Semester Research Project - Spring, 2002

By

Theo Shierk

            Mayor Richard Daley was the mayor of Chicago from 1955 until his death in 1976.  During this time in American history the peaceful 50’s were replaced by the tumultuous 60’s and 70’s.  The war in Vietnam aboard and the war of civil rights at home fueled discontent of many Americans.  Every major American city had to react to issues of civil rights protests that turned into riots, and the flight of the middle class into suburbs that decimated many cities’ economies, land values and sent crime rates soaring.   Mayor Daley’s solutions to these problems were unique, but consistent with both his personality and the opinions of a vast number of Chicagoans.  Was Daley unnecessarily cruel, or did he just have the guts to do and say the simple truth?  Opinions are wide ranging, but many Chicagoans still look fondly upon Daley’s reign even today.  Mayor Daley forever shaped Chicago, and it gives us an opportunity to understand the growth of major American cities.  As Daley was quoted, as saying in 1968 at a press conference that “this is Chicago, this is America.”

            Richard Joseph Daley was born on May 15, 1902.  He was the only child of Michael Daley, a New York born butcher and Delia Gallagher Daley an immigrant from Ireland.  Daley’s father was a simple and quite man, doing his job expected of him and not expecting much attention.  Daley’s committed work effort was very much formed by his father’s influence.   Daley’s mother saw the potential for greatness in her son.  She always made sure he was dressed nicely, and as a professional Mayor Daley was regularly named Best Dressed Civic Employee of the Year.  Mrs. Daley was far more politically active; she even brought her young son to a suffragette rally.  Although Mrs. Daley had higher hopes of her son than politics, namely the priesthood, his mother’s fortitude was another characteristic Richard Daley brought with him. The neighborhood where Daley lived was called Bridgeport; this was one of the first Irish slums of Chicago.  It was built near the slaughterhouses, wear thousands of Daley’s neighbors labored in an uninterrupted assembly line of killing.

Pigs with chains around their hind legs were hooked to a spokeless wheel, which hoisted the squealing animals into the air and carried them by overhead rail across the length of the building, where a man covered in blood cut their throats by hand.  The blood that drained out was collected for use as fertilizer.  Then the hog, often still squirming with life, was dropped into a vat of boiling water.  (Cohen 15)

Daley’s neighbors were the workers Upton Sinclair talked about in his novel The Jungle.  The workers who fell prey to the chemicals used to pickle the meats, which caused “all the joints” of their fingers to “be eaten by acid, one by one.”  This was a violent world to be raised in, and Daley was robbed of illusions very early in life. 

            Bridgeport was 5 miles from downtown and surrounded by inhospitable neighbors: the Chicago River to the north, the stockyards to the south, Bubbly Creek to the west, and wide railroad tracks, then a black ghetto to the east.  The Bubbly Creek was where the slaughterhouses discarded the remains of the animals, creating sludge of filth, disease and it produced a terrible stench.  

            The two identifying factors of any Chicagoan of this day were their nationality, and the church they belonged to.  Daley came from the Nativity of Our Lord parish, those even of the same nationality and religion in Bridgeport would contend that since they were from a different parish they were from an entirely different neighborhood.  Bridgeport, relatively speaking was quite diverse, but every nationality stuck with there own kind.  The Poles lived on the northwest side of town west of Halsted Street.  The Lithuanians lived on the northwest side but were separated from the Poles by Morgan Street.  Germans and Bohemians lived on the north side of Bridgeport, which was non-Irish side of Halsted.  Even the Irish were in further separated into groups, the Dashed Irish lived in the north northwest of Bridgeport, the Canaryville Irish lived in the south of Bridgeport, and the little area around the church of the Nativity of Our Lord was where the Hamburg Irish lived. 

            Mayor Daley would forever identify with his parish the Nativity of Our Lord, and would stop for daily prayer, and Saturday evening confession even far into his adult life.  The parish life was the center of most social activity, in which the annual festival was an event not to be missed.  But the Hamburg Irish also had a number of secular institutions, the powerful 11th Ward offices were located in this area.  It was hinted that the real headquarters was across the street at Schaller’s Pump, a neighborhood saloon.  And the youth of the area had the Hamburg Athletic Club, which functioned as a baseball club, a mechanism of the political machine, and even a youth gang.  This club would be the start of Daley’s political life. 

            A block away, in Daley’s youth, would mean a world of difference, this ethnical division had a great impact on Daley.  With the separation of different races that Daley grew up in, we can begin to understand why in the future Daley, and so many other Chicagoans were so against racial integration.

