Victor Henderson Ashe II | |
---|---|
Member of the Broadcasting Board of Governors | |
In office June 30, 2010 –August 1, 2013 | |
Appointed by | Barack Obama |
Preceded by | James K. Glassman |
Succeeded by | Ryan Crocker |
52nd President of the United States Conference of Mayors | |
In office 1994–1995 | |
Preceded by | Jerry Abramson |
Succeeded by | Norm Rice |
United States Ambassador to Poland | |
In office August 17,2004 –September 26,2009 | |
President | George W. Bush Barack Obama |
Preceded by | Christopher R. Hill |
Succeeded by | Lee Feinstein |
Mayor of Knoxville | |
In office January 12,1987 –December 20,2003 | |
Preceded by | Kyle Testerman |
Succeeded by | Bill Haslam |
Personal details | |
Born | Knoxville,Tennessee,U.S. | January 1,1945
Political party | Republican |
Alma mater | Yale University (BA) University of Tennessee (JD) |
Victor Henderson Ashe II (born January 1,1945) is an American former diplomat and politician who served as United States Ambassador to Poland. From 1987 to 2004,he was mayor of Knoxville,Tennessee. Ashe is a Republican. Ambassador Ashe concluded his service as Ambassador to Poland on September 26,2009. [1]
Ashe was born in Knoxville,Tennessee,where he attended public school. He attended the Groton School in Groton,Massachusetts and subsequently the Hotchkiss School in Lakeville,Connecticut. He graduated from Yale University in 1967 with a BA in history. At Yale,Ashe was a member of the Skull and Bones society,as was George W. Bush. In 1974 he earned his Juris Doctor degree from the University of Tennessee College of Law. Before becoming an elected official,Ashe worked as an intern for Congressman Bill Brock,and as a staff assistant for Senator Howard Baker.
In 1968 Ashe was elected to the Tennessee House of Representatives;he was only 23 years old at the time. Significantly,during that time he championed passage of the 26th Amendment,which lowered the voting age to eighteen,and authored legislation that lowered the age of majority to eighteen as well in 1971. After serving three terms in the State House,Ashe won the August 1974 Republican primary for a Tennessee Senate seat representing Knox County,Tennessee. In a lawsuit brought by a former legislator Ashe had defeated in 1972,the Tennessee Supreme Court ruled Ashe ineligible to be the Republican nominee as he would not meet the minimum age qualification of 30 on the day of the general election in November. [2] The Knox County GOP then nominated his mother,Martha Ashe,to replace him as the nominee. She was elected by the voters with the promise to resign in January 1975 when Ashe turned 30. Upon her resignation the Knox County Commission appointed Victor Ashe to replace her; [3] [4] he was later elected to the position and served for nine years.
From 1967 to 1973,during the Vietnam War,Ashe was a member of the United States Marine Corps Air Reserves. He was also the Executive Director of the Americans Outdoors Commission from 1985 until 1987. [3]
He ran unsuccessfully for the U.S. Senate in 1984 against future Vice President Al Gore. [5]
Ashe was elected to be the mayor of Knoxville in November 1987. He served 16 years as mayor,the longest term in the city's history. As mayor,Ashe led several initiatives to improve Knoxville's civic and financial footing. These initiatives focused on such things as waterfront development along the Tennessee River and the building of a convention center to attract tourism and business. [3] The latter was a cause for controversy,with many residents saying that the city of Knoxville did not offer enough amenities to attract would-be events or shows to a convention center. Other initiatives included downtown redevelopment and sign and billboard control. [6]
Ashe stressed diversity within his administration,noting when he left office the growth of minorities and women on commissions and boards during his time as mayor. [6] While Ashe often had the support of the city council,he was unable to get it to institute a Police Advisory Review Committee to perform as a civilian review of police action,something which,in 1998,he felt was necessary to investigate the questionable deaths of three black men at the hands of police officers. At the time,hostility in the black community toward the police department was extremely high due to these deaths. Ashe circumvented the council and established the committee by executive order. Three years later,the council unanimously ratified the order,defusing growing protests for recall elections for Ashe and other councilors . [6]
As mayor,Ashe favored preserving buildings that had possible historic value,at one point threatening to put historic zoning restrictions on a building its owners wished to demolish. [7]
Ashe was a strong supporter of parkland in the city,and during his tenure,parkland in Knoxville was increased from 700 to 1,700 acres (7 km2) and 30 miles (48 km) of greenway was added. He initiated a program called "Penny for the Parks" to create a trust fund that would use a one cent tax and federal matching money to commit $250,000 a year for city parks,greenways and historic preservation. After leaving office,Ashe was awarded a Cornelius Amory Pugsley Medal,which was granted by the American Academy for Park and Recreation Administration in recognition of his work on greenways and public parks. [3]
