Vernon Jordan: A Life Lived Making A Difference Vernon Jordan, civil rights activist and Washington, D.C. power broker, was a man who lived his life in headlines. Former President Clinton called him a “wonderful friend” and, on his passing at age 85 in Washington in early March 2021, tributes flooded in from such luminaries as former President Barack Obama and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. By Jodi Bartle
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UT JORDAN’S LIFE WAS ALSO ONE LIVED IN THE MARGINS. Without drawing attention to it, he worked tirelessly to wield his influence and power to enable young Black lawyers to rise up and be given a shot at becoming something more. These were often small gestures, but small gestures from Vernon Jordan were more like those of a giant. Leslie T. Thornton, retired energy company general counsel, sitting corporate director and author, recalls meeting Jordan for the first time during the presidential transition of ‘92. “I was literally in the volunteer pool, and somebody said to me I needed to find a way to meet Vernon Jordan and that he needed to know who I was. He was like God for young Black lawyers like me.” Thornton was assigned to Jordan as a driver for an appointment at the FBI, but Jordan ended up driving her there himself. “He introduced me to people at the FBI as ‘a diamond hotshot lawyer’ and said they would do well to remember me.” He asked for her resume at the end of the day, which directly led to her employment with the Clinton administration. Thornton credits Jordan’s influence and his long-term support of her as a foundation that impacted her throughout her career. “Anything I did that helped others? A lot of that came from what I learned from Vernon,” she says.
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