Moseley-Braun, Carol

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Moseley-Braun, Carol

August 16, 1947

Carol Moseley, a U.S. Senator, was born and raised in Chicago, the daughter of a Chicago police officer. She was educated at public schools in Chicago and the University of Illinois at Chicago, and received a law degree from the University of Chicago in 1972. Although now divorced, she has used her married name throughout her public career but hyphenated it after joining the Senate.

Moseley-Braun worked for three years as a prosecutor in the U.S. Attorney's office in Chicago. For her work there she won the U.S. Attorney General's Special Achievement Award. She began her career in politics in 1978, when she successfully campaigned for a seat in the Illinois House of Representatives. While in the Illinois House she was an advocate for public education funding, particularly for schools in Chicago. She also sponsored a number of bills banning discrimination in housing and private clubs. After two terms Moseley-Braun became the first woman and first African American to be elected assistant majority leader in the Illinois legislature.

In 1987 Moseley-Braun again set a precedent by becoming the first woman and first African American to hold executive office in Cook County government when she was elected to the office of Cook County Recorder of Deeds. She held the office through 1992, when she waged a campaign for the U.S. Senate. When she defeated twoterm incumbent Alan Dixon and wealthy Chicago attorney Al Hofeld in the Democratic primary, Moseley-Braun became the first black woman nominated for the Senate by a major party in American history. She then went on to defeat Republican nominee Rich Williamson in a close general election, becoming the first black woman to hold a seat in the U.S. Senate.

During her first year in the Senate Moseley-Braun sponsored several pieces of civil rights legislation, including the Gender Equity in Education Act and the 1993 Violence Against Women Act, and reintroduced the Equal Rights Amendment. She became unpopular following revelations of her personal use of campaign funds and as a result of her public support for Sami Abocha's dictatorial regime in Nigeria, where she visited in 1996. Following an acrimonious campaign, she was narrowly defeated for reelection in 1998.

Moseley-Braun accepted an appointment by the Clinton administration to become an ambassador to New Zealand and Samoa in 1999. She returned to the United States in 2001 and accepted a position as a visiting distinguished professor and scholar in residence at Morris Brown College. After a year there, she moved on to teach business law at DePaul University's College of Commerce. In 2003 Moseley-Braun added her name to the list of Democratic challengers for the party's 2004 presidential nomination. After a poor showing, she dropped out of the race in January 2004 and supported the candidacy of Vermont governor Howard Dean.

See also Politics and Political Parties, U.S.