An Interview with Kurt Schmoke

Becoming mayor of a troubled city seems, above all else, a high form of masochism. After all, what sort of person would willingly take on the role of political scapegoat for all that ails urban America? In late-1980s Baltimore, Kurt Schmoke was that masochist, albeit one with extraordinary promise.

In electing Schmoke mayor in 1988, the city—for decades at the receiving end of an unrelenting rustbelt pummeling—put up its dukes. A local high-school star, both academically and athletically, Schmoke had achieved a level of elite success rare to the traditionally working-class city. By the age of 30, he was a Yale graduate, Rhodes Scholar, Harvard law grad, domestic policy staffer for the Carter Administration, and assistant US attorney.