Andrew Young Sworn in as Ambassador to the United Nations
Andrew Young, a leader in the civil rights movement and a friend and colleague of Dr. Martin Luther King, was sworn in on this day as Ambassador to the United Nations.
He had been elected to Congress in 1972, the first African-American member of Congress from Georgia since Reconstruction, and was twice re-elected.
President Jimmy Carter appointed him to be U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, where he served from this day until 1979. After leaving the UN position, he elected mayor of Atlanta in 1981 and served two terms in office.
Read Young’s Memoirs: Andrew Young, An Easy Burden: The Civil Rights Movement and the Transformation of America (1996)
Watch an Interview with Andrew Young: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fcG5xLjXGKI
Read an oral history interview with Young: http://www.lbjlibrary.net/collections/oral-histories/young-j.-andrew.html