Kwame Brown’s tenure as the powerful chairman of the District Council ended just as it had begun, with a public display of personal greed that embarrassed the city he served and further eroded public confidence in the council he led. The damage he did to the city’s reputation is incalculable.

There were signs that the youngest council chairman in D.C. history had an oversized appetite for luxury inappropriate in a public servant. His misuse of credit cards became an issue in his 2010 campaign for chairman, but Brown assured supporters and the media that his personal finances were in order. However, soon after being elected he earned the nickname “Fully Loaded” for ordering a second city-leased luxury SUV because he didn’t like the interior color of the first.