Harold Ford Sr.

Ford and his family have been involved in politics since his great-grandfather Newton Ford (1856–1919), who was a well-respected civic leader around the southern section of Shelby County.

Newton Ford was elected as a county squire from 1888 to 1900.

His grandfather Lewie Ford (1889-1931) started the family funeral business and became allied with E. H. Crump, an influential white politician in Memphis and the state in the early 20th century.

He is the eighth of 15 children born to Newton Jackson Ford (1914–1986) and Vera (Davis) Ford (1915–1994), prominent members of the African-American community.

His mother was a homemaker and his father was an undertaker and businessman, who opened N.J. Ford Funeral Home (later changed to N.J. Ford And Sons Funeral Home) in 1932.

Harold Eugene Ford Sr. (born May 20, 1945) is an American politician and Democratic former member of the United States House of Representatives representing the area of Memphis, Tennessee, for 11 terms—from 1975 until his retirement in 1997.

He was the first African-American to represent Tennessee in the U.S. Congress.

He is a member of the Ford political family from Memphis.

During his 20 years in Congress, Ford obtained ample federal funds for his district through his membership on the House Ways and Means Committee.

He advocated for increased government assistance for lower income constituents including job training, health care, and supplemental unemployment benefits with welfare as a safety net.

He supported President Jimmy Carter's initiatives to rebuild central cities, and opposed President Ronald Reagan's cuts to programs such as Medicare and food stamps.

He proposed welfare reform legislation to gradually transition recipients from welfare to work, but it was not passed.

Harold Ford graduated from Geeter High School in 1963, received his B.S. degree from Tennessee State University in Nashville in 1967 and did graduate work there for one year.

He is also a member of Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity.

N. J. Ford ran for the Tennessee House in 1966 but was not elected.

He received a mortuary science degree from John A. Gupton College of Nashville in 1969, and worked in the family business as a mortician from 1969 until 1974.

He was elected to the Tennessee House of Representatives in 1970, becoming one of its youngest members and one of only a few African Americans to have served in the Tennessee General Assembly to that point in the 20th century.

He was made majority whip in his first term, and chaired a state house committee on utility rates and practices.

At that time, the district still had a white majority, though the 1970 round of redistricting by the Tennessee legislature had redrawn the 8th to include more African-American voters.

Ford ran on a bipartisan platform emphasizing economic development to attract both black and white voters.

He waged a large and well organized get-out-the-vote campaign using paid workers, volunteers and his own considerable energy, and received support from black churches and celebrities.

He was also able to take advantage of post Watergate dissatisfaction with the Republican Party.

When the votes were first counted it looked like Kuykendall had eked out a narrow victory—but Ford ultimately won by 744 votes after contesting the original count.

Ford became the first African-American to represent Tennessee in the United States Congress.

He was re-elected by large margins, locking in the black vote, and winning a large number of white votes in his district.

He was a delegate to Democratic State Convention and to the quadrennial Democratic National Conventions from 1972 through 1996.

In 1974, after two terms in the Tennessee legislature, he ran for the Democratic nomination for the Memphis-based 8th U.S. Congressional district, easily beating three opponents.

He faced four-term Republican incumbent Dan Kuykendall in the general election.

In 1982, he earned a Master of Business Administration from Howard University.

Ford was able to use his family's deep roots in Memphis to garner support within the affluent black community for his first run for office.

He also ran an organized campaign and was able to take advantage of the increase in black voters that followed the Voting Rights Act.

His effectiveness was diminished following his 1987 indictment on bank fraud charges that alleged he had used business loans for his personal needs.

Ford denied the charges and claimed the prosecution was racially and politically motivated.

He lost his committee leadership roles but remained in Congress while the legal proceeding was pending.

He was ultimately tried and acquitted in 1993 of all charges by a jury.

He chose to retire from Congress in 1996.

His son Harold Jr. returned to Tennessee from New York and successfully ran for his seat.

In his retirement, Harold Sr. has been active in Democratic Party affairs and has worked as a lobbyist.

He lives in Florida and in the Hamptons.

Harold grew up on Horn Lake Road in the West Junction neighborhood of South Memphis.