RICHMOND, Va. —L. Douglas Wilder’s historic political career has included many firsts. Most notably, in 1989, he became the first Black American elected governor of a state.
Fifteen years later, Wilder became the first popularly elected mayor of Richmond, his hometown.
Known for speaking his mind, the longtime Democrat pulled no punches while discussing local, state, and national politics with Untold host Catie Beck, including the handling of the city’s ongoing water crisis.
Doug Wilder on the Richmond Water Crisis
“My take is simply this: It's broken, and it needed to have been fixed, and it should have been fixed,” said Wilder. “Very simple. You come to me; I'm the mayor. You say this: the water main is broken, and what's the problem? Well, we don't — you don't know. Yeah, I need you to get me somebody right now. Go and tell me what's wrong. What do we need? Well, we don't — you don't know yet. Bring me somebody else in here. Tell me what we need. Bottom line is this: I'm going to give you until such and such a date, such and such a time to fix it. If you can't fix it, I'm trying to get somebody else to take your place.”
Doug Wilder on John Reid
Wilder waded into the controversy surrounding John Reid, the Republican running for lieutenant governor. Reid said Governor Glenn Youngkin asked him to drop out of this year’s race because of alleged sexually graphic social media posts.
But Reid has denied having any connection to the Tumblr account in question and has said he feels he was targeted because he is openly gay.
Wilder, who advised Youngkin after he was elected governor in 2021, told Beck he would have handled the situation differently.
“Governor Youngkin did something in Virginia government, in Virginia politics, that has never, ever been done by any governor that I know of. He demanded,"—they were his words, “I demand.” Who are you to demand that?” said Wilder. “How did you get to where you are? You were not there because someone demanded you got there or put there; the people elected you. If the people didn't want and don't want John Reid, they'll let him know. Now, if you couldn't do a better job of assimilating your ticket than you did, don't blame the people. You put it together, or you didn't put it together. And if you couldn't put it together, admit it. Did you have someone else that you wanted in place of John Reid? If so, did you get behind that person? Did they get elected to that position? No. Why not? Your influence wasn't sufficient enough to keep him off the ticket that way. So now you're going to demand it? I know John Reid. I've talked with him, been on the show several times, but I was very surprised to see the governor do this.”
Doug Wilder on Virginia voters
Wilder helps to oversee polling at the VCU government school that bears his name. Beck asked what issues he thinks are motivating Virginia voters this election cycle.
“Cost of living,” said Wilder. “Whether it relates to housing, whether it relates to health care, whether it relates to education, the cost and the waste of the people's money in government. I asked my students, as I told you, to name me something that doesn't involve money. They can't, and you can't, nor can the people. So how are you spending our money? Are you going to do a better job? Are we getting the best bang for our buck? Can you do better? If so, how so? If you can do no better, then why are you running? You want to be promoted because you've been in office? While you were in that office, what did you do and how have you done?”
Doug Wilder on Democratic Party issues
Wilder was also critical of the Democratic Party on a national level, saying he saw Kamala Harris’s loss in the 2024 presidential race coming.
“They're not relating to the people,” said Wilder. “They're not hitting the things that the people really want, in terms of housing needs. How could you stand by and allow people who don't even live here to be given better opportunities for advancement in life than people who’ve been living here all their lives and can't get the help they want? And so, it's not a question of ignoring one and favoring the other. But let's be real. Let's connect. Let's understand.”
In terms of his own accomplishments, Wilder said it all began with the support of family and friends in the Church Hill neighborhood where he grew up, near the intersection of 28th and P streets, which is the same place where he first became fascinated with politics.
“Right across the street from Fourth Baptist Church. And I would always see the governors when they would come to visit over there, and the people with the derbies and hickory stripe pants and things, and I would say, ‘Wow,’” said Wilder. “But I was always encouraged by people who didn't have an education. They said, ‘Stay in school, don't make the mistake we made.’”
Doug Wilder on age
The elder statesman talked about his secrets to making it to the age of 94, something he credits to healthy living but also a strong belief system and imagination.
“That drives me to the extent of me wanting people to believe in the possibility, the high possibility, of what can take place,” said Wilder. “That's what the president of Howard University, where I went to law school, would say: the high possibility of the individual. I want you to always believe in that. That means that whatever you think has a higher possibility for you, let nothing get you down.”
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