Meet Dorothy Bowles Ford: Everything about Harold Ford Jr's mother
I made my first political ad when I was four years old. It was 1974, and my father was running for Congress. My mom propped me up on a brown folding table at the back of my dad’s campaign headquarters and I spoke into a microphone attached to a cassette recorder.
Harold Ford Jr. had politics ingrained in his blood, and his mother played a crucial role, as seen in the statement above. His mom, Dorothy Bowles Ford, became famous as the spouse of a US Congressman. Dorothy's son, Harold, is a financial managing director, pundit, author, and former U.S. Congressman.
Source: Getty Images
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Key takeaways
- Dorothy Bowles Ford was the first wife of Harold Eugene Ford Sr., an American politician and a former US Congressman.
- Her ex-husband and son represented Memphis, Tennessee's 9th congressional district, under the Democratic Party.
- She has three sons.
- Dorothy formerly worked as a consumer coordinator and functions regulator at Potomac Electric Power.
Profiles summary
| Full name | Dorothy Bowles Ford |
| Gender | Female |
| Age | 70s (as of 2025) |
| Place of birth | United States of America |
| Current residence | Tennessee, United States of America |
| Nationality | American |
| Ethnicity | African-American |
| Religion | Christianity |
| Sexual orientation | Straight |
| Hair colour | Black |
| Eye colour | Dark brown |
| Marital status | Divorced |
| Ex-husband | Harold Ford Sr. |
| Children | 3 |
| Education | Geeter High School |
| Profession | Former consumer coordinator and functions regulator |
Who is Dorothy Bowles Ford?
Dorothy Bowles Ford is a former consumer coordinator and functions regulator. She is best known as the mother of Harold Ford Jr. and Harold Ford Sr.'s first wife. Both her son and former husband are renowned politicians and former Congressmen for Memphis, Tennessee.
Is Dorothy Bowles Ford White?
No, Dorothy Bowles Ford's ethnicity is African-American. Harold Ford Jr. was born and raised in the United States of America, and her nationality is American. Not much is known about Dorothy Bowles Ford's parents.
Source: Getty Images
Is Dorothy Bowles Ford married?
Harold Ford Jr.'s mother was married to Harold Ford Sr. Harold Ford Sr. is a well-known politician and Democratic former member of the United States House of Representatives. He represented Memphis, Tennessee, from 1975 until 1997.
Dorothy married Harold Ford Sr. in 1969. The two got divorced in 1999 after being together for about three decades. They were blessed with three sons, Harold Jr, John Newton, and Sir Isaac.
Harold Ford Jr. took after his father. He is a financial managing director, pundit, author, and former US Congressman. He represented Memphis, Tennessee, from 1997 to 2007.
Harold Ford Jr.'s mother and father first met at Geeter High School during their teens. Following their divorce, his father got remarried to Michelle Roberts. Dorothy Bowles Ford has remained out of the limelight since her divorce.
Source: Getty Images
What is Harold Ford's ethnicity?
Harold Eugene Ford Jr.'s ethnicity is African-American. The famous politician and financial managing director was born on 11 May 1970 in Memphis, Tennessee, United States, and his age is 54 years as of February 2025.
What nationality is Harold from The Five?
Harold Ford Jr.'s nationality is American. He was born and raised in Memphis, Tennessee, United States.
Career
Dorothy Bowles Ford was a consumer coordinator and functions regulator at Potomac Electric Power. She employed various innovative ideas and had an incredible grasp of the company's customer needs.
In addition, Dorothy Ford managed administrative duties for her ex-husband, Harold Ford Sr. Her ex-husband was the first African-American US congressman.
Who is Dorothy Bowles Ford’s son, Harold Ford Jr.?
Harold Eugene Ford Jr. is a finance managing director, pundit, author, and a former US Congressman. He went to the University of Michigan Law School, the University of Pennsylvania, and St. Albans School.
The Democratic Party member was a congressman for Tennessee's 9th congressional district from 1997 to 2007. Harold Ford Jr served as a managing director at Morgan Stanley alongside his congressional role.
Harold Jr was groomed into politics by his father. Talking about his political journey, he said:
One of the things I learned from my dad at an early age about politics was never to allow jealousy, envy, or pettiness to get in the way of learning from a political peer. My dad inspired and taught a lot of politicians, younger and older, but he never shied away from learning himself.
Andrew Young and Maynard Jackson are two Southern politicians whom my dad respected and learned from.
He later became the executive vice president and vice-chairman of Corporate & Institutional Banking (C&IB) for PNC Bank in 2020.
In addition, the famous politician was a FOX News political analyst. He currently hosts the BET television show, My Two Cents, and is a frequent political commentator on CNN.
Who was Harold Ford Jr.’s first wife?
Harold Ford Jr. has had one wife so far. He married Emily Threlkeld on 26 April 2008 at Trinity Cathedral in Miami, Florida. Emily works in public relations for Carolina Herrera in New York.
Harold Ford Jr.'s children
The former US Congressman has one child, a daughter, with his wife. His daughter, Georgia Walker, was born on 24 December 2013 at New York-Presbyterian. She weighed in at 5 pounds, 10 ounces at birth.
Who is Harold Ford Sr.'s wife now?
Harold Ford Sr. is married to Michelle Roberts. He has two children with Ava. Their names are Andrew and Ava. The couple married in 1999, the same year he divorced Dorothy Bowles Ford.
Trivia
- Harold Ford Jr.'s mother is not on social media.
- Harold Ford Sr. was the first African-American to represent Memphis, Tennessee's 9th congressional district,
- Dorothy Bowles Ford is an animal lover.
- Dorothy's former bother-in-law, John Ford, is a former Tennessee State Senator.
- Her son, Sir Isaac Ford, ran for the Memphis City Council in 2003 but was unsuccessful. He managed his brother John Newton's bid for Congress in 2006 as an independent candidate.
- Dorothy's former father-in-law, Newton Jackson Ford, ran for the Tennessee House in 1966 but was not elected. He died in 1986.
- Her ex-husband has been a devout Baptist and an esteemed Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity member for many years.
Dorothy Bowles Ford is widely recognised as Harold Ford Jr.'s mother and Harold Ford Sr.'s first wife. She withdrew from the public eye after her divorce.
Briefly.co.za recently published John Steenhuisen's biography. Steenhuisen won his first political seat at 22 when he was elected Durban North's Councillor in 1999.
Steenhuisen has been at the helm of the Democratic Alliance party since 2019. He played a key role in forming the Government of National Unity (GNU) following the 2024 South African general elections.
Source: Briefly News
Peris Walubengo (Lifestyle writer) Peris Walubengo is a content creator with 5 years of experience writing articles, researching, editing, and proofreading. She has a Bachelor of Commerce & IT from the University of Nairobi and joined Briefly.co.za in November 2019. The writer completed a Google News Initiate Course. She covers bios, marketing & finance, tech, fashion & beauty, recipes, movies & gaming reviews, culture & travel. You can email her at perisrodah254@gmail.com.
Bennett Yates (Lifestyle writer) Bennett Yates is a content creator with over five years of working experience in journalism and copywriting. He graduated from the University of Nairobi (2017) with a Bachelor's in Information Technology. In 2023, Bennett finished the AFP course on Digital Investigation Techniques. He started working for Briefly in 2019. You can reach him via email at bennetyates@gmail.com.