            Even as Daley grew up, he began to understand Ireland’s long history of “misery, suffering, oppression, violence, exploitation, atrocity and genocide.”  The Irish were the lowest rungs on the economic ladder in America; signs of “No Irish Need Apply” commonly appeared in shop windows.  The Irish were laborers, taking only the jobs that no one else wanted like digging ditches, laying railroad track and carving out canals.  One Irishman expressed the hardship in the Northern Protest newspaper by saying:

How often do we see such paragraphs in the paper as an Irishman drowned -- an Irishman crushed by a beam -- an Irishman suffocated in a pit -- an Irishman blown to atoms by a steam engine -- ten, twenty Irishmen buried alive by the sinking of a bank -- and other like casualties and perils to which honest Pat is constantly exposed in the hard toils for his daily bread (Ralph 55-57)

In a city where wealthy Protestants controlled everything, the idea of a working-class Irish-Catholics was that they were simple people at best poor and destitute and at worst a brawling thieving of low-lives.   A major driving force for Daley became something so seemingly simple as to be regarded simply as a first-class citizen.  Knowing that this was one of the things civil rights protesters, and Martin Luther King Jr. himself, felt the city of Chicago denied its black citizens.  It is an interesting mix of the moral code Daley developed and the city of Chicago had held for generations.  

            The moral code that developed for Chicago was unique.  With characters like Al Capone, Mayor “Big Jim” Williams and the 1919 Chicago White Sox baseball team (which shocked the world by fixing the World Series) leading the way.  Since no one in power one really cared about the immigrants when they arrived, they were very much on their own.  So you do what you have to, many Irish worked the backbreaking labor to meagerly support their families.   Although often poor and uneducated these immigrant groups, such as the Irish, were very proud people.  The idea of a handout was deeply shameful, but the idea of an exchange or mutually helping out was not a grappling moral issue.  Often times the only thing that a destitute family could offer was their votes during an election, and possibly the help of younger members of the family.  The youth of the family could be involved with the local athletic club and assist the candidates from activities such as passing out fliers to physically attacking a political rival, and his supporters (without the candidate’s direct knowledge of course).  The idea of doing something out of the goodness of your heart was viewed as highly suspicious.  If one was honest and said that they were looking out for their own interests, and they would help support those who would return the favor in kind, you could trust each other a little better.  You show respect to those in power above you (and who had the potential to help you) “don’t make waves, and don’t back no losers” was a simple and truthful philosophy.   The regular Democrats creed ran something like:

(1) Be faithful to those above you in the hierarchy, and repay those who are faithful to you; (2) Back the whole machine slate, not individual candidates or programs; (3) Be respectful of elected officials and party leaders; (4) Never be ashamed of the party, and defend it proudly; (5) Don’t ask questions; (6) Stay on your own turf, and keep out of conflicts that don’t concern you; (7) Never be first, since innovation brings with it risk; and (8) Don’t get caught.  (Cohen 41)

Reformers were looked upon with disdain inside the democratic political machine.  The machine thought that these folks were interested in weakening the machine, and taking power for themselves.  Of course with any large-scale political machine there will be betrayals on a regular basis, but the common man could expect benefits from whoever was in power as long as they remained loyal to the machine.  The rewards that the machine offered the people were its lifeblood; they would include regular trash pickup and some cushy city jobs.  The general idea was if you were loyal to the machine, the machine would look out for you.  This idea was very appealing to the ethnically diverse, and often impoverished, neighborhoods of Chicago.

            Before I discuss too greatly Mayor Daley’s rise in the political arena, I would like to clear a few points about the political system in Chicago at this time.   Chicago was one of the last great cities to model the boss system.  To progress through the established hierarchy one had to be from a powerful ward, like Daley’s 11th Ward, which produced not only Daley but also the three prior mayors before him.  To gain more and more influence, you had to turn out the vote.   The machine’s general plan was if you didn’t produce, someone else might have better luck.  Also, most importantly, one had to be loyal at all times to the Democratic Party and the machine itself.  You voted “early and often”, and campaigned for whom ever was slated in any particular office.  Traits like charisma, innovation and intelligence, which can be considered positive characteristics for politics today, could end a promising career.  In Chicago politics the Chairman of the Cook County Democratic Party was the center of all power.  From there the power trickled down tothe positions of alderman, who over saw the precinct captains in there ward, and the precinct captains oversaw the day to day coordination of their brigade of workers mobilized for the election.  But the machine thrived on the jobs it could provide for its supporters.  After all, you can only expect the people to work for you if they are getting something in return.  Some elected offices were low in prestige but important in that it controlled numerous city jobs.  For instance, in addition to being the Chairman of the Cook County Democratic Party, and the Mayor of Chicago, Daley was also elected to the lowly position of county clerk.  This was one technique that Daley could use to reward his supporters, he could get well paying jobs for his backers that he as simply the mayor or chairman could not.