Ashe was sworn in as a US ambassador to Poland in June 2004; [8] during Ashe's tenure as mayor of Knoxville he,acting on the advice of Dr. Marek Pienkowski,helped to establish a sister city relationship with the city of Chełm,Poland,and led two delegations to that city. [3]
One of the issues Ashe engaged in when he was appointed ambassador to Poland was the difficulty Poles have getting work and tourist visas for the United States. After Ashe met with President George W. Bush and Polish President Aleksander Kwaśniewski in Washington in 2005,Bush suggested that the visa rejection rate for Poles be lowered. [9]
Ashe has also noted that Poland has a growing economy that offers many opportunities for US businesses. He is interested in having his own area of Knoxville and East Tennessee take advantage of such opportunities,and in 2005 advised a group of 16 Knoxville-area businesses to put together a trade mission to Poland. [10]
On March 16,2009 he was honoured by President of Poland Lech Kaczyński with Commander's Cross with Star of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland,for his contribution to Polish-American cooperation. He was decorated on September 25,2009 by Mariusz Handzlik,undersecretary of state in President's Office. [11]
Ashe was appointed as a member of the Board of Directors of the Corporation for National and Community Service in 1996,and he served until 2000. [12]
Ashe serves on the Broadcasting Board of Governors,the body which supervises the federal agencies which broadcast to foreign countries. In a 2013 report by the Office of Inspector General,Ashe was criticized as a board member "whose tactics and personal attacks on colleagues and staff have created an unprofessional and unproductive atmosphere". Ashe was not directly named,but referred to as a "former mayor," a description which fits only him. Ashe called the report "unwarranted,unfair and factually incorrect" and in his defense pointed to his support from labor. [13]
In April 2020,Ashe announced his candidacy for the Yale Corporation,on a platform of reforming the Corporation election process while taking into account alumni voices. [14] [15]
Ashe and his wife,Joan née Plumlee,have two children together. Ashe is the uncle of professional basketball players Mason Plumlee,Miles Plumlee,and Marshall Plumlee.
Knox County is located in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2020 census, the population was 478,971, making it the third-most populous county in Tennessee. Its county seat is Knoxville, which is the third-most populous city in Tennessee. Knox County is included in the Knoxville metropolitan area. The county is located at the geographical center of the Great Valley of East Tennessee. Near the heart of the county is the origin of the Tennessee River, at the confluence of the Holston and French Broad rivers.
Knoxville is a city in and the county seat of Knox County, Tennessee, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, Knoxville's population was 190,740, making it the largest city in the East Tennessee Grand Division and the state's third largest city after Nashville and Memphis. It is the principal city of the Knoxville metropolitan area, which had a population of 879,773 in 2020.
Timothy Floyd Burchett is an American politician who is the U.S. representative for Tennessee's 2nd congressional district, based in Knoxville, serving since 2019.
John James Duncan Sr. was an American attorney and Republican politician who represented Tennessee's 2nd Congressional District in the U. S. House of Representatives from 1965 until his death in 1988. He also served as Mayor of Knoxville, Tennessee, from 1959 to 1964, and as assistant attorney general of Knox County, from 1948 until 1956. He is the father of Congressman John J. "Jimmy" Duncan, Jr., who succeeded him in Congress, and current Tennessee State Senator Becky Duncan Massey.
William Edward Haslam is an American billionaire businessman and politician who served as the 49th governor of Tennessee from 2011 to 2019. A member of the Republican Party, Haslam previously served as the 67th mayor of Knoxville, Tennessee.
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Horace Maynard was an American educator, attorney, politician and diplomat active primarily in the second half of the 19th century. Initially elected to the House of Representatives from Tennessee's 2nd Congressional District for the term commencing on March 4, 1857, Maynard, an ardent Union supporter and abolitionist, became one of the few Southern congressmen to maintain his seat in the House during the Civil War. Toward the end of the war, Maynard served as Tennessee's attorney general under Governor Andrew Johnson, and later served as ambassador to the Ottoman Empire under President Ulysses S. Grant and Postmaster General under President Rutherford B. Hayes.
