in full Alan Lee Keyes
(born August 7, 1950, New York City, New York, U.S.) American diplomat, radio
commentator, and politician who was one of the most prominent African American
conservatives in the late 20th and the early 21st century. He received a
bachelor's degree (1972) and a doctorate (1979) in government studies from
Harvard University. In 1978 he joined the U.S. State Department as a foreign
service officer. In 1983 he was appointed ambassador to the United Nations
Economic and Social Council in the administration of President Ronald Reagan.
From 1985 to 1988 he served as assistant secretary of state for international
organization affairs. An outspoken conservative and sometimes a controversial
figure, he twice (1988 and 1992) secured the Republican Party nomination for
U.S. Senate from Maryland but was easily defeated on both occasions. In 1994
Keyes began a radio talk show that provided him with a platform and helped
catapult him onto the national political scene. In both 1996 and 2000 he
unsuccessfully campaigned for the Republican Party presidential nomination. In
2004 he accepted an invitation by the Republican Party of Illinois to stand for
election to the U.S. Senate after the party's primary winner withdrew from the
campaign, but he lost decisively to Democrat Barack Obama, Jr.
http://search.eb.com/Blackhistory/article.do?nKeyValue=399778
© 2006 by Brittany Jones