KEVIN JOHNSON

As an All-Star point guard for the Phoenix Suns, Kevin Johnson learned how to run a court and lead his team to victory. Nine years after retiring from the NBA, he's putting those same skills to work in a very different arena, by serving as mayor of his hometown of Sacramento. It is a city with some of the highest rates of unemployment, foreclosure, and homelessness in the nation, but despite the challenges facing Johnson in his new career he claims he's exactly where he wants to be.

Johnson was raised in the troubled Oak Park neighborhood of Sacramento by his grandparents, whom he credits with instilling in him the values that have guided him throughout his life (and his multiple careers): accountability, generosity, and hard work. He went on to pursue a career in professional basketball, but the former political science major at Berkeley continued to maintain an active presence in his Sacramento community, in 1989 founding St. HOPE, a non-profit community development organization dedicated to revitalizing inner-city communities through public education, economic development, civic leadership and the arts. In 2008, after a fiercely fought election, Johnson became the first African-American Mayor of Sacramento.

To excel in the national arenas of sports or politics is remarkable. To achieve success in both, as Johnson has, all while simultaneously fostering excellence in the young people of his community - that's true American Character.

(An American Character Fun Fact: Johnson is engaged to fellow American Character Michelle Rhee, Washington DC School Chancellor. Though their homes are on opposite ends of the country, the two are connected by a shared commitment to improving the lives of their fellow Americans Ð and by Highway 50.)