James Arthur Haslam II is an American businessman and philanthropist, best known as the founder of Pilot Corporation, which operates a chain of convenience stores and travel centers throughout the United States and Canada, and is one of the largest privately owned companies in the United States. Haslam is also a donor for the University of Tennessee, having provided tens of millions of dollars to the school over several decades. Haslam's son Jimmy is the current owner of the National Football League's Cleveland Browns and Major League Soccer's Columbus Crew, and his other son Bill is a former Governor of Tennessee.
Interstate 475 (I-475)/State Route 475, officially known as the Knoxville Parkway and commonly known as the Orange Route, was a proposed Interstate highway and state route in Loudon, Knox, Anderson, Grainger, Jefferson and Sevier counties within the eastern part of the U.S. state of Tennessee. The proposed route would have allowed through traffic on I-75 to bypass the Knoxville-Knox County urbanized area. If constructed, SR 475 was to begin at the I-40/I-75 junction near Farragut, and travel northeast through the communities of Hardin Valley, Solway and Claxton, then join I-75 again northwest of Heiskell. It was also considered to be extended to I-40 at exit 407, serving as a northern semi-beltway of the Knoxville area. Driven by opposition spearheaded by state representative H.E. Bittle of Hardin Valley and Knoxville mayor Victor Ashe, the project was scrapped by the Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT) in 2010.
Strawberry Plains is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Jefferson, Knox, and Sevier counties in the State of Tennessee, United States. Before 2010, it was treated by the United States Census Bureau as a census county division. It is included in both the Knoxville Metropolitan Statistical Area and the Morristown Metropolitan Statistical Area.
Randell "Randy" Tyree is a Tennessee politician who served as mayor of Knoxville from 1976 to 1983 and was the Democratic candidate for Governor in 1982.
The University of Tennessee College of Law is the law school of the University of Tennessee located in Knoxville, Tennessee. Founded in 1890, the College of Law is fully accredited by the American Bar Association and is a charter member of the Association of American Law Schools.
James Churchwell Luttrell II was an American attorney and politician who served as Mayor of Knoxville, Tennessee, during the Civil War. His eight-year term (1859–1867) was the longest for any Knoxville mayor until the late 20th century, when it was surpassed by Victor Ashe's 16-year term. Luttrell also served as state comptroller in the late 1850s, and was elected to the state senate following his term as mayor.
Madeline Anne Rogero is an American politician who served as the 68th mayor of Knoxville, Tennessee, elected in 2011. She was the first woman to hold the office and the first woman to be elected mayor in any of the Big Four cities in Tennessee. Before entering politics, Rogero worked as a community development director, non-profit executive, urban and regional planner, and community volunteer. She served on the Knox County Commission from 1990 to 1998, and first ran for mayor in 2003, losing to the later Governor of Tennessee, Bill Haslam. While Knoxville municipal elections are officially nonpartisan, Rogero is known to be a Democrat.
The following is a timeline of the history of the city of Knoxville, Knox County, Tennessee, USA.
Cumberland Estates is a residential neighborhood in the City of Knoxville, Tennessee, United States, which gained national attention for architectural innovation and research housing in the mid-20th century. It began 2.1 miles outside the city limits, in Knox County, as one of many planned suburban neighborhoods in the post-World War II economic expansion. The development soon attracted an innovative young architect and national sponsors who would create new ways to rapidly and affordably fill the demand for residential housing needs for America’s growing population of families. Their prominent work in the neighborhood influenced the evolution of residential building design. While the attention received from the research homes waned in the last century, the neighborhood has maintained its residential character with few changes while avoiding commercial encroachment and blight.
Marek Maria Pienkowski is a Polish-American medical researcher and clinician focused on broad aspects of immunological diagnosis and treatment. He collaborated in important discoveries related to immunology, viral oncogenes, genetic engineering, and cloning and has implemented desensitization treatments for allergic disorders based on this research into his clinical practice.
Indya Kincannon is an American politician who serves as the 69th Mayor of Knoxville, Tennessee since 2019. She won the 2019 mayoral election with more than 52% of the runoff vote over opponent Eddie Mannis. She is Knoxville's second female mayor, after her predecessor Madeline Rogero. Though elected in a nonpartisan municipal election, Kincannon is affiliated with the Democratic Party.
Elections are currently held every four years to elect the mayor of Knoxville, Tennessee.
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