Pinckney Benton Stewart (P.B.S.) Pinchback was elected president pro tempore of the Louisiana State Senate on this day in 1871, and shortly after became acting lieutenant governor — the first African American to hold either position in a U.S. state government. A key figure during Reconstruction, Pinchback’s political leadership laid the groundwork for further Black participation in government.
The following year, he would go on to briefly serve as acting governor of Louisiana, making him the first African American to serve as governor of a U.S. state.
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