ChicagoAnd the Political Machine

Nalee Ha

Richard Batista

Nawal Qureshi

Jeremy Kerstetter

Within Chicago

● Big business and money from the early 20th century○ Held considerable power and weight

● Elected officials (mayors in particular)○ Accustomed to distributing favors and rewards to

those who voted or aided them○ Enhanced ethnic alliances / fractures

The Machine

● 41st Mayor of chicago● Last Republican to Serve as mayor of Chicago in office from 1915-1923

(1927–1931)● One of the most corrupt politicians of all

time.● Mayor during the passing of the 18th

Amendment (Prohibition 1919)

William “Big Bill” Hale Thompson

● Tension between Irish and African Americans for meat-packing jobs and influx of returning WWI veterans intensified the situation ○ 1910 -1930 = 44,103 - 233,903

● Thompson refused for four days the help of Illinois governor Frank Lowden

● Richard Daley (17 year) member of Irish Hamburg Athletic Club○ 75,000 African American voters backed

Thompson

Race Riot of 1919

● In 1923 ran against Arthur C. Leuder

● Campaigned on an Anti-corruption platform and cracked down on crime - “The Great Beer War”

● Disliked by organized crime

● Lost by 83,000 votes in 1928 against Thompson

William Emmett Dever

● Financed by questionable funds including donations from AlCapone of $250,000

● Believed, but never confirmed, to have helped orchestrate an attempted bombing of Senator Deneen of Illinois and his allies - known as the “Pineapple Primary”

● 25th ward committeeman Esposito “Diamond Joe” Giuseppe

● Valentine’s Day Massacre

Thompson’s Back Again

● Late 1920s, due to the great migration there were close to 44,000 additions a year.

● African Americans came in by the hundreds of thousands.

● Population in total went from 2,700,000 in 1920 to 3,400,000 in 1940

● Population of African Americans went from 2% of the total population in 1910 to 8% in 1940

1925-1940 demography

○ Defeated mayor William Thompson in 1931 & formed democratic machine

○ A bohemian immigrant of working class origin

○ Brought in German, Polish, Czech, & Jewish leaders into party

○ Assassinated in 1933 by mistake

○ Taken over by Edward J. Kelly

Anton Cermak (1931-33)

● Called Kelly-Nash Machine, with Patrick Nash supporting him

● Continued to work on Cermak’s ideology.

● Worked with different ethnic groups● Strengthened the party by supporting

Roosevelt● Actively sought out African American

support

Edward J. Kelly (1933-47)

● Got support from labor, business, and criminals● Re-elected in 1935, 1939, & 1943● Ran until 1947

FDR … and the New Deal● Served 3 terms: 1933-1945● Economic platform● Keynesian economics

● New Deal Coalition● Farley and the machines● Big government aid became

local machine grease

Government Support (New Deal Policies)● Works Progress

Administration (WPA) and Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC)○ Economy aching for

employment - so the machines gave them

● WWII arrival○ Provided huge

employment options also eliminated need for WPA / CCC

○ WPA / CCC ended in 1943

New Deal Policies...continued

● Lyndon B Johnson - attempt to reignite the machine○ Largely unsuccessful,

but continued the big government policies

○ Attempt to create utopia, aka “The Great Society”■ Most infamous results:

Detroit, Camden, Oakland, et al.

● Obama 2008 - reignite the machine○ successfully reunited

ethnic groups and gained huge support from the big cities - especially his hometown of Chicago

● Assumes leadership of CCDP ‘53

● Runs for mayor ‘55-wins

● Rules city and machine for next 20 years

● Brings CCDP to its height of power

Richard J. Daley (1955-1976)

Political Career● Though Daley is Democratic, he originally

obtains position in Illinois HR as Republican

● First elected mayor in 1955

● Daley instrumental in bringing JFK his presidential victory in 1960

● 1968 is big for Daley, but not in a good way...

