AC's Bio
The themes that bind together A C Wharton’s life – and his campaign platform – are about overcoming hardships, inspired leadership, courage of convictions, and a compelling confidence in a better future.
His early life began in Lebanon, Tennessee, in the foothills of the Cumberland Mountains, where it was assumed that he was destined to the life of a farm laborer. And yet, through the life-altering encouragement of two student teachers from Tennessee State University and his personal dream for a better life, he was accepted to Tuskegee Institute School of Veterinary Medicine.
However, he could not afford to attend college, and at the moment when his ambitions for a college degree seem shattered, his high school principal unexpectedly visited him and presented him with a scholarship to Tennessee State University. At TSU, he excelled in a major that foreshadowed his future – political science – and he graduated with honors in 1962.
Six years later, he entered the University of Mississippi Law School, where he was one of the first African-American students to serve on the Moot Court Board and the first African-American to serve on the Judicial Council. He graduated with honors in 1971, and three years later, he again broke the color bar, becoming the first African-American professor of law, a position that he held for 25 years.
After graduation from law school, he considered a variety of jobs that would take him to Washington, D.C., and ultimately, he accepted a job in the Office of General Council of Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, where he worked for two years. He then moved to the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law to head the Public Employment Project funded by the Rockefeller Foundation.
In November, 1973, AC moved to Memphis to accept a job as executive director of Legal Services, an organization facing severe financial troubles. Under his leadership, it not only survived but was recognized nationally for its innovative programs, including the nation’s first legal services office for seniors.
In 1980, on the strength of AC’s strong management record, then Shelby County Mayor Bill Morris appointed him as Chief Shelby County Public Defender, where his concern for the mentally ill in the criminal justice system gave birth to a national model program. His deep understanding of the complexities of the justice system and his ability to bring people of different interests together led to his chairing the county’s Jail Overcrowding Committee, which developed new ways to ease overcrowding without sacrificing public safety.
In 1982, he wrote and passed one of the first state laws in the U.S. to combat domestic violence, and at a national level, he worked for a special appropriation for one of the nation’s first transitional living facilities for juveniles. Meanwhile, with his wife, Ruby, he formed the law firm of Wharton and Wharton.
In 2002, Shelby County Government was approaching bankruptcy, and it was racked with ethics questions, it was inefficient and fragmented, and it offered few opportunities for the public to have a voice in its decisions. Just as it when he left the family farm to enter college, he was told that he could not succeed, this time, in turning around one of the Southeast’s largest governments.
And yet, that’s exactly what he did. Elected as the first African-American Shelby County Mayor in 2002 with 62 percent of the vote and easily reelected in 2006 with 77 percent of the vote, he developed the county’s first financial plan that is decreasing the county’s debt payments, he reduced the county payroll, he increased efficiency, and he limited county government to only one tax increase in seven years.
Further information about his accomplishments can be found on this website.
His record of leadership is well-known among national organizations dealing with the issues facing cities. He has testified before the U.S. Congress and has spoken at numerous major conferences, including those of the Brookings Institution, CEOs for Cities, and National Association of Counties. New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg invited Mayor Wharton to help review his city’s anti-poverty plans, and Mayor Wharton is a member of the Mayors Against Illegal Guns Coalition headed by Mayor Bloomberg and Boston Mayor Thomas Menino.
Mayor and Mrs. Wharton have raised six sons.
His early life began in Lebanon, Tennessee, in the foothills of the Cumberland Mountains, where it was assumed that he was destined to the life of a farm laborer. And yet, through the life-altering encouragement of two student teachers from Tennessee State University and his personal dream for a better life, he was accepted to Tuskegee Institute School of Veterinary Medicine.
However, he could not afford to attend college, and at the moment when his ambitions for a college degree seem shattered, his high school principal unexpectedly visited him and presented him with a scholarship to Tennessee State University. At TSU, he excelled in a major that foreshadowed his future – political science – and he graduated with honors in 1962.
Six years later, he entered the University of Mississippi Law School, where he was one of the first African-American students to serve on the Moot Court Board and the first African-American to serve on the Judicial Council. He graduated with honors in 1971, and three years later, he again broke the color bar, becoming the first African-American professor of law, a position that he held for 25 years.
After graduation from law school, he considered a variety of jobs that would take him to Washington, D.C., and ultimately, he accepted a job in the Office of General Council of Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, where he worked for two years. He then moved to the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law to head the Public Employment Project funded by the Rockefeller Foundation.
In November, 1973, AC moved to Memphis to accept a job as executive director of Legal Services, an organization facing severe financial troubles. Under his leadership, it not only survived but was recognized nationally for its innovative programs, including the nation’s first legal services office for seniors.
In 1980, on the strength of AC’s strong management record, then Shelby County Mayor Bill Morris appointed him as Chief Shelby County Public Defender, where his concern for the mentally ill in the criminal justice system gave birth to a national model program. His deep understanding of the complexities of the justice system and his ability to bring people of different interests together led to his chairing the county’s Jail Overcrowding Committee, which developed new ways to ease overcrowding without sacrificing public safety.
In 1982, he wrote and passed one of the first state laws in the U.S. to combat domestic violence, and at a national level, he worked for a special appropriation for one of the nation’s first transitional living facilities for juveniles. Meanwhile, with his wife, Ruby, he formed the law firm of Wharton and Wharton.
In 2002, Shelby County Government was approaching bankruptcy, and it was racked with ethics questions, it was inefficient and fragmented, and it offered few opportunities for the public to have a voice in its decisions. Just as it when he left the family farm to enter college, he was told that he could not succeed, this time, in turning around one of the Southeast’s largest governments.
And yet, that’s exactly what he did. Elected as the first African-American Shelby County Mayor in 2002 with 62 percent of the vote and easily reelected in 2006 with 77 percent of the vote, he developed the county’s first financial plan that is decreasing the county’s debt payments, he reduced the county payroll, he increased efficiency, and he limited county government to only one tax increase in seven years.
Further information about his accomplishments can be found on this website.
His record of leadership is well-known among national organizations dealing with the issues facing cities. He has testified before the U.S. Congress and has spoken at numerous major conferences, including those of the Brookings Institution, CEOs for Cities, and National Association of Counties. New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg invited Mayor Wharton to help review his city’s anti-poverty plans, and Mayor Wharton is a member of the Mayors Against Illegal Guns Coalition headed by Mayor Bloomberg and Boston Mayor Thomas Menino.
Mayor and Mrs. Wharton have raised six sons.