            Back to Mayor Daley’s rise through politics.  On July 27, 1919 a group of young black teenagers went swimming in the wrong part of Lake Michigan, and drifted too close to a “white” beach, and Eugene Williams was hit by a rock tossed by a white man standing on the shore.   Williams’ drowning caused the eruption of 5 days of bloody rioting.  White gangs roamed the Southside of Chicago, also known as the Black Belt, and attacked blacks indiscriminately, driving by and shooting into black crowds.  While black gangs wandered through black neighborhoods and would beat up the white merchants.  It took an act of God (a driving rainstorm) and the state militia to finally end the hostilities in which 23 blacks and 15 whites had died and 537 people were injured.  Daley was seventeen years old at this time; he was an active member of the Hamburg Athletic Club, which turned out to be a primary instigator of the violence.  And an estimated 41% of the violence of all the encounters occurred around Daley’s neighborhood, merely blocks from his home.  Joseph McDonough, who was Daley’s political mentor and the sponsor of the Hamburg Athletic Club, actively incited the white community at the time of the riots.  In all the sources I have read, it can be said that although Daley was never caught in the act or convicted of any involvement, he was most likely was involved in the bloodiest race riot of that time.  This violence that erupted, and Daley’s possible involvement convinced many civil rights activists that Mayor Daley had no interest in raising the blacks to equal status, and there wouldn’t be any timid attempts to try. 

McDonough, Daley’s mentor, had supported Mayor Cermak, and was in time rewarded with more prestigious jobs as time went by.  McDonough though was lazy and a compulsive gambler, but Daley used this as an opportunity to learn how city politics worked.  Daley did the work that McDonough didn’t want to, and Daley gained increasing influence and experience.   But disaster struck on February 13, 1933 when Mayor Cermak was murdered during a failed attempt on then President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s life.  Daley’s political carrier appeared to run aground.  McDonough’s best political connections passed away with Cermak, Daley appeared to have reached a dead end.  But McDonough unexpectedly passed away on April 24, 1934.  Even with the open positions to fill, all Daley could secure was deputy to the county treasurer.  But a golden opportunity appeared for Daley on October 19, 1936, a Republican State representative died 15 days before elections.  But the Republican was running unopposed and Daley led a massive campaign with help from the powerful 11th Ward Committeeman “Babe” Connelly and the Hamburg Athletic Club to be written in as state representative.  He was successful and was elected to his first office as a Republican.  His next election in 1946 for county sheriff was a bitter contest.  Although Daley ran a solid campaign, Truman had worn out his welcome and the Democratic Party and Daley failed to win many elections. In the long run, the office of county sheriff is notoriously corrupt and it was probably best for Daley that he had not won that position.  But Daley was on the move again and on October 24, 1947 Daley had ousted his long time supporter Connelly and Daley became the new 11th Ward committeeman.  By 1952 Daley was vice-chairman of Cook County and looking to be president.  Daley was competing with Judge McDermott for the position.   But another well timed death for Daley, this time of McDermott's main supporter the powerful Judge Clarence Wagner.  This destroyed McDermott's support and Daley won easily.  Daley then had himself “drafted” in 1954 for the office of mayor of Chicago.  He had a tough fight in his own party, running against an old friend named Adamowski and the then current mayor Kennelly.  With some vote tinkering Daley won the primary by a little over 100,000 votes.  And Daley defeated his Republican opponent on April 5, 1955 decisively, though not a landslide.  Daley carried this election in large part because of his support from the black community.  Daley captured about 90 percent of the black vote, without which he wouldn’t have held the election.

            Mayor Richard Daley knew that action would keep his constituents happy.   “Dick the Builder”, as Daley was referred to, instituted a massive building campaign, notably turning O’Hare Airport from a small airport used mostly by the Air Force to one of the largest commercial airports in the world.  Daley was also developing the waterfront; the numerous building activities included upscale high-rises and a convention center.  Daley planned to redevelop the downtown area and thought this would trickle down to the surrounding areas.   The high-rises would serve as housing to the middle and upper classes, thus a very unique solution to keep complete decline from enveloping Chicago’s downtown, as it had to other cities when the middle classes would move out to the suburbs.  Daley was able to get the needed tax money by convincing the Republican chairman of the Illinois senate to grant the tax increases.  Daley got his increased tax revenues and the Republican chairman had little competition from the democratic patsy Daley chose in the next election. 

With the increased building some of Daley’s harshest critics became his most ardent supporters.  The Republicans began to back off in the mayoral elections, and even pushed for Daley.  The Republicans were often the most affluent and richest people in Chicago at that time.  They also owned the most of the contracting companies, and Daley knew that nothing swings a vote more than government contracts and incentives.

