Political Quotes

“as the Chicago Sun Times put it, ``A jewel has died.'' That is Jewel Lafontant Makarious. I rise to pay tribute to a great woman, a great lady, a great Chicagoan, an accomplished lawyer, civil rights advocate, a great American, friend of Presidents and mother of John Rogers who is President of the Chicago Park District and President of Ariel Mutual Funds. Active in Republican politics, Mrs. Mankarious was a close friend of Presidents Eisenhower, Nixon and Bush. She was a longtime civil rights activist and broke down barriers for blacks and women in both government and corporate America. During the Eisenhower administration, she was assistant U.S. Attorney, the first black woman to hold that post. She was a good friend of Richard Nixon and seconded his nomination for President at the Republican National Convention in 1960. In 1972, she became the Deputy Solicitor General in the Justice Department and later served as U.S. Ambassador at Large for 4 years in the Bush administration and finished her government career as Coordinator of Refugee Affairs. Her longtime friend, George Johnson, founder and chairman of Johnson Products, described her this way: She gave her legal services to the downtrodden people who could not fight for themselves. She fought for people who could not fight the system. She was a wonderful woman of great accomplishments. Mrs. Lafontant was a trial lawyer, recognized for being one of the best.…”