Morris Jackson is a former member of the Ohio Senate

Ohio Senate

The Ohio State Senate is the upper house of the Ohio General Assembly, the legislative body for the U.S. state of Ohio. There are 33 State Senators. The state legislature meets in the state capital, Columbus. The President of the Senate presides over the body when in session, and is currently Tom...

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A native of Cleveland, Jackson served in the state Senate from 1967 to 1984. The most senior African American

African American

African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...

 Senator at his time, he held a number of leadership roles during his time. In 1982, upon the Senate's switch to a Democratic majority, Jackson was involved in a Republican coup in which he was promised the position of Senate President if he switched party affiliations. Ultimately, however, he remained with Democrats, and Harry Meshel

Harry Meshel

Harry Meshel is a former American Democrat politician who served as the president of the Ohio State Senate and chairman of the Ohio Democratic Party...

 became the next Senate leader.

He retired in 1984, and was succeeded by future Cleveland Mayor Michael R. White

Michael R. White

Michael Reed White is an American politician of the Democratic party and was the 55th and longest-serving mayor of Cleveland, Ohio encompassing three four-year terms, from 1990 to 2002...

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