Politics
Kwame Kilpatrick
born 1970 · politician, former mayor of Detroit
Detroit-born politician who became the city's youngest mayor at 31 in 2002, but resigned in 2008 after a corruption scandal and later served federal prison time before a 2021 commutation.
- Born
Detroit, Michigan
age 56- Birth name
- Kwame Malik Kilpatrick
- Detroit years
- 1970–2008
- Field
- Politics
01 / The Detroit story
The Detroit story
Kilpatrick grew up in Detroit, the son of career Michigan politician Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick, and attended Cass Technical High School before earning degrees in Florida and a law degree from the Detroit College of Law. Elected to the Michigan House of Representatives in 1996 and then mayor of Detroit in 2001, he took office on New Year's Day 2002 as the city's youngest-ever mayor at 31. His two terms were marked both by ambitious downtown redevelopment efforts and by a widening corruption and text-message scandal, including allegations tied to a party at the mayoral Manoogian Mansion and the killing of Tamara Greene, that eventually forced his resignation in September 2008 after a perjury and obstruction conviction. Further legal trouble followed: a probation violation sent him back to prison in 2010, and a 2013 federal racketeering conviction brought a 28-year sentence, of which he served time until President Trump commuted his sentence in 2021.
Highlights
- Detroit's youngest-ever mayor, taking office in 2002 at age 31
- Attended Cass Technical High School in Detroit
- Resigned as mayor in September 2008 after a perjury and obstruction conviction
- Sentenced to 28 years in federal prison in 2013; sentence commuted in 2021
02 / Their Detroit places
Their Detroit places 2
Where they lived, worked, performed and liked to hang out. Closed and demolished places stay here too, because they are part of the city's history.
Studied here · 1980s
Cass Technical High School
The magnet high school he attended in Detroit.
Worked here · 2002–2008
Manoogian Mansion
The official mayoral residence on the Detroit River, central to a 2002 party scandal that later fed into the corruption investigation.