It is not too much to say that Louis Stokes and his brother Carl helped lead the way in establishing a place for African Americans in the world of mainstream American politics. In doing that they helped rearrange our country's political landscape. It was a historic achievement. In The Gentleman from Ohio , Louis Stokes tells his story, but the book does a great deal more. It opens up a panoramic view of American life in an essential era of our recent history, and it does so from a perspective that most Americans will find fascinating, moving, and, very possibly, disturbing. Moreover, Congressman Stokes has done this with the warmth, incisiveness, and humor that marked his unforgettable personality. Louis Stokes's brother, Carl, was the first black mayor of a major American city, Cleveland, Ohio. In that position he demonstrated that blacks had the talent and leadership skills to take charge, not only in their own communities but in mainstream government as well. He showed that African Americans were up to the task of serving the overall community without neglecting the interests of their black constituents. In doing this he served as a model for the black mayors, governors, and congresspeople who have come after him. Carl's story and Louis's were inexorably linked, from their childhoods in black Cleveland through their rise to national prominence. The entwined stories of these two remarkable men is one of the subjects Lou Stokes covers here so well, but The Gentleman from Ohio inevitably focuses on its author's own rich and accomplished life, as well it should. Lou Stokes was the first black congressman in Ohio's history. In the House of Representatives he carved out a path for African Americans to achieve power, by establishing themselves as players on the committees that mattered. Lou Stokes was elected for the first of his fifteen terms in 1968. When he arrived in Washington there were only six black members in the House, but Stokes came in as part of a historic cohort. His election, along with that of Shirley Chisholm and William Lacy Clay, brought the black House numbers up to nine, a critical number as Stokes saw it, the most African Americans to ever serve in the House at the same time. Stokes and Clay together pushed for the formation of a formal black power block that could act in concert on the issues vital to their communities. With guidance from the departing Adam Clayton Powell, they organized what became the Congressional Black Caucus, the membership of which has grown to forty-five as of this writing. Stokes served as the second chairman, and under his leadership caucus members committed themselves to focusing their efforts on gaining power through the committee system and placing minority issues on the agenda of every committee they served on. That was a visionary decision made with the long-view perspective that characterized Stokes's approach as a legislator. What he saw was that most black legislators came from districts that would continue to elect them as long as they did their work honorably and well. That meant that over the long run they would wield considerable power via the House's seniority system. "Those of us in the Congressional Black Caucus," Stokes writes, "succeeded in establishing an understanding that black legislators were every bit as capable and dedicated as white legislators. I have no doubt that we changed perceptions in that regard. Over time we were no longer regarded as strange and semi-foreign anomalies in the world of political power, but as a normal part of governance." Stokes's own accomplishments as he rose to leadership positions in the House were legendary. He served as chair of the House Select Committee on the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. He was chair of the Ethics Committee during Abscam, the House page scandal, and the Geraldine Ferraro investigations. He chaired the Intelligence Committee during Iran-Contra. The health care legislation he sponsored changed the way the health establishment treated those who most needed help. He became, perhaps most significantly, a "Cardinal" on the House Appropriations Committee, overseeing and directing the expenditure of many tens of billions of dollars Excerpted from The Gentleman from Ohio by Louis Stokes, David Chanoff All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.
