Jordan, a noted civil rights activist, is the author of two books, a collection of his public speeches, Make It Plain: Standing Up and Speaking Out (2008), and a memoir, co-written with Annette Gordon-Reed, Vernon Can Read! (2001).
Jordan was born and raised in Atlanta, and came to DC to attend Howard University, where he earned a JD in law in 1960. He returned to DC in 1981 to take a job in a prominent legal firm, after a decade as executive director of the United Negro College Fund and president of the National Urban League. Jordan served as a political advisor to President Bill Clinton, and later became embroiled in the Clinton impeachment trials.
His memoir won the award for Best Nonfiction from the Black Caucus of the American Library Association, and an Anisfield-Wolf Book Award. His other honors include a Spingarn Medal from the NAACP for lifetime achievement, and he is remembered locally with the Howard University School of Law’s library named in his honor and an endowed Jordan fellowship for its students.