Harry Thomas Sr. (February 3, 1922 – August 7, 1999) was a Democratic

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

He was elected to represent Ward 5 on the

Council of the District of Columbia The Council of the District of Columbia (or simply D.C. Council) is the legislative branch of the government of the District of Columbia. As permitted in the United States Constitution, the district is not part of any U.S. state and is overseen ...

in 1986 and served three full terms until his defeat in the 1998 Democratic primary to

Vincent Orange Vincent Bernard Orange, Sr. (born April 11, 1957) is a former American politician from Washington, D.C., and former president of the D.C. Chamber of Commerce. An attorney and a certified public accountant, Orange represented Ward 5 on the Cou ...

Early life and education

Thomas grew up in

Richmond, Virginia Richmond ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), U.S. commonwealth of Virginia. Incorporated in 1742, Richmond has been an independent city (United States), independent city since 1871. ...

, and dropped out of high school before enlisting in the army during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. After the war he moved to Washington, D.C., where he held a series of federal government jobs beginning with janitor and ending in the

Department of the Interior The United States Department of the Interior (DOI) is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the management and conservation of most federal lands and natural resources. It also administers programs relatin ...

's Office of Public Affairs. He worked a second full-time job as headwaiter at

Bolling Air Force Base Bolling Air Force Base or Bolling AFB was a United States Air Force installation located in Washington, D.C. In 2010, it merged with Naval Support Facility Anacostia to form Joint Base Anacostia–Bolling. From its establishment, the base has s ...

so that his children would be able to attend college.

Career

In 1986, after retiring from Interior, Thomas challenged incumbent William Spaulding for the Ward 5 council seat in the Democratic primary and won. During his tenure in office he was known as a

ward boss An alderman is a member of a municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law with similar officials existing in the Netherlands (wethouder) and Belgium (schepen). The term may be titular, denoting a high-ranking membe ...

more focused on providing constituent services than sponsoring legislation. He received attention for sponsoring controversial ceremonial resolutions honoring

Louis Farrakhan Louis Farrakhan (; born Louis Eugene Walcott; May 11, 1933) is an American religious leader who heads the Nation of Islam (NOI), a Black nationalism, black nationalist organization. Farrakhan is notable for his leadership of the 1995 Million M ...

and Abdul Alim Muhammad, two leaders of the

Nation of Islam The Nation of Islam (NOI) is a religious organization founded in the United States by Wallace Fard Muhammad in 1930. A centralized and hierarchical organization, the NOI is committed to black nationalism and focuses its attention on the Afr ...

. In 1998, Thomas ran for re-election, challenged by

, who had run against him in 1994, and three others. ''The Washington Posts editorial board endorsed Orange's candidacy. Orange emphasized improvements to New York Avenue, improving the economy and schools, and restricting liquor licenses. Orange defeated Thomas, receiving 38 percent of the vote to Thomas' 34 percent. ''The Washington Post'' described it as an upset victory. Orange won the general election as well with 89 percent of the vote.

Family and legacy

Thomas's son, Harry Thomas Jr., was elected to the Ward 5 council seat in 2006 and served until resigning in 2012 after pleading guilty to felony charges of embezzlement.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thomas, Harry Sr. Members of the Council of the District of Columbia Washington, D.C., Democrats African-American people in Washington, D.C., politics 1922 births 1999 deaths 20th-century African-American politicians United States Army personnel of World War II 20th-century Washington, D.C., politicians