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The Mayors: The Chicago Political Tradition
The Mayors: The Chicago Political Tradition taps America’s most qualified observers to scrupulously assess the city’s mayors within the vigorous and tumultuous history of Chicago government. This revised and updated edition features extensive commentary on the enduring mayoral influence of Richard M. Daley.
“In the seventeen years since The Mayors was first published,” editors Paul M. Green and Melvin G. Holli write in the Preface to this edition, “Chicago politics has become more genteel, more docile, and more predictable. This dampening of the city’s once red-hot political coals is due to domination by one man: Mayor Richard M. Daley.” Also providing a political roadmap through the complex and fascinating labyrinth of Chicago politics are essays on other recent mayors: Richard J. Daley, Michael A. Bilandic, Jane M. Byrne, and Harold Washington.
Green and Holli’s popular study maintains that the key to the mayor’s office is power: the power to reward and the power to punish that comes with occupying the fifth floor of city hall in Chicago. Beginning with Joseph Medill, the Tribune publisher who guided the city in its rise from the ashes after the Great Fire of 1871, The Mayors takes readers through the terms of some of the city’s most colorful leaders: from the progressive Carter Harrison II and the radical Edward F. Dunne to the politically reticent Fred A. Busse and the loudmouth Big Bill Thompson. The essays collectively tell a riveting story of structures wherein aggressive power brokers surmount even massive corruption and scandal, and those who fail to seize the office’s inherent authority have short, uncomfortable tenures.
In addition to Green and Holli, contributors include David L. Protess, Edward R. Kantowicz, John D. Buenker, Maureen A. Flanagan, Douglas Bukowski, John R. Schmidt, Roger Biles, Arnold R. Hirsch, William J. Grimshaw, Monroe Anderson, Steve Neal, Steve Rhodes, and Laura S. Washington.
“In the seventeen years since The Mayors was first published,” editors Paul M. Green and Melvin G. Holli write in the Preface to this edition, “Chicago politics has become more genteel, more docile, and more predictable. This dampening of the city’s once red-hot political coals is due to domination by one man: Mayor Richard M. Daley.” Also providing a political roadmap through the complex and fascinating labyrinth of Chicago politics are essays on other recent mayors: Richard J. Daley, Michael A. Bilandic, Jane M. Byrne, and Harold Washington.
Green and Holli’s popular study maintains that the key to the mayor’s office is power: the power to reward and the power to punish that comes with occupying the fifth floor of city hall in Chicago. Beginning with Joseph Medill, the Tribune publisher who guided the city in its rise from the ashes after the Great Fire of 1871, The Mayors takes readers through the terms of some of the city’s most colorful leaders: from the progressive Carter Harrison II and the radical Edward F. Dunne to the politically reticent Fred A. Busse and the loudmouth Big Bill Thompson. The essays collectively tell a riveting story of structures wherein aggressive power brokers surmount even massive corruption and scandal, and those who fail to seize the office’s inherent authority have short, uncomfortable tenures.
In addition to Green and Holli, contributors include David L. Protess, Edward R. Kantowicz, John D. Buenker, Maureen A. Flanagan, Douglas Bukowski, John R. Schmidt, Roger Biles, Arnold R. Hirsch, William J. Grimshaw, Monroe Anderson, Steve Neal, Steve Rhodes, and Laura S. Washington.
- GenresHistory
376 pages, Paperback
First published April 1, 1987
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About the author
Paul M. Green
11 books5 followersPaul Michael Green was an educator, author, researcher, and media pundit.
Librarian’s note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
Librarian’s note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
December 27, 2008
The Mayors is recommended reading for anyone interested in Chicago history and/or politics. I strongly commend editors Paul Green and Melvin Holli for assembling this volume. The book’s value lies partly in its concept and structure. The Mayors is composed of 18 chapters. Of these chapters, 15 are essays on a single Chicago mayor (including every 20th century mayor). The remaining three chapters explore the Chicago mayoral position more generally. This reader appreciates the effort in The Mayors to capture a large amount of material in a single volume. An examination of the book’s notes and references suggests that there is a large amount of existing material out there on Chicago mayors. But, a typical lay reader has neither the time nor inclination to seek out this information.
The book also provides a source of comparison to contemporary Chicago politics. We learn about the origins of the oft-cited Chicago “political machine” under Anton Cermak, the tactics that enabled Richard J. Daley to maintain power for 21 years (encapsulated in the Daley quote “good government is good politics”) ,the decline of the Republican Party in Chicago (seemingly stemming from Mayor Edward J. Kelly’s complicity with the graft of Democratic aldermen, connections to FDR, and ability to sway Black voters), the constant tension between government reform and government graft (often within the same administration), and the political turbulence of the interregnum period between Richard J. and Richard M. Interesting stuff.
If there is a critique of The Mayors, it is the latitude the editors provided to contributors. The scope and content of chapters vary widely, perhaps resulting in important content omissions. Some chapters are conventional chronologies: the mayor’s early history, ascension, election victory, administration, and downfall. In other selections, authors relied on different approaches. For example, the chapter on Harold Washington focuses heavily on the history of Black politics in Chicago. The chapter on Eugene Sawyer focuses on the turbulent weeks following the death of Washington, resulting in Sawyer’s appointment as acting mayor.
The book also provides a source of comparison to contemporary Chicago politics. We learn about the origins of the oft-cited Chicago “political machine” under Anton Cermak, the tactics that enabled Richard J. Daley to maintain power for 21 years (encapsulated in the Daley quote “good government is good politics”) ,the decline of the Republican Party in Chicago (seemingly stemming from Mayor Edward J. Kelly’s complicity with the graft of Democratic aldermen, connections to FDR, and ability to sway Black voters), the constant tension between government reform and government graft (often within the same administration), and the political turbulence of the interregnum period between Richard J. and Richard M. Interesting stuff.
If there is a critique of The Mayors, it is the latitude the editors provided to contributors. The scope and content of chapters vary widely, perhaps resulting in important content omissions. Some chapters are conventional chronologies: the mayor’s early history, ascension, election victory, administration, and downfall. In other selections, authors relied on different approaches. For example, the chapter on Harold Washington focuses heavily on the history of Black politics in Chicago. The chapter on Eugene Sawyer focuses on the turbulent weeks following the death of Washington, resulting in Sawyer’s appointment as acting mayor.
September 4, 2012
The definitive book on the Chicago mayors through history.
April 20, 2016
I love Chicago
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews