Ray Nagin

Clarence Raymond Joseph Nagin Jr. (born June 11, 1956) is an American former politician who was the 60th Mayor of New Orleans, Louisiana, from 2002 to 2010.

Nagin was born on June 11, 1956, in New Orleans' Charity Hospital, to a family of modest means.

His childhood was typical of that of urban youth, and his father held two jobs: a janitor at New Orleans City Hall by night and a fabric cutter at a clothing factory by day.

After the factory shut down, his father became a fleet mechanic at a local dairy to earn sufficient pay to support his family.

His mother was employed as manager of a Kmart in-store restaurant.

The family lived on Allen Street in the 7th Ward, followed by a stay near their family parish, St. Peter Claver Catholic Church in Tremé, and then a move to the Cutoff section of Algiers.

Nagin attended St. Augustine High School and O. Perry Walker High School, where he played basketball and baseball.

He enrolled at historically black Tuskegee University in Tuskegee, Alabama, on a baseball scholarship, played on championship teams, and graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting in 1978.

He became a Certified Public Accountant.

After graduating from college, he went to work in the purchasing department at General Motors in Detroit, Michigan.

He moved to Los Angeles, California, then to Dallas, Texas in 1981 to take Internal Audit Manager and Division Controller jobs with Associates Corporation.

In 1982, Nagin married Seletha Smith, a New Orleans native.

Together, they have three children.

In 1985, Nagin returned to New Orleans to become the controller of Cox New Orleans, the city's cable television franchise, run by the Cox media conglomerate.

The franchise had a history of customer complaints, low profits, and stagnant growth, and was one of the poorest-performing components within Cox.

Nagin was quickly promoted to general manager.

In 1989, he was appointed to oversee all of Cox properties in south Louisiana as vice-president and general manager of Cox Louisiana, earning $400,000 annually, according to CNBC's "American Greed".

In 1993, Nagin enrolled in the executive MBA program at Tulane University.

Nagin also lobbied at the local, State, and Federal government levels, as many of the businesses he managed were regulated and required formal franchise renewals.

His public profile was high because he hosted a twice-weekly television call-in show for customers.

In 1995, Nagin received the Young Leadership Council Diversity and Role Model Award and later sat on the boards of the United Way and Covenant House.

He also was one of the founders and president of 100 Black Men of metro New Orleans, an affiliate of the national organization of black businessmen.

Nagin was a partner in a group that brought the New Orleans Brass to the city.

Nagin became the team's president and investors' spokesman as they secured the hockey franchise.

The initial popularity of the team allowed the group to secure the 18,000-seat New Orleans Arena as its home venue.

That year, the local alternative newspaper Gambit Weekly named Nagin as its New Orleanian of the Year.

Several news sources, including BBC News, have stated that Nagin was a registered Republican for most of his adult life, and a George W. Bush supporter, but then switched to the Democratic Party shortly prior to seeking office in New Orleans.

However, he periodically gave contributions to candidates of both parties, including Representative Billy Tauzin in 1999 and 2000, as well as Democratic Senators John Breaux and J. Bennett Johnston, Jr. earlier in the decade.

Nagin was first elected as mayor in March 2002.

Shortly before the primary mayoral election, on January 17, 2002, the New Orleans Times Picayune and Gambit Weekly endorsed Nagin.

Nagin endorsed conservative Republican Bobby Jindal over conservative Democratic Lieutenant Governor Kathleen Blanco in the 2003 runoff for governor.

Nagin entered the race for mayor on the final day of qualifying.

In 2004, he endorsed John Kerry for president.

A Democrat, Nagin became internationally known in 2005 in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

He was re-elected in 2006 when the election was held with at least two-thirds of New Orleans citizens still displaced after Katrina struck.

In a January 13, 2006 interview on the Tavis Smiley Show, Nagin denied this, stating that he "never was a Republican" and that he has been a "life-long Democrat", and several news organizations that reported he was originally a Republican were forced to issue retractions.

Term-limited by law, he left office on May 3, 2010.

After leaving office, Nagin founded CRN Initiatives LLC, a firm that focuses on emergency preparedness, green energy product development, publishing, and public speaking.

He wrote and self-published Katrina Secrets: Storms after the Storms.

In 2014, Nagin was convicted on twenty of twenty-one charges of wire fraud, bribery, and money laundering related to bribes from city contractors before and after Katrina and was sentenced to ten years in federal prison.