Barbara Charline Jordan

(February 21, 1936 – January 17, 1996)

In 1972, she was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, the first woman elected in her own right to represent Texas in the House. 

 She received extensive support from former President Lyndon B. Johnson, who helped her secure a position on the House Judiciary Committee. 

In 1974, she made an influential televised speech before the House Judiciary Committee supporting the impeachment of President Richard Nixon, Johnson's successor as President.

 In 1975, she was appointed by Carl Albert, then Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, to the Democratic Steering and Policy Committee. 


In 1976, Jordan, mentioned as a possible running mate to Jimmy Carter of Georgia, became instead the first African-American woman to deliver a keynote address at the Democratic National Convention. 

Despite not being a candidate, Jordan received one delegate vote (0.03%) for President at the Convention.
 
Jordan retired from politics in 1979 and became an adjunct professor teaching ethics at the University of Texas at Austin Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs. She was again a keynote speaker at the Democratic National Convention in 1992. 

Jordan and President Carter, ca. 1977. Photo by Dev O'Neill.