When Harry McPherson Jr. passed away last week, the District lost a titan in the early fight for home rule. It was McPherson, along with other top aides for President Lyndon Baines Johnson, who first understood the fundamental injustice of the capital city’s lack of democracy and moved to reform it.

McPherson was 36 when he was LBJ’s principal White House counsel in 1965. He moved on to have a vibrant career as a lawyer and lobbyist in D.C., and he was vital almost until the day he died at 82. His passing gives us the chance to ask: How has D.C. fared with ensuing White Houses since McPherson and a band of LBJ aides helped the city take the first steps to self-rule?

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