1. Andrew Young was the first African American elected to Congress from Georgia since Reconstruction, as well as one of the first two African Americans elected to Congress from the former Confederacy since Reconstruction, alongside Barbara Jordan of Texas.
Since leaving office, Andrew Young has founded or served in many organizations working on issues of public policy and political lobbying.
Andrew Young was born on March 12,1932, in New Orleans, to Daisy Young, a schoolteacher, and Andrew Jackson Young, a dentist.
Andrew Young recalls his parents trying to "compensate for segregation" by providing for their children but were reluctant to help less wealthy black communities in the area.
Andrew Young attended Dillard University for one year before graduating from Howard University.
Andrew Young then earned a divinity degree from Hartford Seminary in Hartford, Connecticut, in 1955.
Andrew Young is a member of Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity.
Andrew Young was appointed to serve as pastor of a church in Marion, Alabama.
Andrew Young became interested in Mahatma Gandhi's concept of nonviolent resistance as a tactic for social change.
Andrew Young encouraged African Americans to register to vote in Alabama, and sometimes faced death threats while doing so.
Andrew Young served as a pastor of the Evergreen Congregational Church in Beachton, Georgia, from 1957 to 1959.
Andrew Young played a key role in the 1963 events in Birmingham, Alabama, serving as a mediator between the white and black communities as they negotiated against a background of protests.
In 1964, Andrew Young was named executive director of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference.
Andrew Young was with King in Memphis, Tennessee, when King was assassinated in 1968.
In 1970, Andrew Young ran as a Democrat for the 5th District seat in the US House of Representatives, from Georgia, but was unsuccessful.
Andrew Young later was re-elected in 1974 and in 1976.
Andrew Young sat on the powerful Rules Committee and the Banking and Urban Development Committee.
Andrew Young opposed the Vietnam War, helped enact legislation that established the US Institute for Peace, established the Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area and negotiated federal funds for MARTA and the Atlanta Highways.
In 1977, President Jimmy Carter appointed Andrew Young to serve as the United States Ambassador to the United Nations.
Andrew Young was the first African American to hold the position.
Andrew Young caused controversy when, during a July 1978 interview with French newspaper Le Matin de Paris while discussing the Soviet Union and its treatment of political dissidents, he said, "We still have hundreds of people that I would categorize as political prisoners in our prisons", in reference to jailed civil-rights and anti-war protestors.
In 1979, Andrew Young played a leading role in advancing a settlement in Rhodesia with Robert Mugabe and Joshua Nkomo, who had been two of the rebel leaders in the Rhodesian Bush War, which had ended in 1979.
Andrew Young refused to accept the election results and described the election as "neofascist," a sentiment echoed by United Nations Security Council Resolution 445 and 448.
Andrew Young's favoring of Mugabe and Nkomo over Muzorewa and his predecessor and ally, Ian Smith, has been controversial.
In July 1979, Andrew Young discovered that an upcoming report by the United Nations Division for Palestinian Rights called for the creation of a Palestinian State.
Andrew Young wanted to delay the report because the Carter Administration was dealing with too many other issues at the time.
Andrew Young met with the UN representatives of several Arab countries to try to convince them the report should be delayed; they agreed in principle but insisted that the Palestine Liberation Organization had to agree.
Andrew Young continued and expanded Jackson's programs for including minority and female-owned businesses in all city contracts.
Andrew Young was prohibited by term limits from running for a third term.
The survey saw Andrew Young ranked the fifth-best big-city mayor to serve in office post-1960.
Andrew Young ran in a primary that included three former or future governors of Georgia: then lieutenant governor Zell Miller, then-state senator Roy Barnes, and former governor Lester Maddox.
Andrew Young campaigned hard but by the primary, with no central message, his campaign ran into trouble against the well-heeled and prepared lieutenant governor.
Also, Andrew Young never found an issue that roused supporters, unlike Miller, who won voters by championing a state lottery.
Andrew Young has been a director of the Drum Major Institute for Public Policy, and is the chairman of the board for the Global Initiative for the Advancement of Nutritional Therapy.
In 1990, Andrew Young was a member of the Atlanta Olympic bid committee.
Andrew Young served as co-chair of the 1996 Summer Olympic Games.
From 2000 to 2001, Andrew Young served as president of the National Council of Churches.
From February to August 2006, Andrew Young served as the public spokesman for Working Families for Walmart, an advocacy group for the retail chain Walmart.
On January 22,2008, Andrew Young appeared as a guest on the television show The Colbert Report.
Host Stephen Colbert invited Andrew Young to appear during the writers' strike, because, in 1969, Andrew Young and Colbert's father had worked together to mediate a hospital workers' strike.
Andrew Young made another appearance on The Colbert Report on November 5,2008, to talk about the election of Barack Obama to the presidency.
On January 19,2015, Andrew Young gave the keynote address at Vanderbilt University's Martin Luther King Jr.
The theme was "Dismantling Segregation: Race, Poverty, and Privilege", and Andrew Young spoke about his experiences in Selma, stories of traveling with King, and his advice to the next generation of leaders.
On May 13,2019, Andrew Young gave the keynote address at Emory University's spring commencement ceremony.
On May 29,2020, Andrew Young remarked on the protests in Atlanta in reaction to the murder of George Floyd.
Andrew Young stated that riots, violence, and looting "hurt the cause instead of helping it".
Andrew Young has four children with his first wife, Jean Childs Andrew Young, who died of liver cancer in 1994.
In September 1999, Andrew Young was diagnosed with prostate cancer which was successfully removed with surgery in January 2000.
Andrew Young is played by Andre Holland in the 2014 film Selma.