David Dinkins Biography

Dinkins served in the United States Marine Corps before joining politics, graduating with honors from Howard University, and earning a law degree from Brooklyn Law School. Before becoming mayor, he was the president of the Manhattan Borough Council. Crime in New York City fell more significantly and quickly under the Dinkins administration than at any other period in the city's history. Dinkins became a professor of public affairs at Columbia University after leaving the government. Dinkins was a member of the United States Tennis Association's Board of Directors as well as The Jazz Foundation of America. He is a member of the New York City Global Partners, the Children's Health Fund (CHF), the Association to Benefit Children, and the Nelson Mandela Children's Fund's boards of directors (NMCF). Dinkins also serves on the boards of Independent News & Media and the Black Leadership Forum is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and is Chairman Emeritus of the National Black Leadership Commission on AIDS' Board of Directors. Dinkins rose through the ranks of the Democratic Party in Harlem, beginning at the Carver Democratic Club under the direction of J. Raymond Jones, and became a member of the Gang of Four, a powerful group of African American politicians that included Denny Farrell, Percy Sutton, Basil Paterson, and Charles Rangel. Dinkins was one of fifty African American investors that contributed to the founding of Inner City Broadcasting Corporation by Percy Sutton in 1971. In 1966, Dinkins served in the New York State Assembly. Mayor Abraham D. Beame proposed him for Deputy Mayor, but he was not chosen. From 1972 to 1973, Dinkins served as President of the Board of Elections, and from 1975 to 1985, he served as City Clerk. On his third attempt, he was elected borough president of Manhattan in 1985. On November 7, 1989, Dinkins was elected mayor of New York City, beating three-term incumbent mayor Ed Koch and two other Democratic candidates in the Democratic primary and Republican candidate Rudy Giuliani in the general election. Dinkins sought the approval and support of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson. Dinkins was elected in the aftermath of a corruption scandal involving numerous Democratic leaders in New York City. Mayor Koch, the anticipated Democratic contender, was harmed politically by his administration's corruption and handling of racial issues, and Dinkins was his most formidable opponent. Dinkins' African-American status also helped him avoid accusations that he was disregarding the black vote by advocating for whites. Dinkins campaigned across the city, despite the fact that a strong turnout of African American votes was critical to his victory. Dinkins' campaign manager was William Lynch, Jr., a political strategist who later became one of his First Deputy Mayors.

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