s federal territory is left to fail or succeed with the limited resources of its 168 square mile area. It is essential that this unique circumstance perhaps creates a feeling among those that live in D.C. a feeling of abandonment that might cause them to rebel against the establishment. It would become no secret in later years that many of the VIP’s in the city were embarrassed both by Barry and his enduring appeal to the poor African American residents of the District of Columbia. Members of Congress, White House staff, members of the press or the Fourth Estate as it is often referred to in DC, could not comprehend how a man caught on tape using drugs, and ran a city that continually failed to deliver basic services could be re-elected. Barry’s first term as mayor was by and large successful. He won very high praise for a summer job program, as well as reorganized city positions, and helped the city sort out a mess of financial discrepancy and poor records. In 1982, more than 16,000 students on summer vacation from school were provided jobs under the D.C. Summer Youth Employment Program. The program was a brainchild of the mayor and garnished him respect from the outside world as well as heart felt thanks from the thousands of parents in the city whose children benefited from the program. Many of those children would grow up and remain residents of the District and would become some of Barry’s biggest supporters even during troubled times. Barry’s appointments to job city positions were also successful. Barry, as he had promised to do during the campaign hired a professional city manager as Deputy Mayor. He worked with Elijah Rogers to fill top personnel appointments to deal with problems in the schools, police department and transportation. Meanwhile, the mayor was always out and about. The people saw him all the time, either in person or in the news media. Barry’s charismatic personality ea...
