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To understand the District of Columbia, one must understand Marion Barry. As a four-term mayor; civil rights activist; hero to the District's poor, black communities; tireless battler for District rights; or symbol of home rule, Barry has been at the center of the District's triumphs and troubles since the 1970s. With the help of The Post archives and Barry's own words, let us show you how he has come to where he is and what kind of man led our nation's capital.
Barry first ran for school board in 1971.
The '70s: Barry, the Hero
Marion Barry rose to prominence in the District as a leader of the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee in the 1960s, fighting racial segregation and discrimination. In the ‘70s, he was elected first to the school board and then to an at-large seat on the City Council.
Barry was a radically new kind of politician. Raised in poverty, he built a political base from Anacostia rather than through the traditional black power-brokers on 16th Street's Gold Coast. He embodied black political aspirations. Milton Coleman, later The Post's assistant managing editor for Metro, traced Barry's emergence from anti-establishment activist to mayor.
One of Barry's most striking moments came in 1977, when the then-councilman was shot attempting to defend the District Building from radical Black Muslim terrorists. Barry took a bullet near his heart during a tense, two-day hostage crisis that was finally defused by the combined efforts of the FBI and ambassadors from Muslim countries. The Post detailed Barry's shooting and the violence in the District Building.
The Post endorsed Barry in 1978, and both hopes and expectations were high during his first term.
As his second term began, Barry lauded his political organization.
The '80s: Mayor Unstoppable
In 1982, The Post again endorsed Barry for reelection. His tasks in his second term included dealing with the District's severe budget problems and the 1982 statehood referendum, which passed in the same election that gave Barry four more years. The Post gave a perspective on the challenges facing him and his austere 1984 budget.
The real estate boom of the mid-to-late 1980s solved the District's money problems for a time. In the 1986 election, The Post endorsed Barry once more. Though Barry had cut back the District's nonfunctioning bureaucracy during his first term, he hired more and more people later in the 1980s. A 1987 profile shows Barry's political savvy - and the flaws developing in his government.
The '90s: Fall and Return
Mr. Barry's personal problems first surfaced in 1983, with the "This Is It" scandal. Barry was accused of using cocaine at a nightclub party – though a Post inquiry showed no evidence of wrongdoing.
Mr. Barry won back a council seat in 1992 and was reelected mayor in 1994. Barry's supporters saw him as the activist, the champion of the poor. In his 1996 State of the District address, he speaks of enduring and conquering the unconquerable. Mr. Barry leaves office.
Excerpts taken from the Washington Post, 1998
The 2000s
Mr. Barry retired from politics in 1998 and aborted a run for City Council in 2002. However, Mr. Barry could not refuse the numerous and consistent pleas from Ward 8 residents to reenter politics. He decided to run for the Ward 8 City Council seat and won with 96% of the vote in November 2004. As Councilmember, Barry is determined to make Ward 8 the best ward in the city.
Barry has one son, Marion Christopher Barry, 24 years of age who resides in the District of Columbia.
Excerpts taken from the Washington Post, 1998
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