Read Ebook {PDF EPUB} Barbara Jordan Speaking the Truth with Eloquent Thunder [With DVD] by Barbara Jordan Barbara jordan speech all together now. Barbara Jordan: Speaking the Truth with Eloquent Thunder by Max Sherman. Revered by Americans across the political spectrum, Barbara Jordan was the most outspoken moral voice of the American political system, in the words of former President Bill Clinton, who awarded her the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1994. Throughout her career as a Texas senator, U.S. congresswoman, and distinguished professor at the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs, Barbara Jordan lived by a simple creed: Ethical behavior means being honest, telling the truth, and doing what you said you were going to do. Her strong stand for ethics in government, civil liberties, and democratic values still provides a standard around which the nation can unite in the twenty-first century. This volume brings together several major political speeches that articulate Barbara Jordans most deeply held values. They include: Erosion of Civil Liberties, a commencement address delivered at Howard University on May 12, 1974, in which Jordan warned that tyranny in America is possible The Constitutional Basis for Impeachment, Jordans ringing defense of the U.S. Constitution before the House Judiciary Committee investigating the Watergate break-in Keynote addresses to the Democratic National Conventions of 1976 and 1992, in which Jordan set forth her vision of the Democratic Party as an advocate for the common good and a catalyst of change Testimony in the U.S. Congress on the confirmation of Supreme Court nominee Robert Bork and on immigration reform Meditations on faith and politics from two National Prayer Breakfasts Acceptance speech for the 1995 Sylvanus Thayer Award presented by the Association of Graduates of the United States Military Academy, in which Jordan challenged the military to uphold the values of duty, honor, country. Accompanying the speeches, some of which readers can also watch on an enclosed DVD, are context-setting introductions by volume editor Max Sherman. The book concludes with the eloquent eulogy that Bill Moyers delivered at Barbara Jordans memorial service in 1996, in which he summed up Jordans remarkable life and career by saying, Just when we despaired of finding a hero, she showed up, to give the sign of democracy. This is no small thing. This, my friends, this is grace. And for it we are thankful. Barbara jordan speech all together now. Barbara Jordan: Speaking the Truth with Eloquent Thunder by Max Sherman. Revered by Americans across the political spectrum, Barbara Jordan was the most outspoken moral voice of the American political system, in the words of former President Bill Clinton, who awarded her the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1994. Throughout her career as a Texas senator, U.S. congresswoman, and distinguished professor at the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs, Barbara Jordan lived by a simple creed: Ethical behavior means being honest, telling the truth, and doing what you said you were going to do. Her strong stand for ethics in government, civil liberties, and democratic values still provides a standard around which the nation can unite in the twenty-first century. This volume brings together several major political speeches that articulate Barbara Jordans most deeply held values. They include: Erosion of Civil Liberties, a commencement address delivered at Howard University on May 12, 1974, in which Jordan warned that tyranny in America is possible The Constitutional Basis for Impeachment, Jordans ringing defense of the U.S. Constitution before the House Judiciary Committee investigating the Watergate break-in Keynote addresses to the Democratic National Conventions of 1976 and 1992, in which Jordan set forth her vision of the Democratic Party as an advocate for the common good and a catalyst of change Testimony in the U.S. Congress on the confirmation of Supreme Court nominee Robert Bork and on immigration reform Meditations on faith and politics from two National Prayer Breakfasts Acceptance speech for the 1995 Sylvanus Thayer Award presented by the Association of Graduates of the United States Military Academy, in which Jordan challenged the military to uphold the values of duty, honor, country. Accompanying the speeches, some of which readers can also watch on an enclosed DVD, are context-setting introductions by volume editor Max Sherman. The book concludes with the eloquent eulogy that Bill Moyers delivered at Barbara Jordans memorial service in 1996, in which he summed up Jordans remarkable life and career by saying, Just when we despaired of finding a hero, she showed up, to give the sign of democracy. This is no small thing. This, my friends, this is grace. And for it we are thankful. Barbara Jordan. A collection of stirring speeches by former U.S. Congresswoman Barbara Jordan that speaks to issues—ethics in government, civil liberties, and democratic values—still under intense debate in the twenty-first century. Revered by Americans across the political spectrum, Barbara Jordan was "the most outspoken moral voice of the American political system," in the words of former President Bill Clinton, who awarded her the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1994. Throughout her career as a Texas