jim Crow. Because of segregation, she could not attend The University of Texas at Austin and instead chose Texas Southern University, a historically black institution, majoring in political science and history. In college, Jordan was a national champion debater, defeating opponents from Yale and Brown, and tying Harvard University. She graduated magna cum laude in 1956. From there she attended Boston University School of Law, graduating in 1959.
Politics was in Jordan’s blood, and she won a seat in the Texas State Senate in 1966, becoming the first African American state senator in Texas since 1883 and the first black woman to serve in that body. Re-elected to a full term in the Texas Senate in 1968, she served until 1972. During her time in the Texas Legislature, Jordan sponsored or cosponsored some 70 bills. In 1972, she was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, the first woman elected in her own right to represent Texas in the House. She received extensive support from former President and fellow Texan, Lyndon B. Johnson, who helped her secure a position on the House Judiciary Committee.
She entered the House just as the Watergate Scandal was unfolding. And as mentioned, her speech vaulted her to national prominence. She worried that the Watergate affair was undermining America’s confidence and trust in their government. It was a concern that the ensuing years proved to be accurate.
While serving in the House of Representatives, Jordan supported issues related to ending unfair banking practices that kept marginalized groups poor. Jordan supported the Community Reinvestment Act of 1977, legislation that required banks to lend and make services available to underserved poor and minority communities. She supported the renewal of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and the expansion of that act to cover language minorities, this extended protection to Hispanics in Texas. Jordan was also a proponent of the Equal Rights Amendment and stated support of extending the deadline in 1979. During the period from 1973 to 1979, she sponsored or cosponsored over 300 bills or resolutions, several of which are still in effect today as law.
Jordan retired from politics in 1979 and became an adjunct professor teaching ethics at the University of Texas at Austin Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs. She was again a keynote speaker at the Democratic National Convention in 1992. In 1994, Clinton awarded her the Presidential Medal of Freedom and the NAACP presented her with the Spingarn Medal. She was honored many times and was given over 20 honorary degrees from institutions across the country, including Harvard and Princeton, and was elected to the Texas and National Women's Hall of Fame.
Unbeknownst to most people, Jordan developed multiple sclerosis in 1973. Jordan's partner of approximately twenty years was Nancy Earl, an educational psychologist who met Jordan on a camping trip in the late 1960s. Earl later cared for her when her symptoms became worse. The U.S. National Archives described Barbara Jordan as the first LGBTQ+ woman in Congress.
Jordan died at the age of 59 of complications from pneumonia on January 17, 1996, in Austin, Texas. She also had leukemia. Her memory and impact on American society and Texas is immeasurable.
Jordan's 1974 statement on the articles of impeachment (regarding President Richard Nixon) was listed as #13 in American Rhetoric's Top 100 Speeches of the 20th Century. Her 1976 Democratic National Convention keynote address, the first major convention keynote speech ever by a woman and the first by an African American, was listed as #5 in American Rhetoric's Top 100 Speeches of the 20th Century.
Many streets and schools in Texas are named in her honor. There is also the Barbara Jordan Institute for Policy Research at her undergraduate alma mater Texas Southern University. A statue of Barbara Jordan was erected at the University of Texas at Austin's West Mall near the Student Union in 2009. One of her speeches is inscribed on granite slabs behind the statue, with some of her accomplishments also being listed.
There was a very good reason for my history professor in 1976 to suggest that Barbara Jordan would have made a wonderful President. She did at least, open doors for other African Americans to follow.
Here is the speech at the House Judiciary Committee in July 1974: