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Statement of President Joe Biden on the Passing of Vernon
Jordan
Special to The Truth
Vernon Jordan began life in
one of the first public housing projects in America and
ended life as a fixture in our country’s halls of power.
Along the way, he became a foot soldier for civil rights, a
trusted friend and counselor to presidents, and a loving
husband, father, and grandfather.
Vernon navigated America’s
boardrooms with an activist’s heart, working the levers of
power in service of progress. And the countless business and
political leaders who turned to Vernon for guidance did so
because when he spoke, you could hear in his rich baritone
the belief in an America that was capable of becoming an
ever-more perfect union. It was a journey he’d lived. As a
young lawyer, he went home to Georgia, to battle against
unjust systems in the segregated South. As president of the
National Urban League, he fought for economic justice
because he knew that a job brought with it more than a
paycheck; it brought dignity. As a civil rights leader shot
in the back by a white supremacist, he came away from that
near-death experience energized rather than embittered. As a
high-powered lawyer and financier, “the Rosa Parks of Wall
Street,” he was often the first in many rooms but never
afraid to speak his mind.
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Vernon Jordan
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Vernon Jordan knew the soul of
America, in all of its goodness and all of its unfulfilled
promise. And he knew the work was far from over. He liked to
say that we had torn down what Dr. King called “sagging
walls of segregation,” but we still had to deal with “the
rubble”—with systemic racism, with inequity, with the
injustice still faced by so many Black Americans. To honor
him, and others of this Civil Rights generation, we must
continue to do the same.
When eulogizing other
leaders, Vernon liked to quote the great Reverend Gardner
Taylor, and his words ring true today: “Something vast and
noble has passed from among us. It is like a mighty oak has
fallen, leaving an empty and gaping and glaring space
against the sky where he stood.” Jill and I extend our
deepest condolences to Ann, Vickee, and the entire Jordan
family.
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