Charles Rangel, former Harlem congressman, dies aged 94

The Guardian

26-05-2025

Former US congressman Charles Rangel of New York, an outspoken, gravel-voiced Harlem Democrat who spent nearly five decades on Capitol Hill and was a founding member of the Congressional Black caucus, died on Monday at the age of 94.
His family confirmed the death in a statement provided by City College of New York spokesperson Michelle Stent. He died at a hospital in New York, Stent said.
A veteran of the Korean war, Rangel defeated legendary Harlem politician Adam Clayton Powell in 1970 to start his congressional career. During the next 40-plus years, he became a legend himself – dean of the New York congressional delegation, and, in 2007, the first African American to chair the powerful House ways and means committee.
He stepped down from that committee amid an ethics cloud, and the House censured him in 2010 after a House ethics committee conducted a hearing on 13 counts of alleged financial and fundraising misconduct over issues surrounding financial disclosures and use of congressional resources. He was convicted by Congress of 11 violations, but he continued to serve in the House until his retirement in 2017.
Rangel was the last surviving member of the Gang of Four, Black political figures who wielded great power in New York City and state politics. The others were David Dinkins, New York City's first Black mayor; Percy Sutton, who was Manhattan borough president; and Basil Paterson, a deputy mayor and secretary of state of New York.
Rangel's distinctive gravelly voice and wry sense of humor made him a memorable character not just in politics but in the rest of his life and environs.
The Senate minority leader, Chuck Schumer, paid tribute on X, calling Rangel a 'great man, a great friend, and someone who never stopped fighting for his constituents and the best of America'.
'The list of his accomplishments could take pages, but he leaves the world a much better place than he found it,' Schumer posted.
The House minority leader, Hakeem Jeffries, also praised Rangel.
'Charlie Rangel was a phenomenal patriot, hero, statesman, leader, trailblazer, change agent and champion for justice,' he posted on X.
Jeffries, a fellow New Yorker, called Rangel 'the Lion of Lenox Ave', an iconic street at the heart of Harlem, and said he was a transformational force of nature.
'Harlem, NYC & America are better today because of his service. May he forever rest in power,' Jeffries posted.
Rangel was known for fiercely looking out for his constituents, sponsoring empowerment zones with tax credits for businesses moving into economically depressed areas and developers of low-income housing.
'I have always been committed to fighting for the little guy,' Rangel said in 2012.
He was known as one of the most liberal representatives in the House, loudest in opposition to the Iraq war, which he branded a 'death tax' on poor people and minorities. In 2004, he tried to end the war by offering a bill to restart the military service draft. Republicans called his bluff and brought the bill to a vote. Even Rangel voted against it.
A year later, Rangel's fight over the war became bitterly personal with the then US vice-president, Dick Cheney, Republican president George W Bush's running mate and a prime defense hawk.
Rangel said Cheney, who has a history of heart trouble, might be too sick to perform his job.
'I would like to believe he's sick rather than just mean and evil,' Rangel said. After several such verbal jabs, Cheney hit back, saying Rangel was 'losing it'.
The Harlem lawmaker first entered the House in 1971. In 1987, Congress approved what was known as the 'Rangel amendment', which denied foreign tax credits to US companies investing in apartheid-era South Africa, where the wealthy ruling white minority held power by heavily oppressing the Black majority.
Rangel was born on 11 June 1930. During the Korean war, he earned a Purple Heart and a Bronze Star.
A high school dropout, he went to college on the GI Bill, getting degrees from New York University and St John's University School of Law.
The Associated Press contributed reporting