Big Bill Thompson, Chicago, and the Politics of Image Review

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Big Bill Thompson, Chicago, and the Politics of Image ReviewBig Bill Thompson has been a political whipping boy ever since he failed to win re-election as Chicago mayor in the 1930s. Subsequent books on Thompson were written by supporters who wished to praise, detractors who wished to condemn or journalists who just wanted to tell a good story. But finally, after 70 years, an objective account has been written of Big Bill Thompson together with the intricate details of the prevailing political climate in Chicago before, during and after the Roaring Twenties.
Learn about the Big Bill Thomson who inherited his money from lucky parents who owned the one section of Chicago which did not burn in the Great Fire of 1871.
Learn about the Big Bill Thompson who was one of the most celebrated athletes in late 19th century Chicago.
Learn about the Big Bill Thompson who as a cowboy turned a profit on his ranch while Teddy Roosevelt was losing money on his.
Learn about a Mayor Thompson who championed an "America First" policy while exploiting class envy for his own political gain.
The reader is left with the impression that Big Bill Thompson invented the type of politics in use today. Rather than focus on Thompson himself, however, the book also explores the campaigns of his opposition, leaving the reader with a full understanding of what worked for Thompson and why it worked.
The scandal involving contributions from gangsters which effectively ended his career is given the space it deserves at the end of the book, but is not the focus of the book, as are most contemporary news stories. The reader is left with a well-rounded and objective account of one of the most successful mayors in Chicago history -- and how he got there.
And as the final coup de grace at the conclusion of the book, the reader will undoubtedly be shocked when they realize that Big Bill Thompson never committed half the indiscretions attributed to Big Bill Clinton.
All in all, it was an excellent and enlightening read. Thoroughly enjoyable.Big Bill Thompson, Chicago, and the Politics of Image Overview

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American Pharaoh: Mayor Richard J. Daley - His Battle for Chicago and the Nation Review

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American Pharaoh: Mayor Richard J. Daley - His Battle for Chicago and the Nation ReviewCohen and Taylor have written both a masterful piece of investigative journalism and a captivating political biography. In many ways, this book should be required reading for anyone doing college or graduate level research in the fields of American urban or domestic political science or history. Almost like Finley Peter Dunne's MISTER DOOLEY--which it often quotes--this volume takes you inside the Chicago Democratic machine and shows just how omnipotent the organization was during Daley's tenure at the helm, not without an occasional touch of humor and irony. As its subtitle promises, the book also places Daley and his machine in the context of national (and Illionis) politics, over which they had such enormous influence, especially during the late 1950s and all through the 1960s.
The authors paint a portrait of Daley that shows his enormous personal complexity--a devout Catholic and loyal family man who did not hesitate to engage in the most bare-fisted power politics or work to capitalize on the basest human instincts. While I tend to agree with other reviewers that the book focusses a bit heavily on racial matters during the Daley mayoralty, they played a major role during this period and Daley's attempt to balance the competing interests of white ethnics and black citizens ultimately undermined the absolute authority of the Chicago Democratic machine. I disagree with reviewers who say that the authors were too anti-Daley; I feel they made an honest effort to credit him for the considerable accomplishments of his tenure--including the preservation of Downtown Chicago as a going concern when so many other rust belt cities in the Midwest and Great Lakes area were going under (e.g., Detroit, St. Louis, Cleveland, Buffalo, and Pittsburgh). They make clear, however, the enormous price that was paid for his accomplishments, including the subversion of democracy and the exacerbation of racial tensions in Chicago.American Pharaoh: Mayor Richard J. Daley - His Battle for Chicago and the Nation Overview

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