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Manyard Jackson reshaped Atlanta's power structure as the city's first black mayor. After he was elected in 1973, Jackson implemented programs to guarantee that a large share of city contracts went to minority-owned businesses.
Similarly, he used the city's bank accounts to pressure local banks to open their boards of directors to blacks and women.
The shake-up of old cozy relationships alienated many in the business community during Jackson's first two terms. By the time he returned for a third term in 1990, however, Jackson had made peace with the business community and had become a successful municipal bond dealmaker.
He now runs his own financial services firms, Jackson Securities Inc. and Jackmont Inc., and their offshoots, which include a telecommunications company and a restaurant operator.
The Dallas-born son of a preacher, Jackson grew up in Atlanta and finished high school at 14. He graduated from Morehouse College with honors at 18, then went to law school. Jackson plunged into politics by campaigning for the U.S. Senate before winning election as one of the first black mayors of a major U.S. city five years later.
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