Ray Nagin

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Ray Nagin (2006)

Clarence Ray Nagin Jr. (born June 11, 1956 in New Orleans , Louisiana ) is an American politician and former mayor of New Orleans. He was elected to this office in May 2002 to succeed Marc Morial and held it until May 3, 2010.

Life

Ray Nagin was born in New Orleans and grew up there in modest circumstances. Because of his good baseball skills, he was able to get a scholarship to Tuskegee University , where he graduated in 1978 with a degree in accounting. He then worked in Los Angeles for General Motors and Associates Corp. In 1985 he returned to New Orleans and joined Cox Communication , a cable television company, where he rose to become vice president. After completing an MBA , he became interested in a political career.

He has been married to Seletha Smith Nagin since 1982 and the couple have three children together: Jeremy, Jarin and Tianna.

Political career

Prior to his election as mayor , Nagin was a member of the Republican Party and had little political experience. Nagin made regular donations to politicians, e. B. for US President George W. Bush and former Republican Congressman Billy Tauzin in 1999 and 2000, and earlier for US Democratic Senators John Breaux and Bennett Johnston .

A few days before he decided to run, Nagin switched to the Democratic Party - mainly to increase his chances of winning in the Democratic home area of ​​New Orleans. In the first round he received 29% of the vote against opponents such as Police Chief Richard Pennington , State Senator Paulette Irons and others. In the runoff election with Pennington in May 2002, Nagin received 59% of the vote. His campaign was largely self-financed. Shortly after taking office, Nagin launched an anti-corruption campaign in the city government.

On August 23, 2005, Hurricane Katrina formed over the Bahamas . In the days that followed, signs grew that this storm would move close to New Orleans. Large areas of flooding were expected due to the location of large parts of New Orleans below sea level. On August 28, 2005, Nagin ordered the evacuation of New Orleans as Katrina approached the US Gulf Coast. Most of New Orleans was destroyed by the hurricane.

George W. Bush and Ray Nagin

On August 31, Nagin estimated that hundreds, possibly even thousands of people lost their lives in the environmental disaster, the day after he was interviewed by the American broadcaster WWL-TV and accused the US government and individual organizations and people of helping New Orleans, having failed after the devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina.

“ They [ the president and the government ] have no idea what's going on down here. Two days after that damned event [Hurricane Katrina] was over, you were flown down with television cameras and press reporters [...] and - excuse my language - the whole thing pisses me off. [...] I need reinforcements, I need troops, man, I need 500 buses. […] In one of the meetings that we had, there was talk of school bus drivers coming down here and taking people away. I said, 'Are you kidding? This is a national disaster! Make sure all the damn greyhound bus drivers get their asses moving and come to New Orleans. '[...] Because every day we go, people die and they die by the hundreds. [...] The people are desperate. [...] After 9/11, we immediately gave the President unprecedented power [...] and you are telling me that we cannot find a way to approve the necessary resources for a place where thousands have probably died and thousands more die every day? [...] I don't know whose problem this is. I don't know if the governor is responsible for this . I don't know if the president is responsible, but someone has to get their ass on a plane [...] and see what to do - right now! […] I don't want to see a single one holding one of those goddamn press conferences […] until the aid resources are in town. [...] Get your asses up and do something; let's get on top of this goddamn greatest catastrophe in the history of this land. [...] The people are dying. You don't have a home. They do not have any work. The city of New Orleans will never be the same again. [His voice fails and he bursts into tears.] "

In some media, however, Nagin was later accused of not having used all of the city's resources himself. So are z. B. the city buses and school buses were not used for evacuation measures and remained in the depots.

In 2006 he was re-elected. He won the runoff election against his challenger, lieutenant governor and Democratic party colleague Mitch Landrieu , by a margin of four percentage points. Because of the restriction to two terms of office, Nagin did not run again in 2010. On February 7, 2010, his successor, Mitch Landrieu, who came in again, was elected the new mayor of New Orleans with 66% of the vote. The handover took place on May 3, 2010.

After the end of his tenure, Nagin was faced with allegations of corruption that resulted in 21 counts being charged. At its core, Nagin is accused of having favored business people in the award of construction contracts worth around five million US dollars and, in return, having accepted around 200,000 dollars in bribes and luxury travel for himself and his family. He is expected to serve his sentence at the Federal Correctional Institution, Texarkana until 2023 .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/archive/2005/prb/al122005.prblty.015.shtml
  2. ↑ http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/archive/2005/prb/al122005.prblty.021.shtml
  3. ↑ http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2005/08/0829_050829_hurricane.html
  4. ↑ Translated in excerpts from: Mayor to feds: 'Get off your asses'. CNN, September 2, 2005, accessed September 15, 2018 .
  5. ↑ Archived copy ( Memento of the original from May 28, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.pittsburghlive.com
  6. ↑ http://www.nola.com/politics/index.ssf/2010/02/mitch_landrieu_claims_new_orle.html
  7. ^ Hurricane "Katrina": Corruption trial against ex-Mayor of New Orleans begins. In: Spiegel Online . January 27, 2014, accessed June 10, 2018 .

Web links

Wikiquote: Ray Nagin  - Quotes
Commons : Ray Nagin  - collection of images, videos and audio files
personal data
SURNAME Nagin, Ray
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Nagin, Clarence Ray Jr.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American politician, Mayor of New Orleans
DATE OF BIRTH June 11, 1956
PLACE OF BIRTH New Orleans , Louisiana