Virginia Gov. Wilder Sees Election of Black President as a Possibility

RICHMOND, Va. — Gov. L. Douglas Wilder, in his first full day in office as the nation’s first elected black governor, said Sunday the United States may be ready to elect a black as President in the “foreseeable future.”

Wilder, appearing on ABC-TV’s “This Week With David Brinkley,” was asked about the prospect of a black reaching the White House “in our time.”

“Yes. When you say our time, I think that you mean . . . the foreseeable future. Yes, I do think that’s a possibility,” Wilder said.

Wilder, a grandson of slaves raised in the segregated South who became a successful, wealthy attorney, was inaugurated Saturday. He said he sees a future in which “nothing is impossible.”

Wilder, a Democrat, already has been mentioned as a possible moderate counterweight to the Rev. Jesse Jackson, a role he has indicated he would relish. On the Brinkley show, he was asked to explain how he won a large number of white votes last year while Jackson has received only 15% of the white vote in presidential primaries.

“Well, I’ve been involved for a long time in running for office,” he replied. “And I understand coalitions. I understand the need to compromise. . . . I do believe in taking the half loaf until you can get the other half.”

Earlier Sunday, Wilder watched as members of his Cabinet were sworn into office during a ceremony at the state Capitol and posed with them for photographs. Later, he hosted a brunch for campaign contributors and a reception for Democratic volunteers, both held at the Executive Mansion.

Wilder, whose election Nov. 7 focused attention on a state once strictly segregated, said in his inaugural address that his victory was “not a victory of party or the accomplishments of an individual, but the triumph of an idea--an idea as old as America; as old as the God who looks out for us all.”