Douglas Wilder

Douglas Wilder
Wilder in 2003
78th Mayor of Richmond
In office January 2, 2005 – January 1, 2009
Preceded by	Rudy McCollum
Succeeded by	Dwight Jones
66th Governor of Virginia
In office January 13, 1990 – January 15, 1994
Lieutenant	Don Beyer
Preceded by	Gerald Baliles
Succeeded by	George Allen
35th Lieutenant Governor of Virginia
In office January 18, 1986 – January 13, 1990
Governor	Gerald Baliles
Preceded by	Richard Davis
Succeeded by	Don Beyer
Member of the Virginia Senate from the 9th district
In office January 12, 1972 – January 1, 1986
Preceded by	M. Patton Echols
Succeeded by	Benjamin Lambert
Member of the Virginia Senate from the 30th district
In office January 14, 1970 – January 12, 1972
Preceded by	J. Sargeant Reynolds
Succeeded by	Leroy S. Bendheim
Personal details
Born	Lawrence Douglas Wilder (1931-01-17) January 17, 1931 (age 93) Richmond, Virginia, U.S.
Political party	Democratic
Other political affiliations	Independent (1994)
Spouse	Eunice Montgomery ​ ​ (m. 1958; div. 1978)​
Children	3, including Larry
Education	Virginia Union University (BS) Howard University (JD)
Signature
Military service
Allegiance	United States
Branch/service	United States Army
Years of service	1951–1953
Rank	Sergeant
Battles/wars	Korean War
Awards	Bronze Star Medal

Lawrence Douglas Wilder (born January 17, 1931) is an American lawyer and politician who served as the 66th governor of Virginia from 1990 to 1994. He was the first African American to serve as governor of a U.S. state since the Reconstruction era, and the first African American ever elected as governor.^[a] He is currently a professor at the namesake Wilder School at Virginia Commonwealth University.

Born in Richmond, Virginia, Wilder graduated from Virginia Union University and served in the United States Army during the Korean War. He established a legal practice in Richmond after graduating from the Howard University School of Law. A member of the Democratic Party, Wilder won election to the Virginia Senate in 1969. He remained in that chamber until 1986, when he took office as the Lieutenant Governor of Virginia, becoming the first African American to hold statewide office in Virginia. In the 1989 Virginia gubernatorial election, Wilder narrowly defeated Republican Marshall Coleman.

Wilder left the gubernatorial office in 1994, as the Virginia constitution prohibits governors from immediately seeking re-election. He briefly sought the 1992 Democratic presidential nomination, but withdrew from the race before the first primaries. He also briefly ran as an independent in the 1994 Virginia Senate election before dropping out of the race. Wilder returned to elective office in 2005, when he became the first directly elected mayor of Richmond. After leaving office in 2009, he worked as an adjunct professor and founded the United States National Slavery Museum.
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