View source for Clifford Alexander Jr.

{{Short description|American lawyer and public servant (1933–2022)}}
{{Use American English|date=July 2022}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2022}}
{{Infobox officeholder
|name                = Cliff Alexander
|image               = Alexander, Clifford L.jpg
|caption             = Official portrait, {{circa|1977}}
|office              = 13th [[United States Secretary of the Army]]
|president           = [[Jimmy Carter]]
|term_start          = February 13, 1977
|term_end            = January 20, 1981
|predecessor         = [[Martin R. Hoffmann]]
|successor           = [[John O. Marsh Jr.]] 
|office1             = Chair of the [[Equal Employment Opportunity Commission]]
|president1          = {{ubl|[[Lyndon B. Johnson]]|[[Richard Nixon]]}}
|term_start1         = August 4, 1967
|term_end1           = May 1, 1969
|predecessor1        = [[Stephen N. Shulman]]
|successor1          = [[William H. Brown III]]
|birth_name          = Clifford Leopold Alexander Jr.
|birth_date          = {{birth date|1933|9|21}}
|birth_place         = New York City, U.S.
|death_date          = {{death date and age|2022|7|3|1933|9|21}}
|death_place         = New York City, U.S.
|party               = [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]]
|spouse              = {{marriage|[[Adele Logan Alexander|Adele Logan]]|1959}}
|children            = [[Elizabeth Alexander (poet)|Elizabeth]]<br>[[Mark C. Alexander|Mark]]
|education           = {{ubl|[[Harvard University]] ([[Bachelor of Arts|BA]])|[[Yale University]] ([[Bachelor of Laws|LLB]])}}
|allegiance          = <!-- United States -->
|branch              = [[United States Army]]
|unit                = [[New York Army National Guard|New York National Guard]]<br>{{*}}[[369th Infantry Regiment (United States)|369th Infantry Regiment]]
|serviceyears        = 1958
}}
'''Clifford Leopold Alexander Jr.''' (September 21, 1933 – July 3, 2022) was an American lawyer, businessman and [[public servant]] from New York City. He first served on the [[United States National Security Council|National Security Council]] during the [[Presidency of John F. Kennedy|Kennedy administration]], before becoming chairman of the [[Equal Employment Opportunity Commission]] in 1967. He was appointed [[United States Secretary of the Army|Secretary of the Army]] a decade later, becoming the [[first African American]] to hold the position. He served in that role until 1981.

==Early life and background==
Alexander was born in [[Harlem]] on September 21, 1933.{{listref|a}}{{listref|b}} His father [[Jamaican Americans|immigrated to the United States from Jamaica]] and managed the [[Riverton Houses]]; his mother, Edith (McAllister), was a community leader who was an adviser on civil rights to several mayors.{{listref|a}} Alexander attended the private [[Ethical Culture Fieldston School|Ethical Culture and Fieldston schools]]. He then studied government at [[Harvard College]], graduating in 1955. He was the first African American to be elected president of its student council. He subsequently studied at [[Yale Law School]].{{listref|a}}{{listref|b}} After graduating in 1958, he enlisted in the New York [[United States National Guard|National Guard]] and served briefly with the 369th Field Artillery Battalion at [[Fort Dix, New Jersey]].<ref name=Ebony>{{cite news|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2csDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA33 |title=Boss Man|work=[[Ebony (magazine)|Ebony]]|date=June 1977|publisher=Johnson Publishing Company|access-date=July 18, 2011}}</ref><ref name=SWSA>{{cite web| title =  Clifford Leopold Alexander Jr. |url=http://www.history.army.mil/books/Sw-SA/Alexander.htm | work = Secretaries of War and Secretaries of the Army| year = 1992|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140504011257/http://www.history.army.mil/books/Sw-SA/Alexander.htm |archive-date=May 4, 2014 }}.</ref>

==Career==
===Early years and National Security Council===
After being admitted to the bar, Alexander served as an assistant [[district attorney]] for [[New York County]] under [[Frank Hogan]] from 1959 to 1961.{{listref|b}}<ref name=ARD>{{cite magazine|title=Alexander Sworn In as Secretary of the Army|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3M3eAAAAMAAJ&pg=RA6-PA30|year=1976|page=30|magazine=Army Research and Development|publisher=United States Army Materiel Command}}</ref> He then became executive director of the Manhattanville Hamilton Grange Neighborhood Conservation Project,<ref>{{cite news|title=Army Weighing City Plea to Help Demolition Plan|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1979/07/11/archives/army-weighing-city-plea-to-help-demolition-plan-abandoned-buildings.html|page=B1|first=Robert|last=Reinhold|date=July 11, 1979|access-date=July 9, 2022|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]}}</ref> before serving as program and executive director of [[Harlem Youth Opportunities]].{{listref|a}}{{listref|b}}

Alexander was first called to [[Washington, D.C.]] in 1963 to serve as a foreign affairs officer on the [[United States National Security Council|National Security Council]] staff, having been recommended to [[John F. Kennedy]] by [[McGeorge Bundy]].{{listref|a}}{{listref|b}} He became the administration's unofficial adviser on race, with Kennedy asking him to observe the [[March on Washington]].{{listref|a}} Alexander later served as deputy special assistant to [[Lyndon B. Johnson]], associate special counsel, and deputy special counsel on the [[White House]] staff all during the span of 1964 to 1967.<ref name=ARD/>

Throughout Johnson's presidency, Alexander continued to act as his go-between with the African American community, notably in the aftermath of the [[assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.]]{{listref|a}}  As a special representative of the President, Alexander headed the American delegation to ceremonies marking the independence of the [[Swaziland|Kingdom of Swaziland]] in 1968.<ref name="ARD" />

=== Chairman of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ===
Alexander was appointed as the chairman of the U.S. [[Equal Employment Opportunity Commission]] in 1967.  During his tenure he elevated the agency to play a significant role in fighting workplace discrimination. He resigned from the agency in 1969, after President Richard Nixon demoted him from chairman to commissioner.{{listref|a}} 

===Private practice===
Alexander practiced law with the Washington firm of [[Arnold and Porter]] between 1969 and 1975. He eventually became its first Black partner,{{listref|a}}{{listref|b}} and successfully pressed the firm to employ graduates from [[Howard University School of Law]].{{listref|b}}<ref name=Reef>{{cite book|title=African Americans in the Military|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QF9grMa_84YC&pg=PA4|publisher=Infobase Publishing|date=May 14, 2014|last=Reef|first=Catherine|pages=3–5|isbn=9781438107752}}</ref> He also hosted a television talk show ''Cliff Alexander: Black on White'' from 1972 to 1976.{{listref|a}} He ran unsuccessfully in the [[1974 Washington, D.C., mayoral election|1974 Democratic primary]] for the first directly-elected [[mayor of the District of Columbia]], losing by 4,000 votes (53%-47% total) to [[Walter Washington]], who won the general election.<ref>{{cite news |title= Hand Check Of 93,473 Ballots Ends: Mayor's Win Verified by Hand Count |first= Margot |last= Hornblower |newspaper= The Washington Post |date= September 24, 1863 |page= C1 }}</ref> He subsequently joined [[DLA Piper#Piper Rudnick and American predecessor firms|Verner, Lipfert, Bernhard, McPherson and Hand]] the following year. He also taught as a professor of law at Howard and [[Georgetown University Law Center]].<ref name=ARD/>

===Secretary of the Army===
Alexander returned to public service as Secretary of the Army under the [[Presidency of Jimmy Carter|Carter Administration]], serving from 1977 to 1981.{{listref|b}}<ref name=Reef/>  He was the first African American appointed to this Cabinet position.{{listref|a}}{{listref|b}}  During this time, he concentrated upon improving the all-volunteer Army, stressing programs to enhance professionalism, and emphasizing the award of contracts to minority businesses to fulfill the federal commitment to encourage diversity.{{listref|b}}<ref name=Reef/>  He also sought to eliminate barriers to women and racial minorities being promoted to the rank of [[General (United States)|general]].{{listref|b}}<ref name="Yale obit">{{cite news|title=Yale Law School Mourns the Loss of Clifford L. Alexander Jr. '58|url=https://law.yale.edu/yls-today/news/yale-law-school-mourns-loss-clifford-l-alexander-jr-58|date=July 5, 2022|access-date=July 9, 2022|publisher=Yale Law School}}</ref>  One of the beneficiaries of Alexander's efforts was [[Colin Powell]], who finished second in his class at the [[United States Army Command and General Staff College|Army Command and General Staff College]].{{listref|b}}  Alexander also endorsed the increases in salary for military personnel and [[Military budget of the United States|military budget]] at the end of the [[Vietnam War]], stating that it was "a quality Army" with members who "work hard [and] take their training and their missions seriously".{{listref|b}}

==Later life==
After his tenure as Secretary of the Army ended in 1981, Alexander formed the consulting firm of Alexander and Associates with his wife.{{listref|a}}  In addition, he served on the boards of directors of several national corporations and was a member of the Board of Governors of the [[American Stock Exchange]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Biographies – Clifford L. Alexander Jr.|url=https://www.thenmusa.org/biographies/clifford-l-alexander-jr/|first=Jennifer|last=Ezell|access-date=July 8, 2022|publisher=National Museum of the United States Army}}</ref>  He served as a political and campaign advisor to [[Barack Obama]] in 2008.{{listref|a}}

