Barbara Jordan: Speaking the Truth with Eloquent Thunder

by Max Sherman

Overview

A collection of speeches by the much-admired congresswoman on the importance of ethics, the threat of tyranny, faith and politics, and more.

Through her career as a Texas senator, US congresswoman, and distinguished professor at the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs, Barbara Jordan lived by a simple creed: “Ethical behavior means being honest, telling the truth, and doing what you said you were going to do.” Her strong stand for ethics in government, civil liberties, and democratic values still provides a standard around which the nation can unite in the twenty-first century. This volume collects several major speeches that articulate her most deeply held values. They include:

• “Erosion of Civil Liberties,” a commencement address delivered at Howard University on May 12, 1974, in which Jordan warned that “tyranny in America is possible”
• “The Constitutional Basis for Impeachment,” Jordan’s ringing defense of the US Constitution before the House Judiciary Committee investigating the Watergate break-in
• Keynote addresses to the 1976 and 1992 Democratic National Conventions, in which Jordan set forth her vision of the party as an advocate for the common good and catalyst of change
• Testimony in the U.S. Congress on the confirmation of Supreme Court nominee Robert Bork and on immigration reform
• Meditations on faith and politics from two National Prayer Breakfasts
• Acceptance speech for the 1995 Sylvanus Thayer Award presented by the Association of Graduates of the United States Military Academy, in which Jordan challenged the military to uphold the values of “duty, honor, country”

Accompanying the speeches are context-setting introductions by editor Max Sherman as well as the eloquent eulogy Bill Moyers delivered at Jordan’s memorial service, in which he summed up her remarkable life and career by saying, “Just when we despaired of finding a hero, she showed up.”

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780292774926
Publisher:	University of Texas Press
Publication date:	02/24/2022
Series:	Louann Atkins Temple Women & Culture Series
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	129
File size:	4 MB

About the Author

MAX SHERMAN is Professor Emeritus and former Dean of the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin. He was Barbara Jordan’s friend and colleague for twenty-five years, first in the Texas Senate and later at the LBJ School.

Table of Contents

• Preface
• Acknowledgments
• Biography of Barbara Jordan, with Student Comments
• My Personal Introduction of Barbara Jordan
• Erosion of Civil Liberties: Commencement Speech, Howard University, May 11, 1974
• The National Political Stage
  • Rising to the Occasion: The Constitutional Basis for Impeachment, U.S. House Judiciary Committee Impeachment Hearings, July 25, 1974
  • Center Stage: Democratic National Convention Keynote Address, July 12, 1976
  • The Spotlight after Congress: Democratic National Convention Keynote Address, July 13, 1992
• Barbara Jordan's Take on Three Twenty-First-Century Political Issues
  • Confirmation of Supreme Court Justices: Testimony in Opposition to the Nomination of Robert Bork, September 17, 1987
  • Immigration Reform: Congressional Testimony as Chair of the U.S. Commission on Immigration Reform, March 29, 1995
  • Religious Faith and Politics: Prayer at the National Prayer Breakfast, February 2, 1978; Address at the National Prayer Breakfast, February 2, 1984
• The Sylvanus Thayer Award
  • Unswerving Dedication to Principle: 1995 Sylvanus Thayer Award Citation, West Point, October 5; Barbara Jordan's Thayer Award Acceptance
• Epilogue: Remarks of Bill Moyers at the Memorial Service for Barbara Jordan, University of Texas at Austin, January 28, 1996
• Notes