boost the size of the police department and, al-
though he had inherited a thirty-year upward crime
trend, to cut crime by 16 percent starting in the sec-
ond year of his term. However, because public per-
ception failed to catch up with this accomplishment,
Dinkins’s successor, Rudy Giuliani, reaped credit for
it. Further, the 1991 Crown Heights riot, a boycott of
a Flatbush Korean grocery store by black residents,
and other racially charged incidents kept a focus on
crime and danger.
Upon leaving office, Dinkins became a professor
at Columbia University, which sponsors an annual
David N. Dinkins Leadership and Public Policy Fo-
rum and a David N. Dinkins Professorship in the
Practice of Urban and Public Affairs. The former
mayor began hosting a public affairs radio show and
founded the David N. Dinkins Archives and Oral
History Project. Demonstrating his continuing com-
mitment to racial justice, Dinkins was one of thou-
sands arrested in protests following the 1999
Amadou Diallo shooting.
Impact Although capable and caring, David Din-
kins assumed the high-profile office of New York
City mayor at an ill-starred moment. He inherited a
financial crunch but was blamed for program and
budget cuts. New York City experienced several no-
torious racial incidents that damaged the city’s repu-
tation and created volatile tensions within commu-
nities. He was criticized for being too close to the
teachers’ union and other interest groups, and for
controversial actions during his final days in office.
Finally, the successful public trends that began on
Dinkins’s watch tended to be credited to his suc-
cessor.
Dinkins was exposed for failing to pay taxes dur-
ing a five-year period earlier in his life, which he dis-
missed as not a crime, just failure to “comply with the
law.” Nevertheless, his controversial career, begin-
ning with local politics, has been nobly capped by his
public service and distinguished academic contribu-
tions since leaving politics.Further Reading
Rich, Wilbur C.David Dinkins and New York City Poli-
tics: Race, Images, and the Media. Albany: State Uni-
versity of New York Press, 2007.
Thompson, J. Phillip.Double Trouble: Black Mayors,
Black Communities, and the Call for a Deep Democracy.
New York: Oxford University Press, 2006.
Jan HallSee also African Americans; Crime; Crown Heights
riot; Diallo shooting; Giuliani, Rudolph; Police bru-
tality; Race relations; Recession of 1990-1991; Sharp-
ton, Al. Dole, Bob
Identification U.S. Republican senator from
Kansas, Senate majority leader, and 1996
presidential candidate
Born July 22, 1923; Russell, KansasDole served for twenty-seven years in the Senate and eight
years in the House of Representatives. The 1990’s saw an
end to his career in the Senate but not his dedication to pub-
lic service.260 Dole, Bob The Nineties in America
David Dinkins during his 1989 campaign for mayor.(AP/Wide
World Photos)