Rangel, Charles Bernard

Impact on the world

Represented Harlem in Congress for 46 years, becoming the ninth-longest serving member of the House in history and the first African American to chair the powerful Ways and Means Committee; he won a Purple Heart and Bronze Star in Korea for leading fellow soldiers out of a deadly Chinese Army encirclement, then later authored the 'Rangel Amendment,' credited with helping bring an end to apartheid in South Africa, before facing censure by the full House in 2010 over ethics violations.

Life & background

Born in Harlem to a frequently absent, abusive father and raised largely by his mother and maternal grandfather, Rangel dropped out of high school at 16 before enlisting in the Army, where he served in the segregated, all-Black 503rd Field Artillery Battalion during the Korean War and earned a Purple Heart and Bronze Star for leading a group of soldiers to safety during the Battle of Kunu-ri. He later earned his law degree, served in the New York State Assembly, and defeated long-serving incumbent Adam Clayton Powell Jr. to win his House seat in 1970, going on to co-found the Congressional Black Caucus. As chair of the House Select Committee on Narcotics in the 1980s, he helped shape national drug policy, and he later became the first African American to chair the Ways and Means Committee, authoring the 'Rangel Amendment' restricting business with apartheid South Africa and playing a central role in the national Empowerment Zone program, the Earned Income Tax Credit, and the Affordable Care Act. In 2010, the House Ethics Committee found him guilty of 11 counts of ethics violations related to undisclosed income and improper use of his office, and the full House approved a censure against him; he nonetheless won reelection twice more before retiring in 2017 after 46 years in Congress.

Sources

1. City College of New York; U.S. House History, Art & Archives (RANGEL, Charles B.); Washington Post & PBS NewsHour obituaries (May 2025)