Hank Johnson
Henry Calvin Johnson Jr.[1] (born October 2, 1954) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the U.S. representative for Georgia's 4th congressional district since 2007. He is a member of the Democratic Party. The district is anchored in Atlanta's inner eastern suburbs,[2][3] including Decatur, all of Rockdale County, Lithonia, Stone Mountain, Covington and a sliver of Atlanta itself. Johnson is one of only three Buddhists to have served in the United States Congress. The others are Senator Mazie Hirono and former Representative Colleen Hanabusa, both of Hawaii.[4][5]
For the baseball player, see Hank Johnson (baseball). For others with a similar name, see Henry Johnson (disambiguation).
Hank Johnson
Life, education, and career[edit]
Johnson grew up in Washington, D.C. His father worked for the Bureau of Prisons and was the director of classifications and paroles. Up to that time, he was the highest ranking African-American in the bureau.[6]
Johnson received his B.A. degree from Clark College (now Clark Atlanta University) in 1976, is a member of Omega Psi Phi Kappa Alpha Alpha Chapter, Decatur, Georgia, and received his J.D. degree from Texas Southern University Thurgood Marshall School of Law in Houston in 1979; he practiced law in Decatur, Georgia, for more than 25 years.
From 1989 to 2001, Johnson served as an associate judge of the DeKalb County magistrate's court.[7] He was elected to the DeKalb County Commission in 2000 and served from 2001 to 2006.[7]
Personal life[edit]
Johnson is married to attorney and DeKalb County Commissioner Mereda Davis Johnson; they have two children.[62]
In December 2009, Johnson revealed that he had been battling Hepatitis C (HCV) for over a decade, which resulted in slow speech and a tendency to regularly get "lost in thought in the middle of a discussion".[63] He said he learned he had the disease in 1998 but did not know how he contracted it. HCV-induced liver dysfunction often leads to hepatic encephalopathy, a cause of confusion. Symptoms are often reversible with treatment.[64] The disease damaged his liver and led to thyroid problems.[63] He was treated with a combination of ribavirin and interferon at Walter Reed Army Medical Center.[63] In February 2010, Johnson successfully completed an experimental treatment for Hepatitis C, which resulted in restored mental acuity, weight gain and increased energy.[65]