Vernon Jordan Jr.
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Vernon Eulion Jr. Jordan (born August 15, 1935) is a U.S. Executive. He has been dubbed a Washington "Power Broker" by many.
Vernon graduated from DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana, in 1957. He later received his J.D. in 1960.
In 1970 he became executive director of the United Negro College Fund and later president of the National Urban League between 1972 and 1981. In 1980 he was wounded by a sniper in Fort Wayne, Indiana and he later resigned from the National Urban League to take a position as legal counsel with the Washington, D.C. office of the Dallas law firm of Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer and Feld. In 1992-1993 he was part of the transition team for incoming president Bill Clinton having been a personal friend and advisor to the then President.
In 1998 he was accused of aiding in a cover-up of the President Clinton's affair with Monica Lewinsky. It was alleged that Jordan asked Lewinsky to lie to investigators and arranged a job for her in exchange for her silence however the issue later faded and was not addressed in Ken Starr's Report.
Currently Vernon is Senior Managing Director with Lazard Freres & Co. LLC, an investment banking firm, from January 2000 to the present. He has sat on many Corporate Board of Directors including, American Express, Dow Jones, Revlon, Sara Lee and Xerox.
In 2001, his memoir, "Vernon Can Read!" was published.
In 2005 he attended the annual Bilderberg conference.