42 Facts About Walter Fauntroy

Walter Fauntroy was a candidate for the 1972 and 1976 Democratic presidential nominations as a favorite son.

The fourth of seven children, Walter Fauntroy was born and raised in Washington, DC.

Walter Fauntroy graduated second in his class at Washington's all-black Dunbar High School in 1951, and the members of his church held fund-raising dinners to provide him with a college scholarship.

Walter Fauntroy joined the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, and upon his return to Washington, DC, became an influential lobbyist for civil rights in Congress.

Walter Fauntroy helped to coordinate the 1963 March on Washington at which King gave his famous "I Have a Dream" speech.

Walter Fauntroy returned home with an unorthodox view of Christian service that his parishioners immediately embraced.

Walter Fauntroy founded and led the Model Inner City Community Organization.

Walter Fauntroy played a key role after the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.

Walter Fauntroy urged people, in person, on TV, and over radio, to adhere to King's policy of nonviolence.

Walter Fauntroy sat on the city council for two years, resigning when his commitments as director of MICCO began to take all of his time.

Belying his previous ecumenicism, Walter Fauntroy asked the United States Supreme Court to stop same-sex marriage from taking place in the District of Columbia in March 2010, pending a "vote by the people".

Walter Fauntroy was sworn in March 23,1971, becoming the first delegate to represent the citizens of the District of Columbia as a member of the United States House of Representatives in almost 100 years.

Walter Fauntroy therefore became influential with the Congressional Black Caucus as a liberal with an agenda that included the concerns of inner city residents, the poor, and minorities.

Walter Fauntroy was returned to his office five times over the ensuing years, sometimes with as much as 85 percent of the vote.

Walter Fauntroy chaired the Caucus in 1981 and led the organization in presenting, for the first time, a budget to be debated by the House.

Walter Fauntroy was a member of the House Banking, Finance and Urban Affairs Committee, Congressman Fauntroy chaired for six years the Subcommittee on Domestic Monetary Policy and for four years chaired the Subcommittee on International Development, Finance, Trade and Monetary Policy.

Walter Fauntroy authored the Black Leadership Family Plan For the Unity, Survival and Progress of Black People in 1982.

Walter Fauntroy stepped down from his seat in Congress in 1990 to run for mayor of Washington, DC.

The first and biggest client to sign on with Walter Fauntroy was Nelson Mandela's African National Congress.

Since 1992, Walter Fauntroy has been lobbying Congress to pass legislation to create an "enterprise fund" for South Africa.

Walter Fauntroy has been actively encouraging new private US investment in South Africa as well.

Walter Fauntroy is president of the National Black Leadership Roundtable, the national network vehicle of the Congressional Black Caucus that he founded in 1977.

Robust and athletic through most of his life, Walter Fauntroy was diagnosed with tuberculosis in 1993, treated, and cured.

Walter Fauntroy took his condition public to demystify the illness and to assure those who might be afflicted by it that they could be cured.

Walter Fauntroy occasionally phoned from a Dubai number to briefly check on people.

Walter Fauntroy returned on June 27,2016, and was arrested at Dulles International Airport on charges related to check fraud.

In September 2016, the bad check charge was dropped once Walter Fauntroy paid back $20,000.

In 1995, Walter Fauntroy pleaded guilty to a felony charge of filing a false disclosure statement in 1989.

Walter Fauntroy had falsely reported making a $23,887 donation to a Washington church at the end of 1988.

In 2012, Walter Fauntroy disappeared and presumably fled the United States after a bench warrant was issued for his arrest in conjunction with allegations he had written a fraudulent check for $55,000.

In 2016, Walter Fauntroy returned to the United States and was arrested at Washington Dulles International Airport.

Walter Fauntroy had been hiding in Ajman, the capital of the Emirate of Ajman in the United Arab Emirates.

Walter Fauntroy has been criticized by supporters of gay rights for his support in 2001 of the Federal Marriage Amendment.

In January 2007, Walter Fauntroy was asked to speak at a Martin Luther King Jr.

The city's human rights commission, knowing Walter Fauntroy was against gay marriage, decided to withdraw from the event, which caused a firestorm of criticism.

Walter Fauntroy viewed the grassroots conservative Tea Party movement as a racist political group.

Walter Fauntroy visited Libya on a "peace mission" during the 2011 Libyan civil war.

Walter Fauntroy remained there through the invasion of Tripoli, amongst the journalists holed up at the Rixos Al Nasr, where all Western media was based; this fact was confirmed by CNN reporter Matthew Chance on August 23,2011, who noted on Twitter that Fauntroy was among the journalists being held within the hotel.

Walter Fauntroy was released with the rest of the foreign nationals on August 25,2011, and returned to Washington, where he took part in remembrances of the anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr.

Walter Fauntroy said he believed "more than 90 percent of the Libyan people love [Muammar] Gaddafi", the Libyan strongman opposed by the rebel movement.

Walter Fauntroy was married to the former Dorothy Simms of Petersburg, Virginia.

Walter Fauntroy holds honorary degrees from Howard University and Georgetown University Law Center.