Tom Bradley

About this book

Thomas Bradley (1917–1998), who preferred “Tom” to the more formal name, was the first (and to date only) African American elected mayor of Los Angeles. He also holds the record for longest service, having been elected five times to the office. Born in Texas, Bradley came to Los Angeles at age seven, attended local public schools and UCLA, and joined the LAPD in 1941. When he was elected to the Los Angeles City Council in 1961, he retired from the LAPD with the rank of lieutenant. Bradley unsuccessfully challenged Sam Yorty in 1969, but returned four years later with a coalition of liberals, Jews, blacks, labor unions, and downtown business leaders. He also projected a vision of a Los Angeles with a revitalized center, connections to world trade, and an improved rapid-transit system. He defeated Yorty in 1973 and over the next twenty years did much to accomplish his vision. Among his triumphs were the city’s hosting the 1984 Olympics, a financial success that set a standard for other cities with Olympic aspirations. He also supported low-income housing projects built by the Community Redevelopment Agency. Under Bradley’s tenure, the complexion of local government changed as minorities and women found employment opportunities and advancement in working for the City of Los Angeles. Bradley had higher political ambitions, making two unsuccessful tries for the governor’s office and losing in 1982 and 1986 to George Deukmejian. His long tenure as mayor ended with mixed results, as in his last year of office when the Los Angeles Riot of 1992 broke out after the police of…

Themes & subjects

About the author

Alex Haley

August 11, 1921 – February 10, 1992

American writer and author of the popular 1970s book *Roots* which was adapted into a record setting TV mini-series. "The giving and getting, the sense of belonging and contributing to something larger than yourself, to something that began before you were born and will go on after you die, can make it possible for you to accept life in a way that makes you wish the whole world could realize how easy it is to feel as you do, and wonder why they don’t. That’s what having roots—and writing Roots—has done for me. I pray that reading it—and then reaching out for their families to join in a search of their own—will do the same for everyone." ~ Alex Haley (A Candid Conversation With Murray Fish…