Douglas Wilder facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Douglas Wilder
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Wilder in 2003
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| 78th Mayor of Richmond | |
| In office January 2, 2005 – January 1, 2009 |
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| Preceded by | Rudy McCollum |
| Succeeded by | Dwight Jones |
| 66th Governor of Virginia | |
| In office January 13, 1990 – January 15, 1994 |
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| Lieutenant | Don Beyer |
| Preceded by | Gerald Baliles |
| Succeeded by | George Allen |
| 35th Lieutenant Governor of Virginia | |
| In office January 18, 1986 – January 13, 1990 |
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| Governor | Gerald Baliles |
| Preceded by | Richard Davis |
| Succeeded by | Don Beyer |
| Member of the Virginia Senate from the 9th district |
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| In office January 12, 1972 – January 1, 1986 |
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| Preceded by | M. Patton Echols |
| Succeeded by | Benjamin Lambert |
| Member of the Virginia Senate from the 30th district |
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| In office January 14, 1970 – January 12, 1972 |
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| Preceded by | J. Sargeant Reynolds |
| Succeeded by | Leroy S. Bendheim |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
Lawrence Douglas Wilder
January 17, 1931 Richmond, Virginia, U.S. |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Other political affiliations |
Independent (1994) |
| Spouse |
Eunice Montgomery
(m. 1958; div. 1978) |
| Children | 3, including Larry |
| Education | Virginia Union University (BS) Howard University (JD) |
| Signature |  |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |  United States |
| Branch/service | United States Army |
| Years of service | 1951–1953 |
| Rank | Sergeant |
| Battles/wars | Korean War |
| Awards | Bronze Star Medal |
Lawrence Douglas Wilder (born January 17, 1931) is an American lawyer and politician. He served as the 66th governor of Virginia from 1990 to 1994. He was the first African American to be elected governor of a U.S. state. He was also the first African American to serve as governor since the Reconstruction era after the Civil War. Today, he is a professor at the Wilder School at Virginia Commonwealth University.
Wilder was born in Richmond, Virginia. He went to Virginia Union University and served in the United States Army during the Korean War. After getting his law degree from the Howard University School of Law, he started his own law practice in Richmond. As a member of the Democratic Party, Wilder was elected to the Virginia Senate in 1969. He stayed in the Senate until 1986. Then, he became the Lieutenant Governor of Virginia, which made him the first African American to hold a statewide office in Virginia. In the 1989 Virginia gubernatorial election, Wilder won the governor's race by a very small margin against Republican Marshall Coleman.
Wilder left the governor's office in 1994 because Virginia's constitution does not allow governors to run for immediate re-election. He briefly tried to become the Democratic candidate for president in 1992 but stopped his campaign early. He also ran for the United States Senate as an independent in 1994 but later dropped out. Wilder returned to public office in 2005 when he became the first directly elected mayor of Richmond. After leaving that office in 2009, he worked as a professor and helped plan the United States National Slavery Museum, which was never fully built.
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Early Life and Military Service
Wilder was born on January 17, 1931, in the Church Hill neighborhood of Richmond. This area was segregated at the time. His parents were Beulah Olive (Richards) and Robert Judson Wilder. His grandparents on his father's side had been enslaved in Goochland County. Douglas was the seventh of eight children. He was named after famous African-American writers Paul Laurence Dunbar and Frederick Douglass.
Wilder's father worked selling insurance, and his mother was a maid. Even though they were not rich, Wilder remembered his childhood during the Great Depression as a time of "gentle poverty."
Wilder paid for his education at Virginia Union University, which is a historically black university. He worked by waiting tables and shining shoes. He graduated in 1951 with a degree in chemistry.
After college, he was drafted into the United States Army during the Korean War. He chose to volunteer for combat duty. During the Battle of Pork Chop Hill, he and two other soldiers were separated from their unit. They bravely convinced nineteen North Korean soldiers to surrender. For his bravery, Wilder received the Bronze Star Medal. He was a sergeant when he left the army in 1953.
After the war, Wilder worked in the state medical examiner's office. He also started studying for a master's degree in chemistry. In 1956, he changed his plans and went to Howard University Law School. After finishing law school in 1959, he opened his own law practice in Richmond, Virginia.
Wilder married Eunice Montgomery in 1958. They had three children: Lynn Diana, Lawrence Douglas Jr., and Loren Deane. They divorced in 1978.
Starting a Political Career
Douglas Wilder joined the Democratic Party. He began his public service career in 1969 when he won a special election for the Virginia State Senate in a district near Richmond. He was the first African American to be elected to the Virginia Senate since the Reconstruction period. In 1970, new district lines were drawn, giving Wilder a district with mostly African-American residents. He became known as a liberal voice in a state legislature that was mostly conservative and white.
In 1985, Wilder was elected as the 35th Lieutenant Governor of Virginia. He ran on the Democratic ticket with Attorney General Gerald L. Baliles, who was running for governor. Wilder became the first African American to win a statewide election in Virginia. To win, he knew he needed to connect with white voters across the state. He went on a two-month "back roads" campaign tour, visiting many rural areas in central and western Virginia. This helped more people know who he was.
