Voting Station

Adam Clayton Powell, Jr.

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U.S. Congressman

The Resume

    (November 29, 1908-April 4, 1972)
    US Representative from New York (1945-71)
    Chaired the House Education and Labor Committee (1961-67)
    Democrat

Why he might be annoying:

    He was married and divorced three times.
    He forced Bayard Rustin to resign from the Southern Christian Leadership Council by threatening to publicize Rustin's arrest for public indecency to Congress.
    He was found guilty of slandering a constituent (1963) but refused to pay the judgment amount.
    He was found guilty of contempt of court and a warrant was issued for his arrest, so that he was unable to return to his district.
    Instead, he spent his time at resorts in Florida and the Bahamas.
    A House investigation concluded that he had misappropriated $46,000 in government funds for personal use.
    The House voted to expel him and ordered a special election to fill his seat (March 1, 1967).

Why he might not be annoying:

    He organized mass meetings, boycotts, and public campaigns to force stores, utilities, Harlem Hospital and the 1939 World's Fair to begin hiring black workers.
    He was the first black elected to the New York City Council (1941).
    He successfully challenged the informal ban on black representatives using the House restaurant and other Capitol Hill facilities.
    Presidents Kennedy and Johnson said he had been critical in passing 48 pieces of social welfare and civil rights legislation.
    He won the special election to fill his vacated seat (April 11, 1967), but the House refused to allow him in.
    The Supreme Court ruled that the House had acted unconstitutionally in excluding Powell after his election (1969).

Credit: C. Fishel


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    For 2024, as of last weekly ranking, Out of 1 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2023, Out of 24 Votes: 58.33% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 8 Votes: 37.50% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 37 Votes: 75.68% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 2 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 18 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 15 Votes: 53.33% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 30 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2016, Out of 14 Votes: 57.14% Annoying
    In 2015, Out of 339 Votes: 52.21% Annoying
    In 2014, Out of 169 Votes: 58.58% Annoying
    In 2013, Out of 138 Votes: 66.67% Annoying
    In 2012, Out of 65 Votes: 80.0% Annoying
    In 2011, Out of 301 Votes: 76.74% Annoying
    In 2010, Out of 131 Votes: 69.47% Annoying
    In 2009, Out of 192 Votes: 73.96% Annoying
    In 2008, Out of 283 Votes: 71.73% Annoying
    In 2007, Out of 447 Votes: 75.62% Annoying
    In 2006, Out of 154 Votes: 75.97% Annoying