Editing Walter Washington (section)

===1967-1975: Mayor-Commissioner===
In 1967, [[President of the United States|President]] [[Lyndon Johnson]] used his reorganization power under Reorganization Plan No. 3 of 1967 to replace the three-commissioner government that had run the capital since 1871 under congressional supervision. Johnson implemented a more modern government headed by a single commissioner, assistant commissioner, and a nine-member city council, all appointed by the president. Johnson appointed Washington Commissioner, which by this time had been informally retitled as "Mayor-Commissioner."<ref>{{cite news |title=LBJ Names Negro Washington 'Mayor' |agency=United Press International |date=September 7, 1967 |work=St. Petersburg Times, via Google News |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=92pQAAAAIBAJ&sjid=kloDAAAAIBAJ&pg=7288,3642690&dq=walter-washington&hl=en }}</ref> (Power brokers such as [[Katharine Graham]], publisher of the ''Washington Post,'' had supported white lawyer [[Edward Bennett Williams]].<ref>[https://nymag.com/frank-rich/ Frank Rich], ''New York Magazine''</ref>) Washington was the first African-American mayor of a major American city, and one of three blacks in 1967 chosen to lead major cities. [[Richard Hatcher]] of [[Gary, Indiana]], and [[Carl Stokes]] of [[Cleveland]] were elected that year.

Washington inherited a city that was torn by racial divisions, and also had to deal with conservative congressional hostility following passage of major civil rights legislation. When he sent his first budget to Congress in late 1967, Democratic [[United States House of Representatives|Representative]] [[John L. McMillan]], chair of the [[United States House Committee on the District of Columbia|House Committee on the District of Columbia]], responded by having [[watermelon stereotype|a truckload of watermelons]] delivered to Washington's office.<ref name=dreamcity>Harry S. Jaffe and Tom Sherwood. ''Dream City: Race, Power, and the Decline of Washington D.C.'' Simon & Schuster, 1994, p.62</ref>

In April 1968, Washington faced riots following the [[assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.]]  Although reportedly urged by [[FBI]] director [[J. Edgar Hoover]] to shoot rioters, Washington refused. He later told ''[[The Washington Post]]'' in 1999, "I walked by myself through the city and urged angry young people to go home. I asked them to help the people who had been burned out." Only one person refused to listen to him.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gG5iMTeHUqY&index=9&list=PLCwE4GdJdVRIYilSyoRA7jebsmyQK00bf|title = Walter Washington:Controlling the DC Riots|website = [[YouTube]]| date=4 February 2010 }}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite web|title=Boston.com / News / Boston Globe / Obituaries / Walter E. Washington, 88, first D.C. mayor in 104 years|url=http://archive.boston.com/news/globe/obituaries/articles/2003/10/28/walter_e_washington_88_first_dc_mayor_in_104_years/|access-date=2021-05-15|website=archive.boston.com|language=en}}</ref> His actions are credited with helping prevent large-scale riots in the area.<ref name=":1" />

Republican President [[Richard Nixon]] retained Washington after being elected as president in 1968.<ref>{{cite news |title=Home Rule for D.C. Due House Test |agency=United Press International |first=Albert |last=Swanson |work=Baltimore Afro-American, via Google News |date=October 2, 1973 |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=koclAAAAIBAJ&sjid=KvUFAAAAIBAJ&pg=2557,2637046&dq=walter-washington+nixon&hl=en }}</ref>

In 1971,<ref>{{Cite web|title=How the ACLU Won the Largest Mass Acquittal in American History|url=https://www.aclu.org/issues/free-speech/rights-protesters/how-aclu-won-largest-mass-acquittal-american-history|access-date=2021-05-15|website=American Civil Liberties Union|date=4 December 2019 |language=en}}</ref> the [[United States Department of Justice]] prohibited an anti-Vietnam demonstration on [[Pennsylvania Avenue]]. There were public concerns that violence would spark. Washington visited the [[White House]], and he requested that President Nixon issue permits for the demonstration. The request was honored, and the demonstration commenced with 250,000 marchers.<ref name=":1" />