Campaigning for Governor
In the 1989 election for governor of Virginia, polls before the election showed Wilder with a good lead. However, the election ended up being very close. Some people thought this was because of the Bradley effect. This idea suggests that some white voters might not tell pollsters they plan to vote against a Black candidate, even if they do. Wilder won the election on November 8, 1989, defeating Republican Marshall Coleman by less than half a percent. Because the victory was so close, there was a recount, which confirmed Wilder's win.
Serving as Governor of Virginia
Douglas Wilder became governor on January 13, 1990. He was sworn in by former U.S. Supreme Court Justice Lewis F. Powell, Jr.. Because he was the first elected African-American governor, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) gave Wilder the Spingarn Medal in 1990.
As governor, Wilder focused on reducing crime and controlling guns. He also worked to get more money for Virginia's transportation projects. He successfully convinced Congress to send more highway money to states that needed it most. Many new homes and offices were built in Northern Virginia, but there wasn't enough federal money for roads and other important structures. He also helped pass state plans to borrow money to improve transportation. In May 1990, Wilder ordered state agencies and universities to stop investing in South Africa because of its unfair policy of apartheid.
Wilder tried to make a deal with the Washington Redskins football team to build a stadium in Alexandria, Virginia. Wilder and the team owner, Jack Kent Cooke, agreed on a plan that would have cost Virginia $130 million. However, lawmakers changed the agreement to reduce the cost to taxpayers. This made Cooke pull out of the deal.
Governor's Actions on Justice
During his time as governor, Wilder followed Virginia's laws regarding serious crimes. Even though he had been against the death penalty when he was in the Virginia Senate, he oversaw the state's legal processes. In January 1994, Wilder changed the sentence of Earl Washington Jr., a man with an intellectual disability, to life in prison. This decision was made because new DNA evidence raised questions about his guilt. Virginia law has strict rules about when new evidence can be used after a conviction. However, in 2000, under a new governor, more advanced DNA tests showed that Washington was not the person who committed the crime. He was later fully cleared by Governor Jim Gilmore and released from prison.
Virginia law does not allow governors to serve two terms in a row. So, George Allen became governor after Wilder in 1994.
Later Political Campaigns
Wilder announced he wanted to run for President in 1991. However, he stopped his campaign before the main primary elections in 1992. He also briefly ran for the U.S. Senate as an independent in 1994.
Serving as Mayor of Richmond
On May 30, 2004, Wilder announced he would run for Mayor of Richmond. Before 2004, the Richmond City Council chose the mayor from its nine members. This changed in November 2003 when voters approved a plan for a directly elected mayor. Wilder was a strong supporter of this change.
On November 2, 2004, Wilder won with 79% of the votes. He became the first directly elected mayor of Richmond in sixty years. After winning, Wilder said he planned to make the city government more fair and honest. He was sworn in on January 2, 2005.
He was part of the Mayors Against Illegal Guns Coalition. This group, made up of leaders from both major political parties, aimed to make communities safer by removing illegal guns from the streets. Former mayors Thomas Menino of Boston and Michael Bloomberg of New York City led the group.
On May 16, 2008, Wilder announced that he would not run for another four-year term as mayor.
Life After Politics
Wilder has continued to work as a professor at the L. Douglas Wilder School of Government and Public Affairs at Virginia Commonwealth University. He also sometimes writes opinion pieces for Virginia newspapers.
Douglas Wilder founded the United States National Slavery Museum, a non-profit group in Fredericksburg, Virginia. Since 2001, the museum has been raising money to build a national museum about slavery in America. The museum faced financial challenges and was unable to pay property taxes. In 2011, the organization filed for bankruptcy protection.
In 2015, Wilder published his autobiography, called Son of Virginia: A Life in America's Political Arena.
In March 2018, Wilder filed a lawsuit against John Accordino, who was the Dean of his college, for bothering Wilder's assistant. This led to Accordino leaving his position. Wilder dropped the lawsuit a few months later.
In 2020, Wilder expressed concerns that the state archives at the Library of Virginia had not provided access to the records from his time as governor.
In 2021, after Republican Glenn Youngkin was elected governor, Wilder joined Governor Youngkin's team that helped with the change of power. He worked alongside former Republican governors Jim Gilmore, Bob McDonnell, and George Allen.
Awards and Recognition
- In 2004, Virginia Commonwealth University named its School of Government and Public Affairs after L. Douglas Wilder. Wilder teaches there as a professor.
- The library at Virginia Union University, the performing arts center at Norfolk State University, and a dormitory at Hampton University are also named after Governor Wilder.
- Wilder received an honorary doctorate degree from Arizona State University in 2004.
- Virginia State University named its Cooperative Extension Building the L. Douglas Wilder Building.
- In 1996, L. Douglas Wilder Middle School was named in his honor.
- He received the Harold Washington Award in 1990 from the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation.
- He received the Adam Clayton Powell Award in 1987 from the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation.
Personal Papers
The L. Douglas Wilder Collection is kept at the L. Douglas Wilder Library and Learning Resource Center at Virginia Union University, his old school. This collection includes photographs from his time as governor, over 600 audio tapes of his radio talk show and speeches, and over 350 video tapes of political events and news appearances. A special area in the library also displays many of Wilder's political awards and honors.
See also
