Campaign!: The Election that Rocked Chicago

by Peter Nolan

SPECIAL EDITION CELEBRATING THE ONE HUNDREDTH BIRTHDAY OF MAYOR HAROLD WASHINGTON
Cover photography by Marc PoKempner

Part of The Special Collections and Preservation Division at the Harold Washington Library Center, Chicago Public Library

Mike Leonard, NBC News correspondent: “This is storytelling at its best. With insight, compassion and humor Peter Nolan turns a semi-forgotten big city mayoral battle into a riveting and timeless tale of human behavior…the good and the bad.”

From the Foreword by F. Richard Ciccone, Author of Daley: Power and Presidential Politics and Mike Royko: A Life in Print; former Managing Editor of the Chicago Tribune: “In Campaign!, veteran newsman Peter Nolan, who covered all the players in the 1983 contest, has written a first-hand account of not only the key participants, the candidates and their top supporters, but also of relatively unknown election workers who invested their time and passions in a way not seen since in Chicago politics. Nolan does not shy from inserting himself into the story where it warrants. His tale of being recruited by Epton as potential City Hall press secretary is only one of the anecdotes that reflects on how unusual the campaign seemed…This is a book that every Chicago politician ought to keep under his pillow…There is never enough history, and this is a nice slice of it.”

225 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 5, 2012

About the author

Peter Nolan arrived in Chicago near the end of the turbulent 1960s. He worked in television news as a writer, reporter and commentator and won three Emmys and several journalism awards.

He lives in the Chicago suburb of Glenview and has six children and fifteen grandchildren. Campaign!: The 1983 Election That Rocked Chicago (Amika Press) is his first book.

Reviews

[Pat Camalliere · Rating 5 out of 5]

Enjoyable presentation of the 1983 election in Chicago that displaced Jane Byrne and elected Harold Washington. It is unbiased and fair, imbued with personal reflections, and written by a newsman who had direct contact with the major as well as minor players. It belongs on the shelf of every person interested in this period of Chicago history.

[Nancy Mcclenathan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This nonfiction book about the mayor’s race in Chicago in 1983 was informative and interesting. Written by a journalist this book talks about the heated race between Harold Washington and Bernie Elton. Enough background enough is given to help the reader understand the political atmosphere in Chicago historically.

Thank you Goodreads giveaway for a free digital book. It is a well written book about politics in Chicago, a worthy read for anyone.

[Peter · Rating 3 out of 5]

Decent basic account of Chicago’s groundbreaking 1983 mayoral election, written by a journalist who covered it firsthand. But although the material is interesting, the book really needed an editor. It comes across as merely reportorial or anecdotal, instead of a concise, compelling story. Too many biographical sketches of minor, inconsequential characters.

[Dana · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very interesting book for fans of politics and history, with “behind the scenes” insights into the particularly tumultuous Chicago mayoral election of 1983.

[Edward Dwyer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Coincidentally I finished this book last night and today I got an email reminder to write a review of which I almost forgot about. Anyway, being a Chicago native and having a small fascination with this election (from what I can remember since I was ?11?) mainly because of Harold, I think this book was a great primer to that period of time in Chicago politics.