Richard Gordon Hatcher (July 10, 1933 – December 13, 2019) was an American attorney and politician who served as the first African-American mayor of Gary, Indiana for 20 years, from 1968 to 1988. At the time of his first election on November 7, 1967, he and Carl Stokes were the first African-Americans to be elected mayors of a U.S. city with more than 100,000 people. Hatcher also served as Vice-Chairman of the Democratic National Committee in the early 1980s. Early life and education Hatcher was born in Michigan City, Indiana. He received a Bachelor of Science degree in business and government from Indiana University and a Bachelor of Laws with honors in criminal law in 1956 and a Juris Doctor from Valparaiso University School of Law in 1959. Career After moving to Gary, Indiana, Hatcher began practicing law in East Chicago, Indiana. In 1961, he began serving as a deputy prosecutor for Lake County, Indiana, until he was elected to Gary's City Council in 1963. He was the first and only freshman elected president of the City Council in Gary's history. Mayor of Gary, Indiana Hatcher launched a primary challenge against incumbent mayor Martin Katz in the Democratic primary election, and won by just 2300 votes. The Lake County Democratic Party's central organization, led by Chairman John Krupa, demanded that Hatcher allow them to select the city's police chief and city attorney, among other important city administrative offices, in exchange for their support for the general election. When Hatcher refused, Krupa directed the machine to work in favor of the Republican nominee, Joseph Radigan. In an intensely fought election marked by corruption, racial violence, voter purges and intimidation, and blatant vote rigging, Hatcher was able to cobble together a coalition of black voters and liberal white voters to overcome the odds and win the November election by just 2200 votes. Elected in 1967, Hatcher was inaugurated mayor of Gary in 1968 and served until 1987. During his tenure as mayor, he became internationally known as a fervent and prolific civil rights spokesman. Hatcher was known for developing innovative approaches to urban problems and for being a national and international spokesman for civil rights, minorities, the poor and America's cities. He often delivered speeches alongside Martin Luther King Jr., Robert F. Kennedy, Jesse Jackson, and other historic proponents of the civil rights movement. On April 5, 1968, he addressed President Lyndon