Arthur Allen Fletcher (born Edward Arthur Allen; December 22, 1924 – July 12, 2005) was an American government official and Republican politician, he was a pioneer of affirmative action as he was largely responsible for the Revised Philadelphia Plan.

Biography

Fletcher was born Edward Arthur Allen on December 22, 1924, in Phoenix, Arizona, to Edna Miller and Samuel Brit Allen.{{Cite book |last=Golland |first=David Hamilton |title=A Terrible Thing to Waste: Arthur Fletcher and the Conundrum of the Black Republican |date=2019 |publisher=University Press of Kansas |isbn=978-0-7006-2764-6 |location=Lawrence |pages=12}} In 1938, he changed his name to Arthur Allen Fletcher, following his adoption by his stepfather, Andrew "Cotton" Fletcher.{{Sfn|Golland|2019|p=20}} In 1943, Fletcher joined the U.S. Army and did training at Fort Knox.{{Sfn|Golland|2019|p=28}} Arthur Fletcher, a Republican, graduated from Washburn University and obtained a degree from distance learning school La Salle Extension University.{{cite news|last=Holley|first=Joe|date=July 14, 2005|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/07/13/AR2005071302400.html|title=Affirmative Action Pioneer Advised GOP Presidents|newspaper=The Washington Post|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081011080007/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/07/13/AR2005071302400.html|archive-date=October 11, 2008}}

In 1950, he played two games with the NFL's Baltimore Colts, thus becoming the first Black professional player in any sport in the city's history.{{cite web|url=https://www.baltimoresun.com/news/bs-xpm-1998-02-01-1998032156-story.html|title=For Fletcher, Colts' cut unkind, but it started the ball rolling| author=John Steadman|date=February 1, 1998|website=BaltimoreSun.com}}

Fletcher moved with his second wife, Bernyce Hassan, and two youngest children to Pasco, Washington, where he took a job with the Hanford Atomic Energy Project. He also organized a community self-help program in predominantly black East Pasco and landed a seat on the Pasco City Council. In 1968, Fletcher ran for Lieutenant Governor of Washington State and narrowly lost to the incumbent, John Cherberg. Fletcher was the first African American in Washington as well as the West to contest a statewide electoral office.{{Cite web|url=https://www.seattlepi.com/seattlenews/article/Arthur-Fletcher-1924-2005-Mission-was-carving-1178215.php|title=Arthur Fletcher, 1924–2005: Mission was carving out opportunity for minorities|first=Chris|last=McGann|date=July 13, 2005|website=seattlepi.com}} During the campaign, his driver and bodyguard was Ted Bundy, the serial killer who was active in Republican Party politics in the late 1960s through the early 1970s.Rule, Ann. The Stranger Beside Me p. 15. 1980. Penguin Putnam. New York, NY.

Fletcher's close race for Lieutenant Governor got the attention of newly elected President Richard Nixon, who gave Fletcher a job in the incoming administration as Assistant Secretary of Labor. An African American, he served in the Nixon, Ford, Reagan, and George H. W. Bush administrations.NPR [https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4754950 obituary], in RealAudio or for Windows Media Player. Accessed July 20, 2005.

In 1978, Fletcher ran for mayor of Washington, D.C., but was defeated by the popular Democrat Marion Barry.{{cite news |title=Barry Gets 71 Pct. for Mayor of D.C. |agency=Associated Press |date=November 8, 1978 |work=Youngstown Vindicator, via Google News |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=829JAAAAIBAJ&pg=2394,3008457&dq=marion-barry&hl=en }} In 1995, he briefly pursued a bid for the Republican presidential nomination.{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1995/07/09/us/civil-rights-official-joins-gop-field-for-1996.html|access-date=21 Sep 2023|date=9 July 1995|title=Civil Rights Official Joins G.O.P. Field for 1996}}

Numbers of his fellow Republicans were often at odds with the affirmative action policies which Fletcher initiated[https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna8567206 Presidential adviser Arthur Fletcher, 80, dies], the obituary on MSN. Accessed July 20, 2005. and supported as the chairman from 1990 to 1993 of the United States Commission on Civil Rights.

As head of the United Negro College Fund, Fletcher was rumored to have coined the famous slogan, "A mind is a terrible thing to waste."[http://www.thehistorymakers.com/biography/biography.asp?bioindex=526&category=lawMakers Arthur Fletcher] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050715084911/http://www.thehistorymakers.com/biography/biography.asp?bioindex=526&category=lawMakers |date=July 15, 2005 }} on HistoryMakers.com. Accessed July 20, 2005. In point of fact, however, the motto was created by Forest Long, of the advertising agency Young & Rubicam, in partnership with the Ad Council.{{Cite web |url=http://www.marketwired.com/press-release/young-rubicam-honored-for-a-mind-is-a-terrible-thing-to-waste-by-uncf-1406451.htm |title=Archived copy |access-date=April 13, 2018 |archive-date=April 13, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180413190411/http://www.marketwired.com/press-release/young-rubicam-honored-for-a-mind-is-a-terrible-thing-to-waste-by-uncf-1406451.htm |url-status=dead }}

Fletcher was a United States Army veteran during World War II and upon his death in 2005 was buried in Arlington National Cemetery.{{Cite web|url=https://www.cjonline.com/story/news/local/2020/08/06/history-guy-former-topekan-fletcher-was-lsquofather-of-affirmative-actionrsquo/114895372/|title=History Guy: Former Topekan Fletcher was 'father of Affirmative Action'|first=Tim|last=Hrenchir|website=The Topeka Capital-Journal}}

Personal life

In the summer of 1943, he married his first wife, Mary Harden.{{Sfn|Golland|2019|p=25}} They had five children.{{Sfn|Golland|2019|p=76}} Mary died by suicide on October 2, 1960, after jumping off the Bay Bridge.{{Sfn|Golland|2019|p=73}} In April 1965, he married his second wife, Bernyce Hassan, a divorced mother.{{Sfn|Golland|2019|p=83}}

References

External links

[https://www.seattletimes.com/opinion/remembering-arthur-fletcher-father-of-affirmative-action/ Seattle Times: Remembering Arthur Fletcher, Father of Affirmative Action (Mike Flynn, Nov. 11, 2018)]
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{{s-ttl|title=Republican nominee for Mayor of the District of Columbia|years=1978}}

{{s-ttl|title=Chair of the United States Commission on Civil Rights|years=1990–1993}}

Category:1924 births

Category:2005 deaths

Category:Activists for African-American civil rights

Category:African-American Methodists

Category:African-American people in Washington (state) politics

Category:African-American people in Washington, D.C., politics

Category:Burials at Arlington National Cemetery

Category:Military personnel from Phoenix, Arizona

Category:Players of American football from Arizona

Category:Candidates in the 1978 United States elections