senator, U.S. congresswoman, and distinguished professor at the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs, Barbara Jordan lived by a simple creed: "Ethical behavior means being honest, telling the truth, and doing what you said you were going to do." Her strong stand for ethics in government, civil liberties, and democratic values still provides a standard around which the nation can unite in the twenty-first century. This volume brings together several major political speeches that articulate Barbara Jordan's most deeply held values. They include: "Erosion of Civil Liberties," a commencement address delivered at Howard University on May 12, 1974, in which Jordan warned that "tyranny in America is possible" "The Constitutional Basis for Impeachment," Jordan's ringing defense of the U.S. Constitution before the House Judiciary Committee investigating the Watergate break-in Keynote addresses to the Democratic National Conventions of 1976 and 1992, in which Jordan set forth her vision of the Democratic Party as an advocate for the common good and a catalyst of change Testimony in the U.S. Congress on the confirmation of Supreme Court nominee Robert Bork and on immigration reform Meditations on faith and politics from two National Prayer Breakfasts Acceptance speech for the 1995 Sylvanus Thayer Award presented by the Association of Graduates of the United States Military Academy, in which Jordan challenged the military to uphold the values of "duty, honor, country" Accompanying the speeches, some of which readers can also watch on an enclosed DVD, are context-setting introductions by volume editor Max Sherman. The book concludes with the eloquent eulogy that Bill Moyers delivered at Barbara Jordan's memorial service in 1996, in which he summed up Jordan's remarkable life and career by saying, "Just when we despaired of finding a hero, she showed up, to give the sign of democracy. This is no small thing. This, my friends, this is grace. And for it we are thankful." The Best of the Best from the University PressesAmerican Library Association. Preface Acknowledgments Biography of Barbara Jordan, with Student Comments My Personal Introduction of Barbara Jordan Erosion of Civil Liberties: Commencement Speech, Howard University, May 11, 1974 The National Political Stage Rising to the Occasion: The Constitutional Basis for Impeachment, U.S. House Judiciary Committee Impeachment Hearings, July 25, 1974 Center Stage: Democratic National Convention Keynote Address, July 12, 1976 The Spotlight after Congress: Democratic National Convention Keynote Address, July 13, 1992 Confirmation of Supreme Court Justices: Testimony in Opposition to the Nomination of Robert Bork, September 17, 1987 Immigration Reform: Congressional Testimony as Chair of the U.S. Commission on Immigration Reform, March 29, 1995 Religious Faith and Politics: Prayer at the National Prayer Breakfast, February 2, 1978; Address at the National Prayer Breakfast, February 2, 1984 Unswerving Dedication to Principle: 1995 Sylvanus Thayer Award Citation, West Point, October 5; Barbara Jordan's Thayer Award Acceptance. Max Sherman is Professor Emeritus and former Dean of the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin. He was Barbara Jordan's friend and colleague for twenty-five years, first in the Texas Senate and later at the LBJ School. I take my cue from Henry Steele Commager, one of the nation's most distinguished historians and teachers, who died in March 1998. This consummate teacher said, "What every college must do is hold up before the young the spectacle of greatness" in history, literature, and life. I would go a step further and say that all of us in public service must hold up before the young—and the public—the spectacle of greatness. How will we do this? If I have a theme, it centers on the life of Barbara Jordan, who was my friend and colleague for twenty-five years. For most people in public life, she symbolized what ethics and values are. In 1988 Barbara almost drowned. I was at my mother's home in the Texas Panhandle when the call came informing me of the accident. I immediately boarded a plane and came to Austin. I went from the airport to the hospital. The intensive care area was closed, but being a politician, and in my youth a door-to-door Bible salesman, I found an open door and a friendly custodian who took me through the maze of hallways to her room. Her attending physician was still there. I identified myself and he let me stay. They were not sure she would live through the night. I held her hand, but because she was unconscious, she did not know I was there. Later, while still in the hospital and unsure of her future, Barbara invited a few people to come and spend some time with her. We did not talk about politics or policy matters, but fundamental, basic values. We even worked in a little religion. Barbara lived for eight additional years. That near miss with death shaped the rest of her life. I am convinced that she approached her teaching, her life, and her commentary on important public events with a new intensity. She had renewed her commitment to higher moral values. In the administration of Governor Ann Richards of Texas, Barbara Jordan served as the "Ethics Czar." She addressed and charged every new group of gubernatorial appointees on matters of ethics. One of those appointees remembers that Barbara also scared them to death by telling them that