Richard A. Vinroot (born April 14, 1941) is an American politician and attorney from

Charlotte, North Carolina Charlotte ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 census, making Charlotte the 16th-most populo ...

. He served as the 52nd

Mayor of Charlotte The office of the Mayor of Charlotte, North Carolina is currently held by Democrat Vi Lyles, who took office in December 2017 after defeating Republican Kenny Smith in the November election. The office was established in 1853, when William F. ...

from 1991 to 1995. Vinroot ran unsuccessfully for

Governor of North Carolina The governor of North Carolina is the head of government of the U.S. state of North Carolina. The governor directs the executive branch of the government and is the commander in chief of the military forces of the state. The current governor, ...

1996 File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A Centennial Olympic Park bombing, bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical Anti-abortion violence, anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 8 ...

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...

and

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...

. The City of Charlotte's Richard Vinroot International Achievement Award is named in his honor.

Early life

The son of a Swedish immigrant, Richard Vinroot was raised in Mecklenburg County schools becoming

student body president The student government president (sometimes called "student ''body'' president," "student ''council'' president" or "''school'' president") is generally the highest-ranking officer of a student union. While a student government group and a class p ...

East Mecklenburg High School East Mecklenburg High School is a public secondary school in Charlotte, North Carolina, United States, and one of 21 high schools in the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools system. The principal of the school is Richard "Rick" Parker. East Mecklenburg ...

, where he graduated from in 1959. He was a high school athlete in three sports and captained the basketball and football teams. He won a

Morehead Scholarship The Morehead-Cain Scholarship (originally the Morehead Scholarship) was the first merit scholarship program established in the United States. It was founded at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1951 and was named for its benefact ...

to attend the

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States ...

, where he earned a bachelor's degree in 1963 and a

Juris Doctor The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice law ...

degree in 1966. He served as

class president A class president, also known as a class representative, is usually the leader of a student body class, and presides over its class cabinet or organization within a student council. In a grade school, class presidents are generally elected by th ...

in his junior and senior years. Vinroot's height is billed at 6'7", and he played

college basketball In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...

for the

North Carolina Tar Heels The North Carolina Tar Heels are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The name Tar Heel is a nickname used to refer to individuals from the state of North Carolina, the ''Tar Heel ...

under

Dean Smith Dean Edwards Smith (February 28, 1931 – February 7, 2015) was an American men's college basketball head coach. Called a "coaching legend" by the Basketball Hall of Fame, he coached for 36 years at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hi ...

. Vinroot married his wife Judy (Allen) Vinroot, whom he met while both were students at University of North Carolina. They have three children, Richard Vinroot Jr., Laura Vinroot Poole, and Katy Vinroot O'Brien, all of whom graduated from UNC-Chapel Hill.

Military

From January 1967 to 1968, he was in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

where he served in the 1st Signal Brigade. After basic training at

Fort Bragg Fort Bragg is a military installation of the United States Army in North Carolina, and is one of the largest military installations in the world by population, with around 54,000 military personnel. The military reservation is located within Cum ...

, he was stationed at Fort Jackson, South Carolina for six months."Interview with Richard Vinroot"
interviewed by Charlton Allen on October 31 and November 21, 1994, Law School Oral History Project, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, page 25 (interview number J-0052 in the Southern Oral History Program Collection (#4007) at The Southern Historical Collection, The Louis Round Wilson Special Collections Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill). In November 1967, he deployed to Vietnam during the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...

and was awarded a

Bronze Star Medal The Bronze Star Medal (BSM) is a United States Armed Forces decoration awarded to members of the United States Armed Forces for either heroic achievement, heroic service, meritorious achievement, or meritorious service in a combat zone. Wh ...

. While in Vietnam, he did legal assistance as part of the Judge Advocate Department of the 1st Signal Brigade.

