Barry, Once Washingtons Mayor for Life, Tries to Shape Legacy With Autobiography.
The City Council was considering whether to end a three-day waiting period for marriage licenses when Marion S. Barry Jr., a councilman who set the bar for bad mayoral behavior long before Rob Ford came along in Toronto, wondered if three days would be enough time for people to get blood tests.
“There’s no longer a blood test, Mr. Barry,” Tommy Wells, a fellow District of Columbia councilman, gently reminded him.
“I’d want a blood test,” Mr. Barry, 78, responded. “I’ll give them my blood test, too.”
And then, as the room erupted in laughter, Mr. Barry added, “I know how clean I am.”
Mr. Barry, the infamous former mayor of Washington who in 1990 was caught on camera in a hotel smoking crack cocaine, has been speaking out these days about his long career of highs and lows. Mr. Barry had led this city for three terms when he was arrested by the F.B.I. on drug charges. And after he served six months in jail, he managed in 1994 to win another term, cementing his nickname “Mayor for Life,” the title of his new autobiography. In his latest act, the now three-term councilman is trying to rewrite his legacy so that he might be remembered for more than the fateful night at the Vista Hotel.
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