● Daley’s advisors in ‘89, Rahm Emanuel & David Axelrod, are also Obama’s advisors

● served in state senate and in Cook County State Attorney as well as mayor

Richard M. Daley (1989-2011)

Political Career● first elected mayor in ‘89

● as his terms progress, he becomes involved in increasing number of scandals

● 5th term sees a lot of turmoil-including destruct-ion of Meigs Field

Chicago DiversifiesPost WWII, Urban Riots, Civil Rights and Vietnam● Recognized need for

diversification and embracing

● Large influx of African American voters, potential for huge base

Turn to Harold Washington

● African Am gaining traction in politics○ IL House: ’65 - ’76○ IL Senate: ’77 - ’80○ Chicago Mayor: 1983

re-elected: 1987

The Dawn of ObamaFollowing the success of Washington

- Obama emerges- African American- From NYC- Democratic Party

● Community Organizer: 1985 - 1988

● Harvard Law School: late 1988

○ President of Harvard Law Review

● Taught constitutional law: 1992 - 2004● Illinois State Senate: 1997 - 2004● US senator: 2005 - 2008● US President: 2008 - 2012, 2012 -

Still one of the most ethnically diverse

● In 2000, 21.7% of the city’s inhabitants were foreign born;

● 56% of that came from Latin America, 23% from Europe, and 18% from Asia

Chicago today

In your opinion, were FDR’s big government programs written with the intention of giving direct help to the machines - as a remuneration of sorts? Or not?

Was Obama’s rapid rise to power a result of behind the scenes machine manipulation and involvement?

How have politics / or the role of machines changed since the big machine days? (early 20th century vs today) Do we see it today?Some have argued that though corrupt, machines have provided some of the most efficient cities, while others argue to the contrary.

Given your understanding or knowledge of machines, are you of the opinion that they work for society? Or not?

Discussion Questions

1. (Slide 3) Chicago Tribune. http://galleries.apps.chicagotribune.com/chi-120706-city-fathers-pictures/2. (Slide 5) Wikipedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Emmett_Dever3. (Slide 7) Color Lines. http://colorlines.

com/archives/2010/10/isabel_wilkerson_talks_about_americas_generation_of_black_immigrants.html4. (Slide 8) Wikipedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anton_Cermak5. (Slide 9) Chicago Public Library. http://www.chipublib.org/cplbooksmovies/cplarchive/mayors/kelly.php6. (Slide 10) Library of Congress. http://www.loc.gov/pictures/resource/cph.3c17121/7. (Slide 13) NNDB. http://www.nndb.com/people/493/000055328/8. (Slide 14) USA Today. http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/washington/2010-09-26-jfk-chicago-politics_N.htm9. (Slide 15) LA Times. http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/washington/2010/09/richard-m-daley-chicago-mayor.html

10. (Slide 16) LA Times. http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/washington/2008/10/obama-ayers.html11. (Slide 17) Biographical Directory of the United States. http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?

index=W00018012. (Slide 18) Wikipedia. http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f9/Obama_portrait_crop.jpg13. (Slide 19) The Guardian. http://www.theguardian.com/society/2009/apr/01/ethnic-diversity-uk-us-obama

Picture Credits

1. http://www.encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org/pages/774.html 2. United States. US Department of Commerce. US Census Bureau. Profile of General Population and

Housing Characteristics: 2010. N.p.: n.p., n.d. Web. 16 Sept. 2013.3. Steven P. Erie, Rainbow's End: Irish-Americans and the Dilemmas of Urban Machine Politics, 1840—1985

(1988).4. Hanes Walton, African American Power and Politics: The Political Context Variable (1997)5. http://www.encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org/pages/774.html6. http://chicagopolitics.wikidot.com/anton-cermak7. "Harold Washing." Biographical Directory. United States, n.d. Web. 18 Sept. 2013.8. Scott, Janny (May 18, 2008). "The story of Obama, written by Obama". The New York Times. p. A1.

Retrieved June 15, 2008.9. Grossman, Mark. Political corruption in America : an encyclopedia of scandals, power, and greed.

Millerton, NY: Grey House Publishing, 2008. Print.10. Bukowski, Douglas. Big Bill Thompson, Chicago, and the politics of image. Urbana: University of Illinois

Press, 1998. Print.

Citations