[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 10 (Thursday, January 16, 2014)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E100]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       TRIBUTE TO ARNOLD PINKNEY

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. MARCIA L. FUDGE

                                of ohio

                    in the house of representatives

                       Thursday, January 16, 2014

  Ms. FUDGE. Mr. Speaker, on behalf of the citizens of the Eleventh 
Congressional District of Ohio, I rise today to recognize a great 
Ohioan, Arnold Pinkney, who passed away Monday, January 13, 2014, at 83 
years of age.
  Arnold Pinkney was an extraordinary political strategist and mentor 
to generations of elected leaders, including me. He had an innate 
understanding of people's needs and knew how elected officials could 
best articulate and pursue policies that achieved the common good.
  Mr. Pinkney managed the Cleveland mayoral campaign of Carl Stokes, 
who in 1967 became the first African-American mayor to lead a major 
American city. Mr. Pinkney went on to manage successful campaigns for 
the Honorable Louis Stokes. He also co-managed Ohio gubernatorial 
campaigns of Dick Celeste.
  Arnold managed the 1984 presidential campaign of Rev. Jesse Jackson, 
Sr. Notably, the strategy used in Rev. Jackson's campaign resulted in 
the significant presence of delegates at the Democratic National 
Convention. The presence of Rev. Jackson and his delegates allowed for 
their meaningful input into the party's focus and priorities for the 
election cycle and beyond, and opened a door that eventually culminated 
in the election and re-election of President Barack Obama over 20 years 
later.
  Mr. Pinkney was elected to and served many years on the Cleveland 
Metropolitan School District Board of Education, including time as its 
president. He also helped the school district pass levies critically 
needed to educate the city's children and provided successful strategic 
advice to other local public office candidates.
  What I remember most about Arnold is his passion to use the talents 
with which he was blessed to improve our community. His love of 
politics was inspired and nurtured early on by the great Hubert 
Humphrey, having served as deputy manager for the Vice President's 1968 
presidential campaign. Vice President Humphrey once said, ``The moral 
test of a government is how it treats those who are at the dawn of 
life, the children; those who are in the twilight of life, the aged; 
and those who are in the shadow of life, the sick, the needy, and the 
handicapped.'' Mr. Pinkney kept those words close to heart as he 
strategized with and advised so many of us.
  Mr. Pinkney was also an astute businessman. He was the first African 
American agent for the Prudential Insurance Company, and later co-
founded the Pinkney-Perry Insurance Agency, which remains a thriving 
business in northeast Ohio today.
  Financial success did not blind Arnold Pinkney to the needs of the 
people and the need of government to serve all people. He lived his 
life to the fullest, and left the world a better place than he found 
it.