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Maynard Jackson
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==Political career== In 1968, when Jackson was 30 years old, he decided to run for the US Senate against incumbent [[Herman Talmadge]]. His campaign was underfunded, and he lost, but Jackson won in Atlanta, gaining prominence in the city, which had a substantial black minority. The following year, he built on his strength, gaining election as vice mayor, who was presiding officer of the board of aldermen. At that time, Atlanta modified its city charter, strengthening the position of mayor and renaming the vice mayor as president of the city council (aldermen were now city council members).<ref name="nga"/> In 1970, Jackson became Atlanta's first black Vice-Mayor, his first elected position which he held for four years.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://atlantasblackhistorymakers.com/index.php/2016/08/31/what-manner-of-man-was-maynard-holbrook-jackson-a-tribute-to-his-life-and-legacy/|title=What Manner of man was Maynard Holbrook Jackson? A Tribute to his life and legacy|access-date=January 5, 2018|language=en-US}}</ref> Later that year, Jackson supported [[sanitation worker]]s in the city who had gone on strike, with his support contributing to their receiving a higher wage.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|last=Hobson|first=Maurice J.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2U84DwAAQBAJ&q=atlanta+sanitation+strike&pg=PA85|title=The Legend of the Black Mecca: Politics and Class in the Making of Modern Atlanta|publisher=[[University of North Carolina Press]]|year=2017|isbn=978-1-4696-3536-1|pages=85β89|language=en|via=[[Google Books]]}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite book|last1=Shirley|first1=Neal|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=O2FhCgAAQBAJ&q=atlanta+sanitation+strike&pg=PT180|title=Dixie Be Damned: 300 Years of Insurrection in the American South|last2=Stafford|first2=Saralee|publisher=[[AK Press]]|year=2015|isbn=978-1-84935-207-9|language=en|via=[[Google Books]]}}</ref> In 1973, Jackson was elected with 60 percent of the vote, as the first African-American mayor of Atlanta and any major southern city; he was supported by a coalition of white liberals/moderates and African Americans. At the age of 35, he unseated incumbent [[Sam Massell]].<ref name="nga" /> During his first term, Jackson worked to improve race relations in and around Atlanta after the polarization caused by the election campaign. As mayor, he led the beginnings and much of the progress on several huge public-works projects for the city and region. Affirmative action programs helped minority and women-owned businesses to participate.<ref name="nga"/> He helped arrange for the upgrade of the then-William B. Hartsfield Atlanta International Airport's huge terminal (now Domestic Terminal) to modern standards. Jackson [[Atlanta freeway revolts|strongly opposed the construction of freeways through in-town neighborhoods]], knowing that such actions destroyed thriving communities.<ref>{{Cite web|date=August 8, 2016|title=Remembering when Atlanta's highway fight reached an accord 25 years ago|url=https://saportareport.com/remembering-atlantas-highway-fight-reached-accord-25-years-ago/sections/reports/maria_saporta/|access-date=December 29, 2020|website=SaportaReport|language=en-US}}</ref> In 1977, Jackson fired over 900 sanitation workers during the [[1977 Atlanta sanitation strike]]. Following this act of [[strikebreaking]], many of the workers returned to work by the end of the year.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" /> Jackson was mayor through the period when the separate [[Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority]] (MARTA) obtained a large amount of federal funding for a [[rapid transit|rapid-transit]] rail-line system, when construction began, and when MARTA began its first rail transit service in Atlanta and in [[DeKalb County, Georgia|DeKalb County]] in 1979 and during its continual expansion thereafter. As mayor, he celebrated in September 1990 when Atlanta was selected as the host city for the [[1996 Summer Olympic Games]]. As mayor, he accepted the Olympic flag at the 1992 closing ceremonies in [[Barcelona, Spain]]. He oversaw the completion of many planned public works projects, such as improvements to freeways and parks, and the completion of [[Freedom Parkway]], which were expedited from 1990 to 1996 in preparation for the Olympic Games that began in August 1996. During Jackson's second term as mayor, the [[Atlanta child murders|Atlanta Child Murders]] were ongoing between 1979 and 1981. He supported the Atlanta Police and other police forces in the area but also worked to calm public tensions aroused by the serial killings of black children. The accused killer, [[Wayne Williams]], was caught in 1981. Williams was convicted to serve two consecutive life sentences for the murder of two adult males, but never charged with or tried for the murder of any of the child victims. He is currently being held in [[Telfair State Prison]]. In 1974, Jackson received the Samuel S. Beard Award for Greatest Public Service by an Individual 35 Years or Under, an award given out annually by Jefferson Awards.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.jeffersonawards.org/pastwinners/national |title=Archived copy |access-date=August 5, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101124043935/http://jeffersonawards.org/pastwinners/national |archive-date=November 24, 2010 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
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