born March 16, 1927, Tulsa, Okla., U.S.
died March 26, 2003, Washington, D.C.
U.S. scholar and politician.
He grew up in poverty in New York City. After serving in the U.S. navy in World War II, he attended Tufts University, where he earned a doctorate in 1961. From 1961 to 1965 he worked at the U.S. Labor Department, where he cowrote a controversial report that attributed the educational problems of African Americans to the instability of urban African American families. He taught at Harvard (1966–77) and held advisory posts in the administration of Richard Nixon . He was ambassador to India (1973–75) and U.S. representative to the UN (1975–76). He ran successfully for the U.S. Senate from New York in 1976; though he was a Democrat, his candidacy was opposed by many Democratic liberals. Reelected three times, he retired in 2001. In 2000 he received the Presidential Medal of Freedom.