they were now "public servants" and that there is a vast difference between "public" and "private." Barbara's message was this: you will make more money in the private sector; you can conduct most of your business in secret; you do not have to tell others how you spend your money. Private activity is more efficient; there are not as many rules and regulations. In public life you will not get rich; your business will be conducted in the open; your budgets will be open to the public; it is terribly inefficient because of the many rules and regulations to ensure public accountability. She told those public servants and all of her students that public service is the price we pay for the space we occupy on this earth. It is the highest calling. One does not enter it lightly. I was fortunate to have a choice seat at Barbara's funeral at the Good Hope Missionary Baptist Church in Houston. Luminaries and dignitaries from throughout the nation were there, as well as lines upon lines of average, ordinary people who had come to pay their respects. A nation was holding up "the spectacle of greatness" for the young and for the whole world to see. Even now, some of the following events strike me as uncanny, even eerie. At Christmastime in 1995, Barbara was hospitalized again. I went unannounced to her room, as I always did (because if you called ahead, the answer from hospitals, doctors, or attendants was always "no"). She was in intensive care, this time at another Austin hospital. The nurse told her I was there, and I was invited in. She was not well. While I was there, her doctor came to report some test results. I offered to leave, but she asked me to stay and asked the doctor to go ahead. It was not good news. Medically, Barbara was not given long to live. By her choice, she went home and had excellent care. On a Tuesday morning, January 16, 1996, I went to my office, but an instinct told me to drive down to Manchaca, a few miles south of Austin, to see Barbara. Unannounced, I knocked on the door. I was invited in. The breathing machine was not working, and two nurses were trying to make it work. Two of Barbara's close friends asked me to come into another room to talk. They confided that Barbara "never thought she would die" and, consequently, had not made specific plans for her death. I left there with three tasks: to contact Bill Moyers to see if he would speak at a memorial service, to contact her lawyer and tell him Barbara was dying, and to see if a burial place could be arranged in the Texas State Cemetery. By noon the first two tasks were completed and the third was on track. I had an appointment to meet the superintendent of the State Cemetery the next afternoon. All of us were going to meet at the lawyer's office the next morning at ten. Before we met for those appointments, just before 9:30 the next morning, Barbara's close friend called to tell me, "It's over." Barbara had just died, January 17, 1996. We did meet later that morning. Stan, a longtime friend of Barbara's, and I were dispatched to pick a plot in the State Cemetery. The cemetery's superintendent had worked in the State Senate when Barbara and I served there. He called me "Senator Sherman" and called Barbara "Senator Jordan." He told us that because of recent renovations the old, original hill had three possible places. He picked out what he thought was the "choice" plot. The geography was perfect, but knowing Barbara's politics, we felt that the company of very conservative Texas politicians was problematic. Stan and I agreed we should look at the "second best" spot. I should add that earlier I had asked Barbara's closest friend what we were looking for. She jokingly said, "Well, you know Barbara. It needs to be on the highest hill, and next to Stephen F. Austin [known as the 'Father of Texas']." I laughed with her, knowing that is what Barbara would have wanted, but now it appeared impossible. Stan and I went to the spot on the back side of the hill, measured it, and looked over the adjoining graves. Stan said, "I think this is it." It was on the old hill. But I had the nagging feeling that we should see the last spot, which was considered unworkable. It had been reserved for Col. James W. Fannin, one of the early Texas heroes who was buried at Goliad. Fannin's daughter was already buried close by. But the proposed renovation plans of the State Cemetery included a separate area for "Texas Heroes." So, for the first time in more than one hundred years, this spot was available. The superintendent said, "It may not have enough space, since it was designed for little people of another era, and Senator Jordan was a big woman." I asked him to measure it anyway. "Lo and behold, Senator, it will work," he said. And that is where she was buried. Barbara's grave is at the top of the highest hill in the Texas State Cemetery, and it corners on the grave of Stephen F. Austin! What does all of this have to do with ethics for those of us living and meeting tough challenges today? Barbara Jordan distilled ethics down to its essence. But how? Where did this innate sense of right and wrong, of "oughtness," come from? I think it came out of her upbringing in a Baptist minister's manse, out of her education, out of her dogged determination against gender and racial barriers, out of her overcoming the frailties of the human body, out of her success as an elected public servant and her preeminence