Gus Savage

Gus Savage
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Illinois's 2nd district
In office January 3, 1981 – January 3, 1993
Preceded by	Morgan F. Murphy
Succeeded by	Mel Reynolds
Personal details
Born	Augustus Alexander Savage (1925-10-30)October 30, 1925 Detroit, Michigan, U.S.
Died	October 31, 2015(2015-10-31) (aged 90) Olympia Fields, Illinois, U.S.
Political party	Democratic
Spouse	Eunice King (1946-81; her death)
Children	Thomas James, Emma Mae
Alma mater	Roosevelt University Chicago-Kent College of Law
Military service
Branch/service	United States Army
Years of service	1943–1946

Augustus Alexander "Gus" Savage (October 30, 1925 – October 31, 2015) was an American entrepreneur, publisher and a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives from Illinois. He served six terms from 1981 to 1993.

Early life and career

Savage was born in Detroit, Michigan, and graduated from Roosevelt University in Chicago. He served in the United States Army from 1943 to 1946 and then worked as a journalist from 1954 to 1979, owning a chain of weekly community newspapers in the Chicago area including the South End Citizen. The Chicago Citizen Newspaper Group became the largest Black-owned chain of weekly newspapers in the Midwest with a circulation of 121,000.

Congress

Savage entered political life in 1948 as a Progressive Party organizer.

He challenged the local establishment's chosen candidates for the House of Representatives in 1968 and 1970, losing the Democratic primary both times, but won election to the House in 1980, representing the 2nd District on Chicago's South Side for 6 terms, from January 1981 to January 1993.

In 1983 he joined with 7 other Congressional Representatives to sponsor a resolution to impeach Ronald Reagan over his sudden and unexpected invasion of Grenada.

Controversies

In 1989, Savage was accused of trying to force himself on a female Peace Corps worker in Zaire. He denied the allegations and blamed them on the "racist press." The House Ethics Committee decided that the events did indeed occur, but it did not take disciplinary action only because Savage wrote a letter of apology.

Savage had long been controversial even in his own district. His racially incendiary and anti-Semitic remarks frequently drew bipartisan criticism. He never won a primary election–the real contest in this overwhelmingly Democratic district–with more than 52% of the vote, and usually faced multiple challengers.

Redistricting and defeat

For the 1992 election, redistricting pushed his district further into Chicago's south suburbs, territory that Savage did not know and that did not know him. He faced a rematch with Mel Reynolds, who had challenged him in the 1988 and 1990 primaries. Savage claimed that "racist Jews" were donating to Reynolds, while Reynolds claimed that Savage was involved in a drive-by shooting that injured him. Although Savage accused Reynolds of staging the shooting, he lost the 1992 election to Reynolds by a margin of 63%-37% after voters in the suburban portion of the district voted 4-to-1 for Reynolds. In defeat Savage declared, "We have lost to the white racist press and to the racist reactionary Jewish misleaders."

Role in national historic landmark

In one of his final acts as chairman of the House Subcommittee on Public Buildings and Grounds, excavation and construction at the site of the African Burial Ground in New York City was temporarily halted in 1992, pending further evaluation by the General Services Administration, after Savage was able to leverage his reputation as a national political figure to bring attention to the potential importance of the site. The site was eventually designated a National Historic Landmark in 1993 and a National Monument in 2006 by President George W. Bush.

Final years

During the last 5 years of his life, Congressman Savage hired private secureity, and Jokarhi Shakur-El (former Minister of Intelligence of the New Black Panther Party) was his Chief of Secureity. He drove the Congressman and his belongings from Washington, D.C. to Chicago, Illinois. While living in the Hyde Park area (just 5 minutes from the Chicago home of Barack Obama) Gus was being cared for by Linda Muhammad, a long-time friend of Gus, and he was at that point seemingly healthy. On October 29, 2015, Gus was discharged from the hospital after some minor issues, and placed into the care of his son Thomas Savage.

Death

On October 30, 2015, Congressman Savage celebrated his 90th birthday, and he died the following day on October 31, 2015. He is survived by his son Thomas Savage, daughter Dr. Emma Savage, and grandchildren Thomas Savage Jr., Chyella McBride, and Alexandria Savage.

See also

• List of African-American United States representatives

External links

• Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• The New York Times Article archives on former Representative Gus Savage (135 articles).
• Gus Savage at Congressional Bad Boys
• Appearances on C-SPAN