Lords of the Last Machine: The Story of Politics in Chicago

Chronicles a colorful story of big-city politics in a penetrating account of the Chicago machine, one of the most powerful political organizations in the world

The Grangers previously collaborated on Fighting Jane, a book about Jane Byrne, then mayor of Chicago where the authors live. Here they trace the history of machine politics in that city from its genesis to the present. They make the point that the goal of bosses such as Hinky Dink Kenna and Bathhouse John Coughlin at the turn of the century, and Roger Sullivan and Adolph Sabath from 1910 through the 1920s was not merely to skim a little graft from city contracts but to obtain big moneyand they got it. A creation of Irish immigrants, the machine was fine-tuned by Tony Cermak, a Bohemian, and was carried to its ultimate control by Richard Daley. But the changing expectations of blacks, the exodus of ethnics to the suburbs and the legal victories of reformers did the machine in. It was buried by Jane Byrne, who noted, "Television is the new precinct captain." Photos not seen by PW.
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.

This fast-paced book by the Grangersthey are co-authors of a book on Jane Byrne and he is a Chicago Tribune columnisttraces the Chicago political machine from its beginnings in the Gilded Age through its decline and fall under Jane Byrne and Harold Washington. The book is stuffed with all the heroes, villains, and characters who made the Machine what it is, and there is enough "easy-does-it" sociology and history to explain why Richard Daley was only the last in a long line of "Bosses." Though the lay reader will find it an exciting read and will glimpse the profound underlying forces that drove the great political machines, the more academic reader will find the Grangers' breathless story-telling a little off-putting. Still, it is a worthwhile overview. Henry Steck, Political Science Dept., SUNY at Cortland
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.