Pendergast! (Missouri Biography Series)

by Lawrence H. Larsen, Nancy J. Hulston

More than a half-century after the death of Kansas City's notorious political boss, Thomas J. Pendergast, the Pendergast name still evokes great interest and even controversy. Now, in this first full-scale biography of Pendergast, Lawrence H. Larsen and Nancy J. Hulston have successfully provided—through extensive research, including use of recently released prison records and previously unavailable family records—a clear look at the life of Thomas J. Pendergast.

Born in St. Joseph, Missouri, in 1872, Tom Pendergast moved to Kansas City around 1890 to work for his brother James, founder of the Pendergast "Goat" faction in Kansas City Democratic politics. In 1911, Pendergast became head of the Goats, and over the next fifteen years he created a powerful political machine that used illegal voting and criminal enforcers to gain power. Following a change in the city charter in 1925, Pendergast took control of Kansas City and ran it as his own personal business. In the 1930s, he received over $30 million annually from gambling, prostitution, and narcotics, putting him in the big leagues of American civic corruption. He also wielded great power in the National Democratic Party and started Harry S. Truman on the road to the presidency.

In this well-balanced biography, the authors examine Pendergast's rise to power, his successes as a political leader, his compassion for the destitute, and his reputation for keeping his word. They also examine Pendergast's character development and how his methods became more and more ruthless. Pendergast had no use for ideology in his "invisible government"—only votes counted.

In 1937 and 1938 the federal government broke the back of Pendergast's machine, convicting 259 of his campaign aides for vote fraud. In 1939 Pendergast, who was believed to be the largest bettor on horse racing in the United States, was jailed for income tax evasion, and he died in disgrace in 1945.

An insightful and comprehensive biography, Pendergast! will surely serve for years to come as the most thorough investigation of the life and infamous career of Tom Pendergast.

Genres: History, Biography, Nonfiction

256 pages, Paperback

First published December 1, 1997

Reviews

[HillbillyMystic · Rating 4 out of 5]

As far as I can tell there are only four types of men that hail from St. Joseph, Missouri. We are either criminals, crazy, crank addicts, or Christians and sometimes we float betwixt them all. So I should not have been surprised to learn that the entire Pendergast clan came from little old St. Joe, MO. Pendergast was a true, original gangster who ran everything in Kansas City from the water department and police up to electing a few Presidents with his fabricated ballots and political savvy. My only complaint about this piece is that it was a little sophomoric for my tastes. I think the way we write and teach history in America is boring in comparison to reality which has always been completely insane, gory, rich, vivid and completely X-rated. For instance I found it fascinating that Kansas City led the country in vice, drugs and venereal disease throughout much of Tom Pendergast's reign.

[Michael Lunsford · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good and informative on the topic. A little quirky, though. The story line is tough to follow because, although the author keeps the chapters in roughly chronological order, thoughts were frequently disrupted by explanations of when certain facts came to light (often decades later). I would have preferred sources to be relegated to the bibliography.

Further complicating things were injections of people or things from a different time space. I feel that such information would have been more appropriately placed in the chapter dealing with that time.

Overall, though, the book had good coverage of the Kansas City, Missouri, political machine from the dawn of the twentieth century through it's decline and fall around 1940.

[Erin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is only 190 pages but took me ages to read. It’s fascinating and well researched with numerous footnotes. I learned a lot about Kansas City and the organization of the book made sense to understand the players and what happened. It’s also easy to see how we ended up here. I had never heard of Pendergast before and this was a good read.

[Mossy Kennedy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am fascinated with Tom Pendergast and his story. This book provided me with sound information that leads me to want even more to fill in Pendergast's remarkably complex life.

[Jim Jones · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was writing a novel set in 1880's Kansas City and found this book invaluable in my research on the Pendergast family.

[Kevin Schafer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this book as I recently went to KC.

Good mircohistory of a man who has shaped an American city more than any other. Enjoyed and learned a lot.

[Kenzie · Rating 1 out of 5]

snooze fest! 🥱🥱

[Don Heiman · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Pentergast!", written by Larsen and Hulston in 1997, presents the history of Kansas City Missouri boss politics in the 1920's and 30's. The book is well researched and is an important read for students of local politics and corrupting influence. Larsen and Hulston focus on the personality and tactics of Tom Pendergast and less on community developers such as JC Nichols or the Kemper banking family. I wished the book presented more history on the role police and media leadership played during the time of Tom's reign.

[Bryan Whitehead · Rating 4 out of 5]

I tend not to expect too much from books with exclamation points in their titles, but this one was a pleasant surprise. Well-researched, this biography of Tom Pendergast, the notorious political boss of Kansas City in the first half of the 20th century, only occasionally lapses into trivia, gossip and/or speculation. I consider myself a KC native, so I took particular interest in the Pendergast connections to some familiar landmarks from my childhood. Worth reading if you have an interest in the subject.

[Harley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pendergast was the man behind Harry Truman.

[Brenda · Rating 2 out of 5]

Reads much like a textbook but not so interesting. Author really does not do more than scratch the surface of the story which could be told.