All rights reserved. 1  Huguenots: Wars of Religion and the Edict of Nantes-Wars of Religion and the Edict of Nantes The conspiracy of Amboise (1560; see Amboise, conspiracy ...
Wentworth Cheswell is said to be the first African-American to be elected to office in America. He was one quarter Black and three quarters White. He was elected as town constable of Newmarket, New Hampshire, in 1768 and served in some government position thereafter until his death â well, to be precise, every year but one.
The first woman, Florence Allen, was appointed by Franklin D. Roosevelt, in 1934, and the first African American, William H. Hastie, in 1949, by Harry S Truman. During his eight years in office Dwight D. Eisenhower, however, did not appoint a single black to any federal court in the continental United States. As for the courts of appeals, John F. Kennedy appointed one black, Thurgood Marshall, and Lyndon B. Johnson appointed two, Spottswood W. Robinson 3rd and Wade H. McCree Jr. Neither Richard Nixon nor Gerald R. Ford appointed any African Americans to the courts of appeals.