Cory Booker
A politician who traded a Yale law degree for a Newark housing project, becoming a senator who champions urban renewal and criminal justice reform.
Born 1969 (age 57)·American politician·Birthday: April 27·Generation X
Biography
Cory Booker’s path to the Senate was paved not in political backrooms but on the streets of Newark’s Brick City. After Stanford, Oxford, and Yale Law, he made the unconventional choice to move into a troubled housing project, launching a career defined by hands-on, often dramatic civic engagement. As a Newark city councilor, he staged a hunger strike to protest open-air drug markets. His two terms as mayor were marked by a data-driven push to reduce crime and attract new investment, though not without controversy over his relationship with tech billionaires. Elected to the U.S. Senate in 2013, he brought a preacher’s passion to Washington, known for fiery speeches on race and poverty, and a personal brand of politics that includes rescuing neighbors from fires and driving through snowstorms to cast votes.
Generation X
1965–1980
The latchkey kids. Raised during divorce, recession, and the end of the Cold War. Skeptical, self-reliant, media-literate. They invented indie culture, grunge, and the early internet — then watched the Boomers take credit.
Cory was born in 1969, placing them squarely in the Generation X. The events that shaped this generation — economic uncertainty, the end of the Cold War, and the rise of personal computing — shaped the world they entered and the choices available to them.
#1 When Cory Was Born
The biggest hits of 1969
#1 Movie
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
Best Picture
Midnight Cowboy
#1 TV Show
Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In
Cory's Life & Times
The world at every milestone
1969Born
Apollo 11: humans walk on the Moon; Woodstock festival
Gas: $0.35/galHome: $15,550Min wage: $1.60/hrPresident: Richard Nixon"Sugar, Sugar" — The ArchiesBest Picture: Midnight Cowboy
1974Started school
Nixon resigns the presidency
Gas: $0.53/galHome: $22,600Min wage: $2.00/hrPresident: Gerald Ford"The Way We Were" — Barbra StreisandBest Picture: The Godfather Part II
1982Became a teenager
Michael Jackson releases Thriller
Gas: $1.22/galHome: $55,200Min wage: $3.35/hrPresident: Ronald Reagan"Physical" — Olivia Newton-JohnBest Picture: Gandhi
1985Could drive
Live Aid concerts raise money for Ethiopian famine
Gas: $1.12/galHome: $62,900Min wage: $3.35/hrPresident: Ronald Reagan"Careless Whisper" — Wham!Best Picture: Out of Africa
1987Could vote
Black Monday stock market crash
Gas: $0.90/galHome: $72,400Min wage: $3.35/hrPresident: Ronald Reagan"Walk Like an Egyptian" — The BanglesBest Picture: The Last Emperor
1990Turned 21
Hubble Space Telescope launched; Germany reunifies
Gas: $1.15/galHome: $79,100Min wage: $3.80/hrPresident: George H.W. Bush"Hold On" — Wilson PhillipsBest Picture: Dances with Wolves
1999Turned 30
Columbine shooting; Y2K panic builds
Gas: $1.17/galHome: $113,900Min wage: $5.15/hrPresident: Bill Clinton"Believe" — CherBest Picture: American Beauty
2009Turned 40
Michael Jackson dies; Bitcoin created
Gas: $2.35/galHome: $148,500Min wage: $7.25/hrPresident: Barack Obama"Boom Boom Pow" — The Black Eyed PeasBest Picture: The Hurt Locker
2019Turned 50
First image of a black hole; Hong Kong protests
Gas: $2.60/galHome: $224,400Min wage: $7.25/hrPresident: Donald Trump"Old Town Road" — Lil Nas XBest Picture: Parasite
2026Age 57 today
Gas: $3.91/galPresident: Donald Trump
Key Achievements
- Became the first African American elected to the U.S. Senate from New Jersey in 2013.
- As Mayor of Newark, oversaw a significant reduction in violent crime and attracted over $1 billion in new development to the city.
- Co-sponsored the First Step Act, a major bipartisan federal criminal justice reform bill signed into law in 2018.
- Delivered a pivotal 13-hour Senate floor speech in opposition to the confirmation of Senator Jeff Sessions as Attorney General.
- Founded Newark Now, a nonprofit organization focused on providing services to low-income residents of the city.
Did You Know?
He is a former tight end for the Stanford Cardinal football team and still holds the team record for receptions in a single game by a freshman.
He is a vegan and has written about the lifestyle's benefits.
He once saved a woman from a burning building in Newark while he was mayor.
He was a Rhodes Scholar at the University of Oxford.
He is a member of the Beta Theta Pi fraternity.
““Your life can’t just be about you. It has to be about what my mother calls, ‘a conspiracy of love.’””
