For every person like Martin Luther King, who became the face of civil rights history, there were a dozen like Robert C. Weaver who worked behind the scenes to accomplish extraordinary breakthroughs for African-Americans but never received any credit. Weaver made a name for himself early as an expert on race relations, and the government’s link to black constituents. At the same time, Weaver campaigned tirelessly to better the standing of blacks in relation to whites. His work was rewarded with continual promotions, culminating in a cabinet-level position of the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

On this day, January 13, in 1966, Robert C. Weaver became head of the newly-formed Department of Housing and Urban Development, the first black man to hold a cabinet post. Weaver was already heading up the Housing and Home Finance Agency, which would eventually become the HUD, under the previous Kennedy administration, but Congress refused to elevate the agency to cabinet-level at that time.

Weaver’s influence on the presidents he served could be seen in an incident early in his career: in 1940 President Roosevelt asked his assistance on a speech to soothe populist outrage after Roosevelt’s press secretary shoved a black policeman. According to the New York Times, Weaver rejected the whole premise of a speech, answering ”I don’t think a mere speech will do it. What we need right now is something so dramatic that it will make the [black] voters forget” all about the incident. Within 48 hours, Roosevelt promoted several African-Americans to high-level positions in the military.