as a teacher. This is what Barbara said in an interview given shortly before her death. It is a surprisingly simple definition: Ethical behavior means being honest, telling the truth, and doing what you said you would do. At an earlier, happier time, there was an all-day picnic at Barbara's riverside home to celebrate her first ten years of teaching and preparing graduate students for public service. Her students came back from Washington, D.C., and many other places across this country and abroad. One of those students, who returned to Texas for the first time in ten years in order to attend the event, said this about Professor Jordan: "Above all else, she has taught me that greatness, more than power or fame, is something you do every day." By holding up Barbara Jordan as a "spectacle of greatness," those of us who call ourselves "public servants" take on the mantle of telling the truth, whether we be president, special counsel, judge, elected or appointed official, public employee; we are honest; we tell the truth; we protect and care for the public and public resources; and we do what we said we would do when we accepted our respective public service positions. If we call ourselves "public servants," we should live our lives in such a way that whenever we retire, or are honored or recognized by our agency or college or public institution, or just whenever we are remembered by our colleagues, we are remembered for living and conducting our public business in the most honorable, ethical way. Few of us will have the opportunity to be on the nation's center stage as Barbara Jordan was, but each of us should aspire to be remembered as a "spectacle of greatness" in our own small corner of this planet. Even if we cannot change the world, the state, or even our agency, we can, to borrow from Mahatma Gandhi, influence our own "zone of peace." This should be our goal. This book may also be available on the following library platforms; check with your local library: Ebsco Proquest Overdrive 3M Cloud Library/bibliotheca. Texas Originals. In July 1974, as the Watergate hearings took place, one voice stood out expressing faith in American ideals. That voice—deep, measured, and unmistakable—belonged to Texas Congresswoman Barbara Jordan. "My faith in the Constitution is whole," Jordan declared, "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." Jordan's words electrified Congress and a national televised audience, and helped bring about President Nixon's resignation. Jordan was born in Houston’s Fifth Ward in 1936 and attended segregated schools until she enrolled at Boston University Law School. In 1966, Barbara Jordan began her historic political career when she became the first African American woman elected to the Texas Senate. Six years later, she won election to the U.S. House of Representatives, becoming the first African American woman from a southern state to serve in the body. Jordan mastered the art of political compromise, but never wavered in her commitment to the Constitution. In 1979, Jordan retired from elective office to begin a teaching career, after being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. When she died, in 1996, her burial in the Texas State Cemetery marked yet another first: she was the first black woman interred there. For More about Barbara Jordan. AmericanRhetoric.com offers a video recording of Jordan's "1976 Democratic National Convention Keynote Address" given in New York, New York, on July 12, 1976, and an audio version of Jordan's "Statement on the Articles of Impeachment" to the House Judiciary Committee on July 25, 1974. The Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs offers a transcript and audio of Barbara Jordan's Landmark Speech to the 1976 Democratic National Convention. The Lyndon Baines Johnson Library and Museum created oral history interviews with Barbara Jordan; transcripts are available online. Jordan's alma mater, Texas Southern University in Houston, houses her papers in the Robert J. Terry Library's Special Collections. Texas Southern University offers a virtual exhibition for download based on materials from its Barbara Jordan Archives. Selected Bibliography. "Barbara Charline Jordan." In Black Americans in Congress, 1870–2007 . Prepared under the direction of the Committee on House Administration by the Office of History & Preservation, U. S. House of Representatives. Washington: Government Printing Office, 2008. Barnes, Ben, with Lisa Dickey. Barn Burning, Barn Building: Tales of a Political Life . Albany, TX: Bright Sky Press, 2006. Curtin, Mary Ellen. "Reaching for Power: Barbara C. Jordan and Liberals in the Texas Legislature, 1966-1972." The Southwestern Historical Quarterly 108, No. 2 (October 2004): 210–231. Fenno, Richard. Going Home: Black Representatives and Their Constituents . Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2003. "The First and Only." Transcript, News Hour with Jim Lehrer . January 17, 1996. Jordan, Barbara. Barbara Jordan: Speaking the Truth with Eloquent Thunder . Edited by Max Sherman. Austin: University of Texas Press, 2007. Jordan, Barbara, and Shelby Hearon. Barbara Jordan: A Self Portrait . Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1979. Odintz, Mark. "Jordan, Barbara Charline." Handbook of Texas Online. Rogers, Mary Beth. Barbara Jordan: American Hero . New York: Simon & Schuster, 1999. Barbara Jordan. Barbara Charline Jordan (February 21, 1936 – January 17, 1996) was an American politician from Texas. She served as a congresswoman in the United States House of Representatives from 1973 to 1979. Contents. Biography. Jordan was born in Houston's Fifth Ward to Rev. Benjamin M. Jordan and Arlyne (Patton) Jordan. Barbara Jordan attended Wheatley High School, where one of the nation's few African-American female attorneys, Edith S. Sampson, spoke and inspired Jordan to become a lawyer. [1] This was a difficult ambition at the time, because only one law school in Texas admitted African- Americans. [1] With the support of her father, Jordan graduated magna cum laude from Texas Southern University in 1956 and from Boston University Law School in 1959. [1] She passed the bar exams in Massachusetts and Texas before returning to Houston to open a law practice, only the third African-American woman to be licensed in Texas. [1] Jordan campaigned for the Texas House of Representatives in 1962 and 1964. [1] Her persistence won her a seat in the Texas Senate in 1966, becoming the first African American state senator since 1883 and the first black woman to serve in that body. [1] Re-elected to a full term in the Texas Senate in 1968, she served until 1972. She was the first African-American female to serve as president pro tem of the state senate and served for one day as acting governor of Texas in 1972. In 1972, she was elected to the United States House of Representatives, becoming the first black woman from a Southern state to serve in the House. She received extensive support from former President Lyndon Johnson, who helped her secure a position on the House Judiciary Committee. In 1974, she made an influential, televised speech before the House Judiciary Committee supporting the impeachment of President Richard Nixon. Jordan was mentioned as a possible running mate to Jimmy Carter in 1976, [1] and that year she became the first African-American woman to deliver the keynote address at an American national party convention. [1] Her speech in New York that summer was ranked 5th in "Top 100 American Speeches of the 20th century" list and was considered by many historians to have been the best convention keynote speech in modern history until the 2004 keynote by Barack Obama. Jordan retired from politics in 1979 and became an adjunct professor at the University of Texas at Austin Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs. She again was a keynote speaker at the Democratic National Convention in 1992. In 1995, Jordan chaired a Congressional commission that advocated increased restriction of immigration and increased penalties on employers that violated U.S. immigration regulations. [2] President Clinton endorsed the Jordan Commission's proposals. [3] Many of her speeches have been collected in a new volume from the University of Texas Press, Barbara Jordan: Speaking the Truth with Eloquent Thunder . Edited by Barbara Jordan's friend and colleague, Senator Max Sherman, the book also includes a DVD of many of her most famous speeches. Legislation. She 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 expansion of that act to cover language minorities. This extended protection to Hispanics in Texas and was opposed by Texas Governor Dolph Briscoe and Secretary of State Mark White. Personal life. In 1973, Jordan began to suffer from multiple sclerosis. She had difficulty climbing stairs, and she started using a cane and eventually a wheelchair. She kept the state of her health out of the press so well that in the KUT radio documentary Rediscovering Barbara Jordan , former president Bill Clinton stated that he wanted to nominate Jordan for the United States Supreme Court, but by the time he could do so, Jordan's health problems prevented him from nominating her. [4] Jordan was a lesbian with a longtime companion of more than 20 years, Nancy Earl; Jordan never publicly acknowledged her sexual orientation, but in her obituary, the Houston Chronicle mentioned her longtime relationship with Earl. [5] [6] After Jordan's initial unsuccessful statewide races, advisers warned her to become more discreet and not bring any female companions on the campaign trail. [1] [7] Jordan met Earl, an educational psychologist who would become an occasional speechwriter in addition to Jordan's partner, on a camping trip in the late 1960s. [1] Awards and honors. Jordan was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1994. It was only one of many honors given to her, including election into both the Texas and National Women's Hall of Fame. In 1995, she was awarded the prestigious United States Military Academy's Sylvanus Thayer Award, becoming only the second female awardee. Upon her death on January 17, 1996, Jordan lay in state at the LBJ Library on the campus of The University of Texas at Austin. She was buried in the Texas State Cemetery in Austin, and was the first black woman interred there. Her papers are housed at the Barbara Jordan Archives at Texas Southern University. The main terminal at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport is named after her, as are a middle school in Cibolo, Texas and a high school in Houston. The Kaiser Family Foundation currently operates the Barbara Jordan Health Policy Scholars, a fellowship designed for people of color who are college juniors, seniors and recent graduates as a summer experience working in a congressional office.