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Tom Bradley was born in 1917, to Lee and Crenner Bradley. Tom excelled in track and football in high school, which in turn earned him a scholarship to UCLA.
During his junior year at UCLA, he took an exam to join the LAPD. In 1940, he joined the police department. Out of 4000 officers, 100 were African-American, representing the prevalent racial discrimination in the Los Angeles area. After 21 years of service, Tom retired from the LAPD a lieutenant, the highest rank help by an African-American at that time.
During his last years in the police force, he attended law school at night. Following his retirement, he began practicing law and became politically active in the Democratic Party.
In 1963, he was elected to the Los Angeles City Council, being the first black. In 1969, he first ran for mayor, finishing first in the primary but loosing the general election. He won re-election four more times before retiring in 1993.
Following his political retirement, he joined a downtown law firm. In September of 1998, at the age of 80, Tom Bradley passed away after suffering from a heart attack.
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