During an interview for the Koeppel report in the 1980, Alexander confessed that he expected to die before seeing an African-American Senator, President or head of a Fortune 500 company.<ref> {{cite web| url = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Pdc4xElqeQ&t=1655s | title = D.C. /Divided City | work = ABC News Special | via= youtube}}</ref>

Alexander was outspoken in his opposition to the "[[Don't Ask, Don't Tell]]" policy of the military, signed a statement in November 2008 calling for its repeal so that gays could serve openly.<ref>{{cite news|title=Admirals, generals: Let gays serve openly|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna27774058|date=November 17, 2008|access-date=July 9, 2022|publisher=NBC News|agency=Associated Press}}</ref>  He also expressed his point of view on the matter in his interviews by [[Rachel Maddow]] on April 3 and May 11, 2009,<ref>{{cite news|title='The Rachel Maddow Show' for Thursday, April 3, 2009|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna30029387|date=April 3, 2009|access-date=July 9, 2022|publisher=NBC News}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title='The Rachel Maddow Show' for Monday, May 11, 2009|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna30766508|date=May 15, 2009|access-date=July 9, 2022|publisher=NBC News}}</ref> as well as on June 28, 2013.<ref>{{cite news|title='The Rachel Maddow Show' for Friday, June 28th, 2013|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna52365883|date=July 1, 2013|access-date=July 9, 2022|publisher=NBC News}}</ref>

==Personal life and death==
Alexander married [[Adele Logan Alexander|Adele Logan]] in 1959.{{listref|a}}  She became a history professor at [[George Washington University]].{{listref|b}} They remained married until his death.  Together, they had two children: [[Elizabeth Alexander (poet)|Elizabeth Alexander]] and [[Mark C. Alexander]].  Elizabeth wrote and recited the poem "[[Praise Song for the Day]]" at the [[first inauguration of Barack Obama]] in 2009.{{listref|a}}  Mark is the first African American dean of the [[Villanova University School of Law]].{{listref|b}}

Alexander was a member of [[Omega Psi Phi]] fraternity.<ref>{{cite book|title=Black Greek-Letter Organizations in the 21st Century: Our Fight Has Just Begun|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XmY1EAAAQBAJ&pg=PT117|publisher=University Press of Kentucky|date=June 13, 2008|editor-last=Parks|editor-first=Gregory S.|isbn=9780813138725}}</ref>  He relocated to [[Manhattan]] in 2013.{{listref|b}}  He died on July 3, 2022, at his home in Manhattan.  He was 88, and suffered from heart failure prior to his death.{{listref|a}}{{listref|b}}
==Notes==
{{listref/reflist
|id1=a |ref1={{cite news|title=Clifford L. Alexander, Adviser to Presidents, Is Dead at 88|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/04/us/clifford-l-alexander-dead.html|first=Clay|last=Risen|date=July 4, 2022|access-date=July 8, 2022|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]}}
|id2=b |ref2= {{cite news|title=Clifford Alexander Jr., first Black secretary of Army, dies at 88|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/obituaries/2022/07/04/clifford-alexander-army-secretary-dies/|first=Alexa|last=Mills|date=July 4, 2022|access-date=July 8, 2022|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]}}
}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* [http://www.visionaryproject.com/alexanderclifford Clifford Alexander's oral history video excerpts] at The National Visionary Leadership Project
*{{Charlie Rose guest|81}} 

{{s-start}}
{{s-off}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Martin R. Hoffmann]]}}
{{s-ttl|title={{nowrap|[[United States Secretary of the Army]]}}|years=1977–1981}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Percy A. Pierre]]<br>Acting}}
{{s-end}}

{{USArmySecs}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Alexander, Clifford Jr.}}
[[Category:1933 births]]
[[Category:2022 deaths]]
[[Category:20th-century American lawyers]]
[[Category:21st-century American lawyers]]
[[Category:Arnold & Porter people]]
[[Category:Candidates in the 1974 United States elections]]
[[Category:Carter administration personnel]]
[[Category:Chairs of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission]]
[[Category:Deaths from congestive heart failure in New York (state)]]
[[Category:Ethical Culture Fieldston School alumni]]
[[Category:Harvard College alumni]]
[[Category:Howard University faculty]]
[[Category:Lawyers from New York City]]
[[Category:Lawyers from Washington, D.C.]]
[[Category:Lyndon B. Johnson administration personnel]]
[[Category:Military personnel from New York City]]
[[Category:New York (state) Democrats]]
[[Category:New York National Guard personnel]]
[[Category:People from Harlem]]
[[Category:Television personalities from Washington, D.C.]]
[[Category:United States secretaries of the army]]
[[Category:Washington, D.C., Democrats]]
[[Category:Yale Law School alumni]]
[[Category:20th-century African-American lawyers]]