King of the Cats: The Life and Times of Adam Clayton Powell, Jr.
by Wil Haygood
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"Adam Clayton Powell, Jr., was one of the most brilliant, charismatic, and controversial politicians of this century - and one of the most productive legislators in American history. This vivid and penetrating biography by Wil Haygood, whom Ward Just has praised as "perhaps America's best young reporter," evokes the physical, political, and racial reality of both Powell's life and the civil rights struggle of the twentieth century."--BOOK JACKET. "The grandson of a slave, Powell utilized his show more father's pulpit in Harlem's Abyssinian Baptist Church to raise up the poor and disadvantaged during the Great Depression. After marrying a showgirl, starting his own newspaper, and successfully running for city council, he was elected as the first black congressman from Harlem, a seat he held without serious opposition for thirty-odd years. He took his second wife, the jazz pianist Hazel Scott, with him to Washington, where he was a tireless crusader for racial equality, a thorn in the side of his timid colleagues, and an embarrassment to four presidents on the issue of fair employment. Though Powell jumped the Democratic fence in 1956 because of Adlai Stevenson's racial indecisiveness and appointed himself unofficial ambassador to the Bandung conference, he finally assumed real power under Lyndon Johnson. As the chairman of the Education and Labor Committee of the House, the black representative helped the white president push through that mass of laws which Johnson called the War on Poverty."--BOOK JACKET. "At the same time, Powell's influence was being eroded by his flamboyant private life and by his reckless disregard for congressional proprieties. His pleasurable rambles around the world, compounded by headline-making lawsuits, cost him his seat in Congress. Though his faithful Harlemites reelected him, he was not reseated until the Supreme Court backed him, in Earl Warren's last decision. Stripped of seniority, Powell toured the country to advocate black power and lolled on his yacht in the Bahamas until he was finally defeated in the 1970 primary election."--BOOK JACKET. "This energetic narrative paints Powell as a hero to his people and a standard-bearer for social equality. While others may have done more to change our attitudes toward race, Powell did more than any other black leader to change the way we live. Having succored hundreds of thousands, he died in utter loneliness in 1972."--BOOK JACKET. show lessTags
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Member Reviews
Was Clayton an opportunistic spectator, or progressive instigator to social change? It seems to me from this detailed, encompassing biography a blend of the two from the flashy Harlem politician who coined the phrase "Black Power" at his 1966, May Howard Univ. speech. Chameleon-like, he stumped for Eisenhower and allied with LBJ; anything to advance his profile and advance integration for African-Americans. Clayton's career with the two major parties covered a transformative, post-Reconstruction era when the GOP traded Teddy Roosevelt-era progressivism to buck change and the Democrats fractions into the recalcitrant Southern Dixiecrats and a radicalizable norther arm of the party. Along the way, Clayton chased skirts and photo ops in show more Europe, Africa, Puerto Rico (where he hoped statehood would advance him from the House of Representatives to the Senate), and Bimini where he hunkered down battling ethics violations instead of representing his constituents. I do admire his pluck in taking on both The Mob and corrupt police in battling numbers rackets and other corruption in his district. show less
2874 King of the Cats: The Life and Times of Adam Clayton Powell, Jr., by Wil Haygood (read 7 Jun 1996) This is a 1993 biography of Powell (born in New Haven Nov 29, 1908, moved to New York that year, went to Colgate 1926-1930, elected to Congress in 1944, defeated for renomination by Charlie Rangel by 150 votes in 1970, died in Miami 4 Apr 1972, ashes thrown out a plane window--some flew back in--at Bimini Island). This is a journalist's book not too fussy about accuracy. It is also unduly admiring, and makes a lot of admiring judgments, and has many flaws. But it turned out very easy to read and all in all tells a fantastic story well. Powell's personal life was a disgrace, what with three wives and hosts of adulteries. He is the very show more antithesis of what I believe in and admire. show less
One of top favorite biographies of former Congressman Powell. Was fortunate to meet this colorful man while I was a U S Intern for the House of Representative in 1970.
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Author Information
13+ Works 934 Members
Wil Haygood is a staff writer on the Style section of the Washington Post.
Common Knowledge
- Original publication date
- 1993
- Dedication
- For Thomas F. Mulvoy, Jr--such a fine man
- Publisher's editor
- Davison, Peter; Talese, Nan
- Blurbers
- Goodwin, Doris Kearns; Rhodes, Richard; Just, Ward
Classifications
- Genres
- Nonfiction, Biography & Memoir, History, General Nonfiction, Politics and Government
- DDC/MDS
- 973.92 — History & geography History of North America United States 1901- Cold War, Vietnam War, Digital Age (1953-2001)
- LCC
- E748 .P86 .H39 — History of the United States United States Twentieth century General Biography
- BISAC
Statistics
- Members
- 86
- Popularity
- 366,491
- Reviews
- 3
- Rating
- (3.85)
- Languages
- English
- Media
- Paper
- ISBNs
- 3
- ASINs
- 1
