"No Juicy Stories," Former Clinton Adviser and Civil Rights Leader Vernon Jordan '57 Tells St. Louis Paper

January 27, 2003

January 27, 2003, Greencastle, Ind. - "I don't have juicy stories to tell," Vernon Jordan is quoted in today's St. Louis Post-Dispatch when asked about his friend and former colleague, Bill Clinton. Jordan, the legendary civil rights figure and 1957 graduate of DePauw University, who is speaking in St. Louis tonight, tells reporter Lorraine Kee, "Only fools tell juicy stories."

Vernon Jordan is at Harris-Stowe State College to promote his book, Vernon Can Read!: A Memoir, which, as the article states, focuses on his childhood, his years as a student at DePauw, and his work on the front lines of the civil rights movement. But the author doesn't touch on his years spent as an adviser to President Clinton. Jordan tells the Post-Dispatch he "[has not] ruled out the possibility of writing someday on the Clinton presidency but that he felt 'torn by his obligation to history' on the one hand and a 'loyalty to a friendship' on the other. 'And there are some things that are never to be told,' added Jordan, 67, now a managing director of the New York-based investment firm Lazard Frères & Co. By the way, Jordan believes the Monica Lewinsky scandal will 'ultimately be a footnote in history.'"

Vernon Can Read! ends with Jordan leaving the presidency of the National Urban League to join a Washington law firm. "The fact of the matter is that I had an exciting life long before my good friend got to be president," Jordan says, adding with a smile, "It's my book, and I will stop where I damn well please." You can read the newspaper article online, in its entirety, by clicking here.

Earlier this month, Vernon Jordan was presented with the Trumpet Award (read more here; video below). In October, he was cited as one of "The Top 50 African Americans On Wall Street" by Black Enterprise, and last summer, Forbes listed Jordan as the ninth most powerful black executive in America.

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