From TheBestLinks.com
Frank Rizzo (full name Frank Lazarro Rizzo, October 23, 1920- July 16, 1991) served two terms as mayor of Philadelphia, from January 1972 to January 1980. Before this Rizzo served as Police Commissioner in the turbulent 1960s in the city.
It was during his tenure as mayor that African-American community activist and future Philadelphia mayor Wilson Goode sued the city in federal court, alleging racial discrimination within the ranks of the city's uniformed services, including the Fire Department and the Police Department Rizzo had headed prior to becoming mayor. The suit led to the adoption of by the administration of President Richard Nixon, and lent the name to, the controversial "Philadelphia Plan" calling for affirmative action in civil service hiring and promotions.
An interesting feature of Rizzo's mayoralty was the establishment, with his complete approval, of a publicly-funded "Anti-Defamation Agency" to combat pejorative jokes sometimes told about Philadelphia. The agency's most celebrated drive involved a boycott of S.O.S. Soap Pads, following a television commercial the product's manufacturer had aired in the summer of 1972 which included a disparaging reference to the city; the boycott had the desired effect, as the manufacturer withdrew the offending commercial, which had been broadcast nationwide.
A Democrat while mayor, Rizzo ran unsuccessfully as a Republican in the mayoral elections of 1983, 1987 and 1991, dying during the latter campaign.
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