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Politics
Rep. Harold Ford Jr.
U.S. Rep. Harold Ford Jr. advanced into the national spotlight when he delivered the keynote address at the 2000 National Democratic Convention, making him only the second African-American in history to address the convention as a keynote speaker. Democratic presidential candidate Al Gore hand-picked Ford, a friend who hails from Gore's home state of Tennessee. It was a major coup for the budding congressman, who primarily received invitations to speak at kindergarten graduations when he first campaigned for Congress. As the youngest person elected to Congress in 1996, at 26, Ford has been dubbed a representative of a new generation of political leaders.
FULL NAME
Harold Ford Jr.
BORN
May 11, 1970, in Memphis, Tennessee.
EDUCATION
Bachelor's degree in American history from the University of Pennsylvania, 1992; law degree from the University of Michigan, 1996.
CAREER
Ford was elected to the 105th Congress in 1996 from Tennessee's 9th Congressional district -- the same district his father represented for 22 years. During his first term in Congress, Ford served as freshman class president. Ford has been re-elected twice since then, and now serves on the House Education and Workforce Committee and House Committee on Financial Services.
He is a member of the New Democrat Coalition, the Congressional Black Caucus and the Blue Dog Coalition. Before heading to Capitol Hill, Ford worked as a special assistant to the Economic Development Administration in 1993, under the leadership of the late U.S. Secretary of Commerce Ron Brown. Prior to that, he was a special assistant to the Clinton-Gore transition team, an aide to the Senate Budget Committee under former U.S. Sen. James Sasser and coordinated his father's re-election campaigns in 1992 and 1994.
AWARDS
Trumpet Awards 'Young STAR' Award (2001)
PERSONAL
Ford is the son of former U.S. Rep. Harold E. Ford and Dorothy Ford. He has two brothers, Jake and Isaac.
WEBSITE
http://www.house.gov/ford/
