 willie wilbert herenton (born april 23, 1940) is an american politician who was formerly mayor of memphis, tennessee, and was candidate for election to the u.s. house of representatives in 2010, until his defeat in the democratic primary against incumbent steve cohen. he was the first african american to be elected mayor of memphis, tennessee. ==biography== herenton is a graduate of le moyne-owen college and the university of memphis. he received his doctorate in education at southern illinois university, and is also a recipient of two honorary doctorates from rhodes college and christian brothers university. he has four children. he is the first african-american to be elected mayor of memphis, but not memphis' first african-american mayor. he won his first term by defeating incumbent mayor richard hackett in 1991 by a mere 146 votes. prior to serving as mayor, herenton was the superintendent of memphis city schools for twelve years. he resigned from his position as superintendent amidst public accusations of an affair he was having with one of his employees and the resulting lawsuit. in his state of the city address in 2006, herenton announced his intention to run for a fifth term in 2007. he was elected to his fifth term in office on october 4, 2007. herenton was selected to the long list for the 2008 world mayor award; however, he was not selected for this honor.citymayors profile on march 20, 2008, herenton announced that he would be stepping down from his position as memphis' mayor, effective july 31, 2008. this move angered many politicians in the city including councilwoman carol chumney, a candidate he beat for mayor of memphis in october 2007. he made this announcement just a little over 90 days after his re-election. herenton stated his early departure from the mayor's office was to seek the position of superintendent of memphis city schools, dispelling speculation that he was stepping down because of a run for congress or impending legal troubles from an ongoing criminal investigation at city hall. he later stated that he would not leave the office of m
1940_births African-American_mayors African-American_politicians LeMoyneaOwen_College_alumni Living_people Mayors_of_Memphis,_Tennessee Southern_Illinois_University_alumni Tennessee_Democrats University_of_Memphis_alumni