Former Governor L. Douglas Wilder The Honorable Lawrence Douglas Wilder was a prominent democratic leader in the state of Virginia beginning in 1969 when he became the First African American State Senator (since Reconstruction) serving five terms. Former Governor L. Douglas Wilder was the first elected African American lieutenant governor in the majority republican state of Virginia. Later in 1990 L. Douglas Wilder became the first elected African American governor in the history of the United States. He was known for balancing the state budget as well as earning the ranking as the “nation’s best managed state” (National leadership Project, 2002-2013). During the years of his leadership in the state of Virginia former Governor L. Douglas …show more content…
When looking at Wilder’s leadership traits of vision/dreams, engaging personality, desire that each person was treated fairly, increase the quality of the state of Virginia, etc. he has a combination of both leadership styles. Because he was a governor he had to ensure that he met with his cabinet to carry out the business of the state, therefore meetings, planning, scheduling, certain levels of controls were in place to fulfill the promises made to his constituents. As a transformational leader, he wanted to see positive change in the communities across the state as well as envisioning that changes made in Virginia could spill over across the nation. Wilder’s ability to identify the needed budget changes, housing needs and other areas of deficiencies was a great accomplishment during his tenure as governor. Wilder couldn’t move or motivate every person because of racial issues, but that didn’t hinder his working towards his goals. His leadership skills eventually helped to develop and change an increased number people because of his passion, ideas and