Born in Trenton, New Jersey, Dinkins moved with his father to Harlem as a child. He returned to Trenton and attended Trenton Central High School, graduating in the top 10 percent of his class in 1945. After graduation, he enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps and trained at Camp Montford Point.
Following President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s signing of Executive Order 8802—which barred government agencies and federal contractors from refusing employment in industries engaged in defense production on the basis of race, creed, color or national origin—Montford Point in Jacksonville, North Carolina trained the first African-American marines beginning in 1942. Between 1942 and 1949 more than 20,000 African-American men trained at Montford Point. In July 1948, President Harry S. Truman signed Executive Order 9981, mandating the U.S. Military be desegregated. This order led to the deactivation of Montford Point in 1949. After Montford's deactivation, new African-American recruits were sent to Parris Island and Camp Pendleton. During the Korean War, the United States Marine Corps was fully integrated.
Dinkins served in the Marine Corps from 1945 through 1946.
After his military career, Dinkins rose through the Democratic Party and served briefly in the New York State Legislature. Dinkins was named Deputy Mayor by Mayor Abraham D. Beame but was never appointed. He defeated three-term incumbent Mayor Ed Koch in the Democratic primary and Republican candidate Rudy Giuliani in the general election to be elected Mayor of New York City on November 7, 1989.
Dinkins is currently Professor in the Practice of Public Affairs at Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs. He graduated magna cum laude from Howard University with a degree in mathematics. He later graduated from Brooklyn Law School.
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