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

Cohen, Adam; Taylor, Elizabeth

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0316834033 ISBN 13: 9780316834032

Publisher: Little, Brown and Company, 2000

Synopsis

This is a biography of mayor Richard J. Daley. It is the story of his rise from the working-class Irish neighbourhood of his childhood to his role as one of the most important figures in 20th century American politics.

About this title

Review

You might say it took a village to raise this child. Richard Daley and Chicago are inseparable, and it's impossible to discuss one without at least mentioning the other. Consequently, American Pharaoh includes far more material than your average biography; this is as much the story of the city as it is of the man. Covering the years between 1902 and 1976 (that is, between Daley's birth and death), authors Adam Cohen and Elizabeth Taylor show us a life that in some ways symbolizes the American dream: a boy from a poor neighborhood grows up to wield unimaginable power, yet never forgets his roots. But Daley's was a complicated legacy. While filling Chicago with modern architecture and affecting national politics, he was also held responsible for the segregation and police brutality that tore the city apart during the late '60s and early '70s. Throughout the book, Cohen and Taylor remind readers that Daley's real influence came from the powerful political machine he created. When he didn't like guidelines from national agencies, for example, he went directly to the presidents he helped get elected. When he got bad local press, people lost their jobs and his neighbors marched in his support. When Martin Luther King Jr. came to town, he was greeted by a handpicked organization of African American leaders with strong ties to Daley's machine. It's startling to remember that this was simply a local office; the mayor's loyalties and prejudices affected the entire country. American Pharaoh shows politics at its deepest level, and each chapter brings new insights into a complex man and the system he created in order to rule the city that made him. --Jill Lightner

About the Author

Adam Cohen is a senior writer for the Nation section of Time, where he covers law and politics. He has also written for Chicago Magazine, Chicago Tribune and The Harvard Law Review. He lives in New York. Elizabeth Taylor was Correspondent with Time in New York and Chicago for more than a decade. She is now Literary Editor and Sunday Magazine Editor of the Chicago Tribune. She lives in Chicago.

About this edition

• Publisher: Little, Brown and Company
• Publication date: 2000
• ISBN 10: 0316834033
• ISBN 13: 9780316834032
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 624