The Honorable Douglas Wilder
Wilder in January 2003
66th Governor of Virginia
In office January 13, 1990 – January 15, 1994
Lieutenant	Don Beyer
Preceded by	Gerald L. Baliles
Succeeded by	George F. Allen
78th Mayor of Richmond
In office January 2, 2005 – January 1, 2009
Preceded by	Rudolph McCollum Jr.
Succeeded by	Dwight Clinton Jones
35th Lieutenant Governor of Virginia
In office January 18, 1986 – January 13, 1990
Governor	Gerald L. Baliles
Preceded by	Dick Davis
Succeeded by	Don Beyer
Personal details
Born	Lawrence Douglas Wilder (1931-01-17) January 17, 1931 (age 93) Richmond, Virginia, U.S.
Political party	Democratic
Other political affiliations	Independent
Spouse(s)	Eunice Montgomery (div)
Residence	Richmond, Virginia, U.S.
Alma mater	Virginia Union University Howard University
Profession	Attorney
Awards	Bronze Star Medal
Military service
Allegiance	United States of America
Branch/service	United States Army
Years of service	1951-1953
Rank	Sergeant
Battles/wars	Korean War

Lawrence Douglas Wilder (born January 17, 1931) is an American politician. He served as the first African American to be elected as Governor of Virginia. He was the first African-American governor of any state in the United States since the 1870s during the Reconstruction of the United States.^[1]

Wilder was born in Richmond, Virginia. He studied at Virginia Union University and at Howard University.

Wilder served as the 66th Governor of Virginia from 1990 to 1994. When earlier elected as Lieutenant Governor, he was the first African American elected to statewide office in Virginia. His most recent political office was Mayor of Richmond, Virginia, which he held from 2005 to 2009.

L. Douglas Wilder was born in the segregated Church Hill neighborhood of Richmond on January 17, 1931.^[2]

On May 30, 2004, Wilder announced his intention to run for Mayor of Richmond. On November 2, 2004, Wilder received 79% of the vote (55,319 votes) to become the first directly elected Mayor of Richmond in sixty years. On May 16, 2008 Wilder announced that he would not seek reelection to another four-year term as mayor.

Wilder was married to Eunice Montgomery. Their marriage ended in divorce. He now lives in Richmond, Virginia.

Media related to Douglas Wilder at Wikimedia Commons

• L. Douglas Wilder's oral history video excerpts Archived 2021-02-25 at the Wayback Machine at The National Visionary Leadership Project

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