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Chicago Lives
My Chicago
A twenty-six-year-old widow with no experience in practical politics, Jane Byrne was puzzled when Chicago's autocratic Mayor Richard Daley, Sr., brusquely asked her to stop by his office in early 1964. In the surprising scene that ensued, she gained unusual insight into one of the most powerful men in America and found herself suddenly launched on a new career, one that led in 1979 to her own dramatic election as Chicago's only woman mayor.
My Chicago is a warm and frank memoir filled with deftly drawn portraits of the famous and the obscure, the story of a remarkable woman's discovery of the realities of power. It is also the rich chronicle of her abiding love affair with the vigorous and complex city where her immigrant Irish ancestors had dared to start new lives before the Civil War.
Just as she charts the struggles of her forebears in parallel with the growth of Chicago, backlighting their personal tragedies with the city's own disasters of fire and racial conflict, Byrne also intertwines her personal aspirations for political justice and fairness with the developing political consciousness of the city's many different communities. Her career, she makes clear, is part and parcel of the history of Chicago and of her family's place in that history.
In her vivid telling, the challenges of the Chicago mayoralty take on meaning for all cities and towns, for all communities. Wryly, she shows how private ambition and ingrown corruption can breed strange political maneuvers; but she also demonstrates that hard work, direct talk, and earned trust can bring about change.
A natural storyteller, Byrne shares unforgettable glimpses of her political allies and her rivals, of President Carter and President Reagan, of cowed Mafiosi and stubborn bureaucrats. Above all, she convincingly brings to life the Byzantine machinations of Mayor Richard Daley, Sr., and his smoothly functioning, seemingly omnipotent political machine.
How Byrne defeats that monolith after Daley's death is the heart of the drama of My Chicago. How she accepts and analyzes her own defeat later makes possible her sobering but guardedly optimistic view of the future for political cooperation in America.
A mayor who never forgot that she was elected by the people living in neighborhoods like those of her immigrant ancestors, people who believed in the American dream, Jane Byrne has written a revealing autobiography and a hymn to the beautiful, brawling city she loves so well.
My Chicago is a warm and frank memoir filled with deftly drawn portraits of the famous and the obscure, the story of a remarkable woman's discovery of the realities of power. It is also the rich chronicle of her abiding love affair with the vigorous and complex city where her immigrant Irish ancestors had dared to start new lives before the Civil War.
Just as she charts the struggles of her forebears in parallel with the growth of Chicago, backlighting their personal tragedies with the city's own disasters of fire and racial conflict, Byrne also intertwines her personal aspirations for political justice and fairness with the developing political consciousness of the city's many different communities. Her career, she makes clear, is part and parcel of the history of Chicago and of her family's place in that history.
In her vivid telling, the challenges of the Chicago mayoralty take on meaning for all cities and towns, for all communities. Wryly, she shows how private ambition and ingrown corruption can breed strange political maneuvers; but she also demonstrates that hard work, direct talk, and earned trust can bring about change.
A natural storyteller, Byrne shares unforgettable glimpses of her political allies and her rivals, of President Carter and President Reagan, of cowed Mafiosi and stubborn bureaucrats. Above all, she convincingly brings to life the Byzantine machinations of Mayor Richard Daley, Sr., and his smoothly functioning, seemingly omnipotent political machine.
How Byrne defeats that monolith after Daley's death is the heart of the drama of My Chicago. How she accepts and analyzes her own defeat later makes possible her sobering but guardedly optimistic view of the future for political cooperation in America.
A mayor who never forgot that she was elected by the people living in neighborhoods like those of her immigrant ancestors, people who believed in the American dream, Jane Byrne has written a revealing autobiography and a hymn to the beautiful, brawling city she loves so well.
384 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1992
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
May 19, 2018
very comprehensive history of the city, going all the way back to the beginning. I remember hearing of Jane Byrne, me here in NJ, while she was in office, but enjoyed the complete story of her.
Interesting that politics never really changes at all, just the names & faces.
Interesting that politics never really changes at all, just the names & faces.
May 13, 2012
First, a few things: it took me forever to finish this book, but don't let that be a negative, and this is the first autobiography I've read from a political figure.
That being said, I loved it.
Jane Byrne was out of office by the time I was 2. The majority of the book is spent on Chicago history, from the early settler days to the consistent influx of immigrants. She clearly establishes her third-generation Chicagoan status, with second-person accounts of the Chicago Fire and the Great Depression. Her start in to politics is almost naive--it wasn't so much sought, as the path was established by her access to people and organizations that matter. This seems natural, especially when we consider how many of our politicians are "well-connected." Her lead up to the '68 Democratic National Convention is vivid and prophetic to what I see in Chicago for the NATO Summit approaching in one week. The fact that she orchestrated labor contracts for the police & firefighters amazes me, since labor contracts are all I have known as a city employee since 1998. Her statements on business, bureaucracy, crime, and education show that very little has changed since her first experiences in city government. Byrne is the only female mayor to have led Chicago in its history thus far.
I greatly enjoyed the insight her autobiography provided and would recommend it to anyone interested in Chicago politics, although if you want to cut into the heart of the matter, you probably want to read about Richard J. Daley, or Richard M. Daley, who served lengthier terms.
That being said, I loved it.
Jane Byrne was out of office by the time I was 2. The majority of the book is spent on Chicago history, from the early settler days to the consistent influx of immigrants. She clearly establishes her third-generation Chicagoan status, with second-person accounts of the Chicago Fire and the Great Depression. Her start in to politics is almost naive--it wasn't so much sought, as the path was established by her access to people and organizations that matter. This seems natural, especially when we consider how many of our politicians are "well-connected." Her lead up to the '68 Democratic National Convention is vivid and prophetic to what I see in Chicago for the NATO Summit approaching in one week. The fact that she orchestrated labor contracts for the police & firefighters amazes me, since labor contracts are all I have known as a city employee since 1998. Her statements on business, bureaucracy, crime, and education show that very little has changed since her first experiences in city government. Byrne is the only female mayor to have led Chicago in its history thus far.
I greatly enjoyed the insight her autobiography provided and would recommend it to anyone interested in Chicago politics, although if you want to cut into the heart of the matter, you probably want to read about Richard J. Daley, or Richard M. Daley, who served lengthier terms.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews