Maynard Jackson: A Biography by Dr. Robert A Holmes

Biography has always been an important way to understand history and politics. Robert Holmes’s deeply researched and engagingly written biography of Maynard Jackson, Atlanta’s first African American mayor, tells the story of a man, a city, and a time that illuminates the difficulties African American mayors face trying to dismantle old systems of dominance and establish racially equalitarian urban regimes. Arguably, Jackson did a better job in this endeavor than any of the big city black mayors elected since the 1960s. Why he still fell considerably short is explained by Holmes in a brilliant interweaving of personality, philosophy, power, and racism in this outstanding study of a man and a city.

-Robert C. Smith, Ph.D. Professor of Political Science and author of African American Leadership San Francisco State University

This pioneering biography of Maynard Jackson, vice mayor and later mayor of Atlanta, is a breakthrough work in its coverage and analysis of this visionary political activist and elected official. Clearly, Jackson’s influence and impact spread not only throughout the city of Atlanta, but throughout Georgia, the South, and later the Nation. Jackson’s political achievements energized a new generation of African American leaders for the 1970s and beyond. His influence is still being felt. This profound book by a great African American scholar, who was Mayor Jackson’s contemporary, is an original, remarkable, and brilliant study. It brings to the academic and scholarly communities a political visionary of the first order so that the inventive political and people skills and talents of this unique political leader can help prepare another generation of community leaders, regardless of their race. Professor and former state representative Holmes has captured this larger than life individual in this scholarly work that will soon become a classic in political science and a model for political leadership studies. The work is filled with insights, reflections, and unique findings and facts. It also offers a vividly balanced interpretation of Jackson’s political and personal life. This book is a major contribution to literature. Professor Holmes must be applauded for his labor of love, which shows on each and every page. I highly recommend this powerful work of political biography. Literally, it is unmatched.

-Hanes Walton, Jr., Ph.D. Professor of Political Science University of Michigan, Ann Arbor