Freeman R. Bosley Jr. (born July 20, 1954 in

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an Independent city (United States), independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Miss ...

) is an American politician who served as the 43rd

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...

of St. Louis (from 1993 to 1997), and the city's first

African-American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from any of the Black racial groups of Africa. ...

mayor.

Early life and education

Bosley graduated from Central High School in 1972 and went on to attend

Saint Louis University Saint Louis University (SLU) is a private university, private Society of Jesus, Jesuit research university in St. Louis, Missouri, United States. Founded in 1818 by Louis William Valentine DuBourg, it is the oldest university west of the Missi ...

and

Saint Louis University School of Law The Saint Louis University School of Law (also known as SLU Law) is the law school affiliated with Saint Louis University, a private Jesuit research university in Saint Louis, Missouri. The school has been American Bar Association approved sin ...

. He graduated from

in 1976 with two undergraduate degrees, a B.A. in Urban Affairs and a B.A. in

Political Science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...

. He received his

Juris Doctor A Juris Doctor, Doctor of Jurisprudence, or Doctor of Law (JD) is a graduate-entry professional degree that primarily prepares individuals to practice law. In the United States and the Philippines, it is the only qualifying law degree. Other j ...

from

in 1979. While a student at

, Bosley was president of the Black Student Alliance and the Black-American Law Students Association, organizations that were formed during the Civil Rights Movement.

Career

Upon graduation from law school, Bosley was staff attorney for Legal Services of Eastern Missouri, specializing in Consumer Affairs and Utility Companies. Bosley has also been employed by the law firm of Boast and Jordan. Bosley was selected as the first African-American

St. Louis St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a populatio ...

Circuit Clerk for the 22nd Judicial Circuit, a position he held for ten years. He later served as the 3rd Ward Democratic Committeeman. He then became chairman of the St. Louis City Democratic Central Association and subsequently became the first African-American chairman of the Democratic Party in St. Louis City. Bosley became the first African-American

on April 6, 1993 with 66.5% of the vote. Early in his administration, he oversaw the city's struggle during the Flood of 1993. Bosley also assisted in orchestrating the $70 million bailout of

Trans World Airlines Trans World Airlines (TWA) was a major airline in the United States that operated from 1930 until it was acquired by American Airlines in 2001. It was formed as Transcontinental & Western Air to operate a route from New York City to Los Angeles ...

. He helped move the

Los Angeles Rams The Los Angeles Rams are a professional American football team based in the Greater Los Angeles, Greater Los Angeles area. The Rams compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC West, West ...

football team to

from

Anaheim Anaheim ( ) is a city in northern Orange County, California, United States, part of the Greater Los Angeles area. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 346,824, making it the most populous city in Orange County, the tenth-most ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

. Two property tax increases were passed during the Bosley Administration. Bosley's term was colored by corruption scandals. Crime increased throughout north St. Louis city and his popularity plummeted. He was defeated by

Clarence Harmon Clarence Harmon (born 1940) was the 44th Mayor of St. Louis (from 1997 to 2001), and the city's second African-American mayor. Early life and education Harmon was born to a Baptist family, and the only boy out of three children. His father was ...

in his bid for re-election in

1997 Events January * January 1 – The Emergency Alert System is introduced in the United States. * January 11 – Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis. * January 1 ...

. In

2001 The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...

, when Bosley ran for mayor in the Democratic Primary, he was defeated again by a wide margin, this time by

Francis Slay Francis Gerard Slay (born March 18, 1955) is an American politician and lawyer who served as the 45th Mayor of St. Louis, Missouri from 2001 to 2017. The first mayor of the city of St. Louis to be elected to the office four consecutive times, Sla ...

Attorney license suspended

Bosley operated a law office in St. Louis. In September 2014 the Missouri Supreme Court found Bosley violated various attorney rules, his conduct involving dishonesty, fraud, deceit or misrepresentation, and regarding diligence. The Court further determined Bosley violated attorney/client trust account rules including commingling of funds, failure to keep proper records, not having funds in the trust account to cover charges ( bouncing checks), and failure to deliver monies due clients. The Supreme Court suspended indefinitely Freeman Bosley's law license. Despite more complaints from clients, the latest of which was dated March 2016, the Supreme Court had restored his license on December 20 of that year after he paid $10,000 worth of damages with $25,000 were labeled as pending.

References

St. Louis Public Library
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bosley, Freeman Jr. Mayors of St. Louis African-American mayors in Missouri 20th-century mayors of places in Missouri 1954 births Living people African-American people in Missouri politics Saint Louis University alumni Saint Louis University School of Law alumni 21st-century African-American politicians 20th-century African-American politicians