--- title: Marion Barry: D.C. Mourns Controversial Mayor description: Marion Barry died Sunday at age 78 canonical: https://time.com/3601427/marion-barry-dies/ author: Nolan Feeney article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-11-23T21:13:52.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-01T09:02:07.255Z article:section: Politics og:title: Marion Barry: D.C. Mourns Controversial Mayor og:description: Marion Barry died Sunday at age 78. og:url: https://time.com/3601427/marion-barry-dies/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta1edd61f2ffae077/69876a6c524fc0692cdeaea6/marion-barry.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1800 og:image:height: 1013 og:image:alt: D.C. Council Member Marion Barry gives a news conference in Washington D.C. on Aug. 2, 2010. og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Marion Barry: D.C. Mourns Controversial Mayor twitter:description: Marion Barry died Sunday at age 78. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta1edd61f2ffae077/69876a6c524fc0692cdeaea6/marion-barry.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Washington D.C. Mourns Its 'Mayor for Life' > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: September 2026. ## TIME D.C. Brief: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition D.C. Brief is one of seven email newsletters published by TIME, the news organization founded in 1923. Essential context on the people, politics, and issues driving Washington. D.C. Brief goes beyond the Washington headlines to explain the politics, personalities and power dynamics shaping what happens next. 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It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=ec0f7cbc-f0b4-4871-a280-a9853c1e8323&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Washington, D.C., Political Fixture Marion Barry Dies [Watch (HLS stream): Washington, D.C., Political Fixture Marion Barry Dies](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/aT1MRRHX.m3u8) (1:23)  _Published 2014-11-23. Former Washington, D.C., mayor and city council member Marion Barry died unexpectedly at the age of 78 on Sunday morning._  by [Nolan Feeney](https://time.com/author/nolan-feeney/)  ## Nolan Feeney Nov 23, 2014 9:13 PM UTC Former Washington, D.C., mayor and city council member Marion Barry died unexpectedly at the age of 78 on Sunday morning.  by [Nolan Feeney](https://time.com/author/nolan-feeney/)  ## Nolan Feeney Nov 23, 2014 9:13 PM UTC Flags are flying at half-staff in Washington, D.C., [as the city mourns former mayor Marion Barry](http://www.wtop.com/?nid=893&sid=3748977), who died Sunday at age 78. A spokesperson for current mayor of the nation’s capital, Vincent Gray, said he ordered that the flags be lowered in Barry’s honor, the Associated Press reports. “Marion was not just a colleague but also was a friend with whom I shared many fond moments about governing the city,” Gray [said in a statement](http://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/Marion-Barry-District-Councilman-and-Former-Mayor-Dies-at-78-283619041.html). “He loved the District of Columbia and so many Washingtonians loved him.” There was a notable outpouring of tributes from members of the Washington media, many of whom emphasized his community contributions rather than the more notorious chapters in his life. People are expected to gather outside his home in Southeast D.C. at 5 p.m. Sunday for a vigil. > [](https://twitter.com/donnabrazile/status/536494649192378369) > [](https://twitter.com/MikeMadden/status/536499958569250817) > [](https://twitter.com/clintonyates/status/536585886230908930) > [](https://twitter.com/BrianWilsonDC/status/536483918292475904) > [](https://twitter.com/MaureenUmehFox5/status/536493289206452224) > [](https://twitter.com/kghnewsfoxx/status/536491946441994241) > [](https://twitter.com/WPGC/status/536619814253789185) President Barack Obama also issued a statement Sunday remembering Barry’s commitment to civil rights and combatting poverty. “Marion was born a sharecropper’s son, came of age during the civil rights movement and became a fixture in D.C. politics for decades,” he said. “During his decades in elected office in D.C., he put in place historic programs to lift working people out of poverty, expand opportunity and begin to make real the promise of home rule.” A key part of Barry’s legacy was his summer jobs program. Barry served as the city’s second elected mayor from 1979 until 1991\. In 1990, the FBI and Washington police busted him in a drug sting, and video footage of him smoking crack cocaine was widely circulated. He served six months in prison on a possession conviction but was re-elected mayor in 1995 in a remarkable political comeback. The longevity of his career earned him the nickname [Mayor for Life](http://time.com/3601309/marion-barry-dies-78/). He went to work in consulting after leaving the mayor’s office in 1999, but he returned to politics again in 2004 when he was elected to the D.C. Council, representing part of Southeast Washington until his death. \[[_AP_](http://www.wtop.com/?nid=893&sid=3748977)\] ## Transcript [00:00] Former Washington DC mayor, Marion Barry has died at [00:03] 78. Barry died unexpectedly in the early hours of Sunday [00:07] morning despite showing signs in the past week that he [00:10] had recovered from a recent health scare. He was very [00:13] strong, he was upbeat and he was in good spirits. And [00:20] this is a total shock for all of us. Barry was a legendary [00:24] figure in DC city politics, serving as mayor for 16 years. [00:28] And as city council member for 15. His tenure as mayor [00:31] starting in 1979 was fraught with personal controversies [00:35] and was interrupted in 1991. When Barry went to jail for [00:38] drug possession after campaigning against drug abuse. [00:41] But, some attribute the city's economic growth under his [00:44] term in office, to Barry's pro- business policies. He also [00:47] created a summer jobs program to offer work to [00:50] school- age DC residents. The Washington post which [00:52] repeatedly endorsed Marion's campaigns for mayor, [00:55] described him as the most influential and savvy local [00:58] politician of his generation. He dominated the city's political [01:01] landscape in the final quarter of the 20th century. Still, as [01:04] recently as 2005 a court ordered screening found [01:07] marijuana and cocaine in his system. In 2009, he was [01:11] arrested for stalking, and in 2010, he was censored for [01:14] appropriating government funds to a girlfriend. Barry had [01:17] been planning to attend his annual turkey giveaway on [01:19] Tuesday. He's survived by his son and two [01:22] step- daughters. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3601427/marion-barry-dies/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3601427/marion-barry-dies/"},"headline":"Washington D.C. 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