 Although Chicago was addressing some major issues such as the “flight to suburbia” several problems were left alone and spread like a cancer.  With all of the building programs instituted poor neighborhoods, namely black poor neighborhoods fell through harsh decline, and although not dominated politically as harshly as his predecessors, Daley showed little interest in revitalizing black areas, and increasing hostility towards racially integrated neighborhoods.  Chicago was accused of being one of the most racially divided cities in the world, and few in mainstream Chicago politics saw this as a problem.

            Adamowski, a former friend of Richard Daley’s became a thorn in the machine’s side, when he won the politically important election for city’s district attorney. Adamowski despised the machine, and felt slighted about Daley’s success and he became a man inspired to over run Daley’s regime.  With Adamowski at the helm he discovered one of the largest cases of police corruption in the United States at that time. Although, police corruption would not surprise even the most naïve Chicagoan, the degree at which this occurred as shocking.  Adamowski and his team uncovered bribes excepted by police officers for traffic violations, entire departments at city hall that do nothing but “fix” traffic tickets, and what was the most shocking of all, cases of on duty policeman burglarizing Chicago businesses and up scale homes.  The police of Chicago had always been corrupt, excepting bribes from houses of prostitution, members of the Mafia, bars and pubs, just to name a few.  But the extent of the extortion, and the idea of police officers robbingan area business, in uniform and carrying off the stolen merchandise in their squad car, while they were on duty, was unbelievable.  Even Mayor Daley was so shocked he did not quite know what to do.  Mayor Daley eventually went with his tried and true method of claiming innocence through ignorance, despite his awareness, firing those who were caught, and their superiors.  This was a case in Chicago politics if you get caught you are on your own. 

            One of the most interesting turn of events throughout the political climate in Chicago was balancing the race issue.  Many blacks, and black civil rights groups, such as Chicago Freedom Movement, began to demand certain things such as open housing rights, in both public and private housing, and an integrated school system.  Martin Luther King, Jr. was often combating with Mayor Daley personally.  Also, at the other end of the scale many white voters powerful districts became increasingly disgruntled, and even violent about the idea of blacks penetrating their neighborhoods.  A difficult balancing act to be sure, but in the 1967 election Daley won decisively in white non-reform districts, and powerful black districts.  The white non-reformists in 1963 thought Daley was too soft, and forced at least one alderman, James Murry of the 24^th Ward, to retire from politics for being considered too much of a “nigger lover.”  But by 1967 election Daley was viewed to be experienced in these areas, and to have their interests truly at heart.  The black districts voted for Daley because the machine offered more immediate solutions to their everyday problems.  The right to be able to live in a previously all white neighborhood, or having their children bused to a previously all white schools was not as important to them as help with getting welfare, public housing, and most especially patronage jobs.  In fact Daley beat his previous all time victory in (the much calmer) 1959 election of 778,612 votes to 792,238 votes in 1967. 

            Mayor Daley would lead the city of Chicago through some difficult times during our nations’ history.  Through the use of the political machine citizens, namely white middle class citizens enjoyed the wonder, and relative safety that the strong-arm mayor could provide.  The upper classes often benefited from the government contracts and patronage positions that could be obtained.  Both groups could understand the benefits of the political corruption.   For instance paying the cop a bribe saved you a trip downtown, and a stiffer fine.  It made the city move faster, shortcuts through the maddening bureaucracy, if you had the connections.  It also put the power in the hands of one man, the power to build and destroy both men and buildings.  Unfortunately, without any effective means of checks and balances, the negative consequences of Mayor Daley’s decisions had no buffer.  The worst legacy Daley left Chicago with was a racially divided community.  In which the poor blacks struggled to be first-class citizens, as Daley once did.  The poor got poorer, the educational system increasingly declined in the poor areas, the housing that blacks could purchase was often inadequate and unsafe.  Chicago does not do anything half way; it is all or nothing.  When Chicago makes a mistake, it is a full-blown disaster, and when the city succeeds it is hailed for its innovation and ingenuity. A study of Chicago is often parallel to a study of America.  The simple charm of Chicago, the mentality of Mayor Daley can often be seen in America through the twenty century.  Productive, motivated and innovative at its best, while it can be violent, racist and ignorant at its worst.  

                  Works Cited

Biles, Richard.  Richard J. Daley.  DeKalb, IL: Northern Illinois University Press, 1995.

Cohen, Adam and Elizabeth Taylor.  American Pharaoh.  Boston.  Little, Brown and Company, 2000.

 Ciccone, Richard F.  Daley, Power and Presidential Politics.  Chicago: The Chicago Tribune Company, 1996.

 Green, Paul M., and Melvin G. Holli.  The Mayors: The Chicago Political Tradition.  Carbondale and  

              Edwardsville, IL:  Southern Illinois University Press, 1987.

Holli, Melvin G. and Paul M. Green.  Bashing Chicago Traditions: Harold Washington’s Last Campaign:

             Chicago, 1987.  Grand Rapids, MI:   William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1989.