Political career

Vinroot was a member of the Charlotte City Council from 1983 to 1991 and served as mayor of Charlotte from 1991 to 1995. As mayor, Vinroot was successful in establishing a Taxpayer Protection Act, limiting growth of the city's budget. He created the state's first "drug court" to speed prosecutions. He established the Mayor's International Cabinet, a predecessor to the Charlotte International Cabinet. A national magazine named him Municipal Leader of the Year. Vinroot decided against running for a third term in order to focus full-time on his first run for North Carolina governor in

. Vinroot lost in a close primary to then-state representative

Robin Hayes Robert Cannon "Robin" Hayes (born August 14, 1945) is an American politician and businessman from North Carolina. A member of the Republican Party, he represented North Carolina's 8th congressional district in the House of Representatives from 1 ...

Kannapolis Kannapolis () is a city in Cabarrus and Rowan counties, in the U.S. state of North Carolina, northwest of Concord and northeast of Charlotte and is a suburb in the Charlotte metropolitan area. The city of Kannapolis was incorporated in 1984. Th ...

. Hayes went on to lose the general election to incumbent governor

Jim Hunt James Baxter Hunt Jr. (born May 16, 1937) is an American politician and retired attorney who was the List of governors of North Carolina, 69th and 71st Governor of North Carolina (1977–1985, and 1993–2001). He is the longest-serving governo ...

. Vinroot ran again for governor in

, and secured the Republican nomination over state representative N. Leo Daughtry. He faced North Carolina's attorney general,

Mike Easley Michael Francis Easley (born March 23, 1950) is an American lawyer and politician who served as the 72nd governor of North Carolina from 2001 to 2009. He is the first governor of North Carolina to have been convicted of a felony. A member of ...

, in a bitterly contested election. Despite a favorable national Republican tide that won North Carolina for

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...

, Democrat Mike Easley won by 52% to 46%, and succeeded fellow Democrat Jim Hunt as governor. In the closing weeks of the race, actor

Andy Griffith Andy Samuel Griffith (June 1, 1926 – July 3, 2012) was an American actor, comedian, television producer, southern gospel singer and writer whose career spanned seven decades in music and television. Known for his Southern drawl, his characte ...

filmed an ad endorsing Easley, which some observers believe led to Easley's victory, called the "Mayberry Miracle". In

, Vinroot attempted a third run for governor, but never made it past the Republican primary. He conceded the race to Wilmington State Senator

Patrick J. Ballantine Patrick J. Ballantine (born March 17, 1965) is an American attorney and politician who was a United States Republican Party, Republican member of the North Carolina General Assembly, rising to become the North Carolina General Assembly#North Car ...

, who lost to Easley in November, 55.62% to 42.88%. Since his retirement from politics, Vinroot has served on the boards of Martin-Marietta Materials, Inc. and the North Carolina Institute for Emerging Issues. He also was appointed to the search committee for the next chancellor of the

in 2012.

Legal practice

Vinroot's legal practice at the Charlotte-based firm of Robinson, Bradshaw & Hinson concentrates in the areas of civil litigation including construction, labor, employment discrimination, and commercial disputes and controversies.

Richard Vinroot International Achievement Award

The Richard Vinroot International Achievement Award is presented by the

City of Charlotte Charlotte ( ) is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont (United States), Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, Meckl ...

to recognize those who "have worked for the continued internationalization of Charlotte... contributed to efforts to improve the international community... and have a record of outstanding service to the greater Charlotte community." Recipients are chosen by the

and the award is presented annually at the Mayor's International Community Awards event each spring. Recipients have included prominent leaders in government, non-profits, and academia.City of Charlotte: Mayor's International Community Awards
/ref>

Notes

External links

* *
Richard Vinroot papers
-

Finding Aid A finding aid, in the context of archival science, is an organization tool, a document containing detailed, indexed, and processed metadata and other information about a specific collection of records within an archive. Finding aids often consist o ...

at the University of North Carolina Charlotte J. Murrey Atkins Library , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Vinroot, Richard 1941 births Living people American men's basketball players American people of Swedish descent Basketball players from North Carolina Candidates in the 2000 United States elections Mayors of Charlotte, North Carolina North Carolina Republicans North Carolina Tar Heels men's basketball players United States Army soldiers United States Army personnel of the Vietnam War