Countless words have been written about the rise and fall of former Detroit Mayor Kwame Malik Kilpatrick over the last seven-and-a-half years. One could certainly argue that too much ink has already been wasted on this disgraced political figure. But this is probably the perfect time to quickly recap his mayoral career and put a period at the end of it.
April 2001 – State Representative Kwame Kilpatrick joins a field of 21 candidates competing to become Detroit’s next chief executive officer.
September 2001 – Kilpatrick wins the primary election with 50.2 percent of the vote.
November 2001 – Kilpatrick beats Detroit City Councilman Gil Hill and at age 31, he is elected the youngest mayor in Detroit history.
April 2005 – Time Magazine lists Kilpatrick as one of the three worst big-city mayors in the U.S.
August 2005 – Detroit’s incumbent mayor places second in the primary election.
Political pundits predict Kilpatrick will be a one-term mayor.
November 2005 – The young, brash, “comeback mayor” wins re-election with 53 percent of the vote. Lesson learned? I had hoped so.
September 2008 – Kilpatrick pleads guilty to two felonies and announces his resignation as mayor.
October 2008 – Kilpatrick is sentenced to 120 days in jail and is led away in handcuffs. Prisoner #2008-34589. Lesson learned? I don’t think so.
Will four months behind bars make Kwame Kilpatrick truly understand what he has done wrong, accept full responsibility for his criminal actions, and show remorse? Only time will tell.