The Making of Harvey Dent
Two years ago, few beyond the cloistered world of City Hall knew the name "Harvey Dent." Today Dent stands at the forefront of Gotham politics, with an enormous electoral victory and a golden image as the city's "White Knight."
Harvey Dent was born to a middle-class family in Granton during an era where Gotham City was racked by urban riots and civil unrest. His mother, a schoolteacher for the local grammar school, raised him by herself after Dent's father died in a work accident at the Gotham World Chemical Company.
The young Harvey Dent impressed teachers with his diligence and coaches with his athletic abilities. But some who knew him as a child report that Dent carried within him a unique determination.
"You couldn't tell him that he wasn't old enough to do something," said his third-grade teacher Sally Rowe Bowling. "Harvey refused to give up. That's why I volunteered for his campaign the moment I heard he was running."
Other teachers remember a boy who seemed somehow different from others. "He was a serious-minded boy," said Gabriella Cohn-Solomon, his fifth-grade teacher. "There was something sad about him. Like he was already grown up."
After graduating from one of Gotham's first magnet high schools, Harvey Dent decided to stay in the city for college. "He could have gone anywhere," said his high school guidance counselor Jeremy Benthune. "But Harvey said Gotham City was his family, and that he could never leave it."
Dent attended the University of Gotham, where he played soccer for the varsity team and majored in Political Science. After graduating with honors, he returned to the school for a law degree.
Dent began his professional career as a litigator with the prestigious downtown firm of Carlson and Piques. "He always wanted a career in government, but he felt he needed some real-world seasoning before becoming a civil servant," according to partner Lars Bensuhn.
Dent did well at Carlson and Piques, earning a promotion and the respect of the partners. "When Harvey told me he was accepting a job at the District Attorney, I did everything I could to keep him," Bensuhn said. "But Harvey felt he could make a difference for the people of Gotham, and he politely refused my offers."
Dent quickly took action as Assistant District Attorney. Working with GPD's Internal Affairs division, Dent began an investigation into police corruption that netted eleven guilty verdicts. He built his reputation as an anti-corruption crusader when he initiated the creation of the "We Are The Answer" citizen tip line, which allowed Gotham residents to phone in suspicions of corrupt police officers.
The public aspect of the GPD corruption investigation earned Dent considerable media attention, both positive and negative. Dent's public image took a beating when police officer Karl Breitup was shot and killed during an arrest attempt at the House of Pies. The incident, along with Dent's targeting of the GPD, earned Dent the enmity of many rank and file officers.
This antagonism may have contributed to the attacks of Concerned Citizens for a Better Gotham, which used Gotham police officers to falsely accuse Dent of bogus prosecutions. The attacks almost derailed Dent's campaign.
But Dent beat back the charges, and his courageous behavior defusing a hostage situation at Rossi's Deli earned him a new sobriquet — "The White Knight of Gotham." The wave of publicity surrounding the incident put him in a commanding position in the last part of the campaign. Today, he is set to become Gotham's 38th District Attorney after winning by a margin unheard of in Gotham politics.
