Booker T. Washington was an African-American educator, author, orator, and advisor to several presidents of the United States. He was the first president and principal developer of Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute (now Tuskegee University). Washington was from the last generation of black American leaders born into slavery and became the leading voice of the former slaves and their descendants. He believed that the best interests of Black people in the post-Reconstruction era could be realized through education in the crafts and industrial skills and the cultivation of the virtues of patience, enterprise, and thrift. Washington was known as a racial accommodationist, rejecting the pursuit of political and social equality with whites in favor of developing vocational skills and a reputation for stability and dependability. He developed a vocational curriculum that emphasized carpentry, printing, tinsmithing, and shoemaking at Tuskegee. Washington was also a strong influence as a racial representative in national politics.