Jennette Bradley (1952- )

September 28, 2020 
/ Contributed By: Sade Moore

|Jennette Bradley

Jennette Bradley

© The Columbus Dispatch

Jennette Bradley is a former bank executive and Republican politician who became the first African American woman to be elected lieutenant governor of Ohio in 2002. Bradley was born in Columbus, Ohio, on October 2, 1952. Upon finishing East High School in Columbus, she enrolled in Wittenberg University in Springfield, Ohio in 1970, where she majored in psychology. She graduated from Wittenberg in 1974 and later became a member of the board of trustees.

After graduation, Bradley worked for the Columbus Metropolitan Housing Authority.  In 1980, at age twenty-eight, Bradley became the youngest person–and the first African American woman–executive director. In 1989, she took a position as senior vice president at Huntington National Bank in Columbus. She married communications consultant Michael Taylor in 1990.

In 1991, Bradley entered politics and became the first African American woman to be elected to the Columbus City Council. Well-known in the Ohio capital city, Governor Robert Taft asked Bradley to be his running mate when he ran for re-election in 2002. Although there was some criticism in GOP circles that Bradley was too liberal, the Taft-Bradley ticket defeated the Democratic opposition in November. On January 13, 2003, Jennette Bradley was inaugurated as the 62nd  Lt. Governor of Ohio, becoming one of the highest-ranking Black Republicans in the nation. In September 2004, she gained national exposure when she announced Ohio’s delegate vote for President George W. Bush at the Republican National Convention.

In January 2005, Gov. Taft appointed Jennettte Bradley to be Ohio State Treasurer after the previous office holder resigned. In the next election cycle, Bradley was defeated in the Republican primary in 2006. She returned to private life in 2007 and has occasionally consulted for the Columbus City Council.

About the Author

Author Profile

Sade’ Moore is an undergraduate student at Texas A&M University in College Station, studying to be an industrial engineer. Her mom and dad went to the military. She is a first-generation college student in her family and the oldest of her siblings. While attending Prairie A&M View University, Sade’s father died of cancer, and shortly after, she decided to transfer schools to attend Texas A&M University for a more rigorous education.

She plans to graduate early to start using her degree and owning her own business. She also wants to follow in her father’s traveling footsteps since he saw most of the world during his time in the Marines. Sade’ feels that it is only right that she explores the world as an engineer.

CITE THIS ENTRY IN APA FORMAT:

Moore, S. (2020, September 28). Jennette Bradley (1952- ). BlackPast.org. https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/jennette-bradley-1952/

Source of the Author's Information:

https://www.c-span.org/video/?182730-1/republican-national-convention-day-3; C Span, Republican National Convention, Day 3,” Wittenberg News, December 22, 2004, Cincinnati Enquirer, January 11, 2003, January 14, 2003; “Jennette Bradley, Encyclopedia.com, https://www.encyclopedia.com/education/news-wires-white-papers-and-books/bradley-jennette-b-1952.

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