Eugene Sawyer

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Eugene Sawyer

Eugene Sawyer (born September 9, 1934 in Greensboro , Alabama , † January 19, 2008 in Chicago , Illinois ) was an American politician and mayor of Chicago from 1987 to 1989.

Sawyer was born in Greensboro in 1934, the eldest of six children to Bernice and Eugene Sawyer, Sr. He studied at Alabama State University , where he received his Bachelor of Science degree in 1956 . After briefly teaching math and chemistry in Prentiss , Mississippi , he moved to live with relatives in Chicago in 1957. Around 1959, Sawyer turned to the Democrats . In 1971 he was elected to the Chicago City Council, where he represented the 6th district until 1988.

After the surprise death of Chicago Mayor Harold Washington in 1987, Sawyer was named the new mayor by the city council. On December 2, he was sworn in and replaced David Duvall Orr , who had temporarily held the office after Washington's death until a new mayor was appointed. When Sawyer lost the 1989 election to Richard M. Daley , he withdrew from public life.

He was married and had three children. Sawyer died in January 2008 at the age of 73 after complications including multiple strokes following esophageal surgery.

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personal data
SURNAME Sawyer, Eugene
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American Local Politician, Mayor of Chicago
DATE OF BIRTH September 9, 1934
PLACE OF BIRTH Greensboro , Alabama
DATE OF DEATH January 19, 2008
Place of death Chicago , Illinois