Walter Washington

Walter Washington
Mayor of the District of Columbia
In office January 2, 1975 – January 2, 1979
Preceded by	Himself (Mayor-Commissioner)
Succeeded by	Marion Barry
Mayor-Commissioner of the District of Columbia
In office November 7, 1967 – January 2, 1975
President	Lyndon B. Johnson Richard Nixon Gerald Ford
Preceded by	Walter Nathan Tobriner (President of the Board of Commissioners)
Succeeded by	Himself (Mayor)
Personal details
Born	Walter Edward Washington (1915-04-15)April 15, 1915 Dawson, Georgia, U.S.
Died	October 27, 2003(2003-10-27) (aged 88) Washington, D.C., U.S.
Resting place	Lincoln Memorial Cemetery (Suitland, Maryland)
Political party	Democratic
Spouses	Bennetta Bullock ​ ​ (m. 1942; died 1991)​ Mary Burke ​ (m. 1994)​
Children	1
Education	Howard University (BA, LLB)

Walter Edward Washington (April 15, 1915 – October 27, 2003) was an American civil servant and politician. After a career in public housing,^[1] Washington was the chief executive of the District of Columbia from 1967 to 1979, serving as the first and only Mayor-Commissioner of the District of Columbia from 1967 to 1974, and as the first Mayor of the District of Columbia from 1975 to 1979.

He was the first African-American mayor of a major city in the United States, and in 1974 became the capital's first popularly elected mayor since 1871.^[2] Congress had passed a law granting home rule to the capital, while reserving some authorities. Washington won the first mayoral election in 1974, and served from 1975 until 1979.