Former Clinton adviser Vernon Jordan has died. He was 85.

Jordan's death was announced by Tuesday by a daughter, who said her father died Monday night.

Published: March 2, 2021 9:42am

Updated: March 2, 2021 10:28am

Former Clinton aide and civil rights champion Vernon Jordan has died. He was 85.

Jordan's death was announced Tuesday by daughter, Vickee Jordan Adams, in a statement to CBS News.

After jobs as field secretary for the Georgia NAACP and executive director of the United Negro College Fund, Jordan became head of the National Urban League, becoming the face of black America’s modern struggle for jobs and justice for more than a decade. He was nearly killed by a racist’s bullet in 1980 before transitioning to business and politics, according to the Associated Press.

Jordan was an adviser to Clinton in the 1990s and worked as a lobbyist.

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Vernon Jordan, who rose from humble beginnings in the segregated South to become a champion of civil rights before reinventing himself as a Washington insider and corporate influencer, has died, according to a statement from his daughter. He was 85.

Jordan’s daughter, Vickee Jordan Adams, released the statement Tuesday to CBS News.

“My father passed away last night around 10p surrounded by loved ones his wife and daughter by his side,” she said.

After stints as field secretary for the Georgia NAACP and executive director of the United Negro College Fund, he became head of the National Urban League, becoming the face of black America’s modern struggle for jobs and justice for more than a decade. He was nearly killed by a racist’s bullet in 1980 before transitioning to business and politics.