Congressman Jim Clyburn sees “a certain rhyme and rhythm to history.” He had the sharp eye to see how the January 6 Capitol riot was a revisitation of past crimes. And he understands the value of shining a light on his political forebears, as in his new book “The First Eight: A Personal History of the Pioneering Black Congressmen Who Shaped a Nation.”
In an upcoming event for the Kentucky Author Forum, the former House Majority Whip will be joined in discussion with John Yarmuth—former Congressional colleague representing Louisville’s district, and founder of the LEO that’s in your hands (or on your screen).
Clyburn is providing history and reflection on the period around Reconstruction in the state of South Carolina, for which he’s provided decades of service. The igniting spark for this book came from visitors to his Washington, DC office, when he was asked why eight 19th-century portraits of Black men are displayed prominently.
As Clyburn recounted with LEO in recent phone discussion, “Someone said, ‘I thought you were the first African-American to serve in Congress for South Carolina.’ And I said ‘No—before I was first there were eight.’ The real issue is the 95 years between Number Eight and Number Nine.”
Among those eight are the first African-American elected to the U.S. Congress—Joseph Rainey. And the author is proud to point out the bold lifelong achievement record of Robert Smalls: “When you look at how he broached the pages of history…delivering his family and friends to freedom; and the role he played in the Civil War, as well as the role he played in implementation of Reconstruction, nobody, in my opinion, touches the guy.”
The precise and prodigious research on display in these pages follows The Eight from the many early challenges in their youth (many were enslaved) and struggle for education, to Congressman George Washington Murray’s “last stand against the full implementation of Jim Crow” in the 1890s. All found that every forward legislative or cultural step toward freedom and recognized full rights of citizenship seemed to be matched by either extralegal intimidations, or through twisting of legal initiatives or programs that were well-intentioned.
One important thread throughout the historical years covered in the story of The Eight—and which Clyburn sees as something to continue to keep a laser eye on today—is the right to vote. And besides individuals being allowed to submit their ballots, there must be guaranteed integrity in counting and in certifying results.
A Martin Luther King Jr. quote sets the keynote: “The best protection of a democracy is a fair and unfettered vote.” In discussion, the Congressman made clear how precious, and vulnerable, is the franchise: “Abraham Lincoln had been murdered not simply because of slavery. People were angry with him over the Emancipation Proclamations, but he was not shot and killed until he started fighting to get the vote for Black people—when he started abdicating for giving newly freed slaves the right to vote.”
Political compromises and social chaos beyond their control (along with some infighting) frequently hindered the best efforts of South Carolina’s eight Black congressman. (“If [Andrew Johnson] had been convicted and tossed out of office it would have brought to an end to the opposition to continuing to form a more perfect union.”) The 1876 presidential election, though, brought about the most consequential damage, Clyburn says. And it may have set a pattern that was repeated in headline-news events of recent years.
The 1876 contest between Tilden and Hayes became an unprecedented screw-up: Contested electors were thrown out, causing the final win to be a matter for the House of Representatives. “I do believe that what was taking place on January 6 was an attempt to replicate what took place in 1876,” Clyburn says, and he backs it up with remarkable historical parallels (from advocacy spelled out in Project 2025 right down to MAGA-rally red wearables for militaristic effect).
Competing teams of electors were presented by some states 150 years ago, apparently looking to skew the Electoral College voting. Sound familiar?
It certainly does to this man who wants to keep the facts of American history transparent to all—and whose life has been threatened during the course of election procedures.
“When I was sittin’ in that so-called undisclosed location on the afternoon and evening of January 6, I said to everybody around me, ‘I know exactly what’s taking place here.’ And all this was happening in the middle of my trying to write this book.”
The Author Forum event can be expected to have some warm moments in its reuniting of two men from Washington’s House Democratic Caucus, but Clyburn and Yarmuth have more in common. Yarmuth’s alternative-weekly paper is well into its fourth decade—but in discussing journalistic ventures, Clyburn shared, “I’m the founder of a weekly newspaper, now defunct. I found that I could go broke doing something else!” And though the two politician/publishers first interacted during Yarmuth’s initial campaign, Clyburn speaks of an enduring friendship: “Of all the people that I have met in Congress, he’s right at the top of my list…My emotions for John are probably as meaningful as for any person.”
U.S. Representative Jim Clyburn with Retired Congressman John Yarmuth
6 PM, Monday, Nov. 24, Kentucky Center for the Performing Arts
$35 (plus option for dinner)
502-584-7777; www.kentuckyperformingarts.org
This article appears in Oct. 1-31, 2025.