Trailblazing New York politician Charles Rangel dead at 94

NEW YORK — Charles Rangel, dean of New York’s Congressional delegation and the first African-American to chair the House Ways and Means Committee, died Monday in a New York hospital. He was 94.

The City College of New York, where Rangel was statesman-in-residence, made the announcement on Memorial Day. A cause of death wasn’t given.

Rangel was born in New York on June 11, 1930. His father left the family when Rangel was just 6, and among his mother’s jobs were cleaning and factory work.

Rangel attended DeWitt Clinton High School, but dropped out at 16 to get a job. He joined the Army in 1948 and fought in the Korean War, receiving the Purple Heart and the Bronze Star after leading some 40 U.S. troops to safety.

Young Rangel served as a sergeant in the all-black 503rd Field Artillery Battalion in the 2nd Infantry Division.

“I know that nothing is ever going to happen to me in life that I’m going to complain about after Kunu-ri,” he told a reporter in 2000, speaking 50 years after the five-day fight that earned him the Bronze Star for courage in the face of death.

Rangel returned from military service and finished up his high school studies, getting back into the classroom at age of 23.

To make money, he lugged bags — including those of jazz legend Billie Holiday — as a bellhop at Harlem’s Hotel Theresa.

“I completely fell apart,” he reminisced in the Daily News of his long-ago brush with the songstress.

He went on to graduate from New York University in 1957 and St. John’s University School of Law in 1960. He was a member of Alpha Phi Alpha, the nation’s first black fraternity.

After finishing school, he became an assistant U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York under Robert Morgenthau before being elected to the state Assembly.

Rangel was first elected to Congress on Nov. 3, 1970, defeating legendary lawmaker Adam Clayton Powell Jr., who was at the time facing allegations that he’d misused public funds.

He was a founding member and former chair of the Congressional Black Caucus and a past chairman of the New York State Council of Black Elected Democrats. He also sat on the House Judiciary Committee during the impeachment hearings on President Richard Nixon.

Rangel, a mustachioed, natty dresser rarely seen with a hair out of place, hardly had a reputation for a shy and retiring personality.

In 2005, he said Vice President Dick Cheney, who had suffered with bouts of heart trouble, might be too ill to carry out his duties.

“I would like to believe he’s sick rather than just mean and evil,” Rangel said of Cheney in a TV interview.

Rangel’s time in office wasn’t without controversy.

In 2010, he became the first member of Congress in 27 years to be censured after violating House rules.  Among the claims against Rangel was that he used congressional letterhead and his role as chairman of the Ways and Means Committee to raise money for a New York’s City College center bearing his name.

He was also accused of using rent-stabilized apartment in Harlem as a campaign office and failing to pay taxes on a vacation home. Rangel stepped down from his leadership role on the House Ways and Means Committee as a result of that investigation.

Calling Rangel a “friend,” Rep. Jerry Nadler asked that Congress consider a lesser reprimand while conceding “the conduct of Mr. Rangel was wrong and deserves sanction.”

When a vote was taken, 333 lawmakers voted for censure against only 79 objections.

Rangel was remembered by politicians including former governor and current mayoral candidate Andrew Cuomo.

“Charlie Rangel was more than a Congressman—he was a movement unto himself,” Cuomo said in a statement shared with the News.

He praised the former representative for believing in his country “even when it fell short of its promise.

Sen. Chuck Schumer said Rangel’s achievements were too many to list and that the world is better because he was in it.

“Charlie Rangel was a great man, a great friend, and someone who never stopped fighting for his constituents and the best of America,” the Senator posted on X.

Attorney General Letitia James honored the Harlem native as a larger than life figure whose achievements outlived him.

“Charlie Rangel was a giant, and now the lion of Lenox Avenue roars from above. He dedicated himself to his communities in Harlem and across our nation, and his legacy will live on,” she posted on X. “On Memorial Day, we remember this war hero, and may he rest in peace.”

Speaking during the annual Memorial Day ceremony aboard the USS Intrepid, Mayor Adams called Rangel “a great hero” and noted his service in the Korean War.

“He was a true American and a true committer to what’s great about this country,” Adams said.

He told the News that Rangel was a true patriot.

“We’re going to miss him, he was a dear friend and an advisor,” Adams said. “The Harlem you see today is the Harlem he helped plant the seeds for… He was a great American.”

Rangel is preceded in death by his wife, Alma, whom he met in the mid-1950s while on the dance floor of the Savoy Ballroom in Harlem. She died in October. He leaves behind their two children, Steven and Alicia, and several grandchildren.