J. Raymond Jones

John Raymond Jones (November 19, 1899 – June 9, 1991), known as "The Harlem Fox", was an American Democratic Party politician who served on the New York City Council from 1963 to 1969. As the founder and longtime leader of the George Washington Carver Democratic Club, the leading political machine in majority Black Harlem, Jones was a political mentor and patron to two generations of Black Harlem political leaders, including Adam Clayton Powell Jr., Constance Baker Motley, Robert C. Weaver, David Dinkins, Basil A. Paterson, Charles Rangel, and Percy Sutton.

In 1944, Jones was elected Democratic leader for New York's 13th State Assembly district. He worked closely with Mayor William O'Dwyer, who appointed him deputy commissioner of the New York City Department of Housing and Buildings.

In 1956, Adam Clayton Powell Jr. endorsed Eisenhower over Stevenson, breaking with Tammany Hall and the Democratic Party. The Democratic machine put up a primary challenger to Powell in the form of Earl Brown. Jones ran Powell's campaign, easily beating Brown and demonstrating to Tammany they had no power in Harlem.

At the 1960 Democratic National Convention, Jones and Powell supported Lyndon B. Johnson on the first ballot over John F. Kennedy as part of a political deal with Sam Rayburn. In exchange, Rayburn appointed Powell as chairman of the House Committee on Education and Labor. In this role, Powell secured the passage of numerous pieces of landmark legislation during the Kennedy and Johnson administrations, including a large portion of the Great Society programs. Using their influence with the Johnson administration, Powell and Jones succeeded in having allies appointed to federal offices. Constance Baker Motley became the first Black woman appointed to the federal judiciary, and Robert Clifton Weaver was appointed the first United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, a position created at Jones's urging. Weaver was also the first Black member of the federal cabinet.

In 1966, Jones was part of the coalition that helped make Bertram L. Baker the first Black majority whip in the history of the New York State Assembly. At the time, this was the highest state office to which any Black politician had ascended.

Tammany Hall After Jones opposed Tammany Hall in 1961 by supporting Robert F. Wagner Jr. for re-election, Jones was elected its leader on December 3, 1964, after the ouster of Carmine DeSapio. and left politics entirely. His biography, "The Harlem Fox," was written by historian John C. Walter and published by State of New York University Press in 1989.