Title: From Compton to Congress: His Grace for my Race
Author: Walter Tucker III
Genre: Nonfiction Memoir
From Compton to Congress reveals shocking criminal charges, based on an FBI Sting, that send Congressman Walter R. Tucker III reeling, and changes his life forever. Against the great odds of overcoming the tough streets
of Compton, young Tucker fulfills his goals of becoming valedictorian of Compton High School, graduate of USC
with honors, graduate of Georgetown Law School, passing the California State Bar, and filling his father’s vacant
seat as Mayor of Compton—all by age 33. During his meteoric rise in the political arena, at age 35 he becomes
the youngest African-American from California to be elected to a U.S. congressional seat. However, the U.S.
Attorney’s federal indictment against him shocks the nation. Tucker’s choice to fight the charges against him
thrusts him into a criminal trial that tests the condition of his human spirit and provokes us to reflect on every
man’s plight versus every man’s fight.
Excerpt:
Chapter 3
DAD
“Attorney Cochran, please!”
“Who’s calling?”
“This is Congressman Tucker and— ”
An aloof, “Hold please,” on the other end.
“Wait! This is an emergency—!”
Too late. The line went silent.
The reception area of my congressional office swelled with visitors’ voices from back home. Their concerns were rising and tumbling like the howling March winds outside my office windows. Most days, my constituents’ voices were like string music and violins. But now, my head was spinning with the mysteriously droning voice of a reporter from The Wall Street Journal:
“Hi, Andy Pazstor with The Wall Street Journal…I’ve been informed by a reliable source that pursuant to a three-year investigation by the FBI, you’re about to be indicted…”
The FBI! An acronym that makes even the strongest soul cringe like a child about to be spanked. I’d always thought of them as trained hounds that sniff out really subversive activity: targeting organized crime or catching terrorists. I imagined them locking away people whose crimes traversed interstate lines.
I nervously tapped my finger on the top of my desk, seething through my teeth. “Come on, Johnnie. Where are you?” Probably still hassling with Michael Jackson’s case. He might be the “King of Pop,” but my life is the king of need right now…I need you!
I pressed the phone hard to my ear like it would make Johnnie come on the line, like it was going to stop my stomach from looping, my heart from racing. Suddenly, a click. Jan, my homegirl from Compton, came on the line. “Congressman, he’s in trial. I’ll have him call you as soon as he comes up for air.”
“Jan, you gotta page him now. This is an emergency!”
“Okay, I’ll have him get back to you as soon as I can.”
As soon as I hung up the phone, I knew I needed a minute to catch my breath. I buzzed the intercom.
“Latonia, please hold all my calls for a little while.”
“Yes, sir.”
I leaned back in my executive chair and pondered.
Extortion?! Tax evasion?! Three years ago? I heard myself groan in the loneliness of my inner office, with its walls full of silent mementos and its oblong windows covered in Victorian drapes that shut out the blustery wind swaying in the trees outside.
Walter R. Tucker III. Three years ago. 1991. Serving as mayor of Compton, California. They had to be looking for someone else. Something that happened three years ago? As I sat back in my office, I realized that three years can make a world of difference.
Author Bio
Walter R. Tucker, III is a native of Compton, California. He graduated Valedictorian of Compton High School in
1974. After graduating from high school, Walter studied Politics at Princeton University for two years. After
receiving his Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from U.S.C. in 1978, and his Juris Doctor from Georgetown
Law School in 1981, Walter worked as a Los Angeles County Deputy District Attorney, established his own law
firm, served as Mayor of Compton, and was elected to the U.S. Congress in 1993 – all by age 35. Walter R.
Tucker, III is still the youngest African American to ever to be elected to the U.S. Congress from the State of
California. In 2003, Walter became a pastor of a church in Chicago. In 2012, Walter and his wife, Robin Tucker,
returned to Los Angeles and founded Truth and Love Christian Church, located in Carson, California. The church
currently has over 300 members and 40 ministries in operation. Walter and Robin have been happily married
for 30 years. They are the proud parents of Walter, IV, and Autumn and have one son-in-law, Spencer Rodney
Sr., and one wonderful grandchild, Spencer Rodney, Jr. Walter enjoys morning walks on the beach and
candlelight dinners with Robin.
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