This is an old revision of this page, as edited by HughD (talk | contribs) at 23:45, 26 August 2015 (Undid revision 678014950 by 184.6.1.89 (talk) please discuss revisions to the lede at talk). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.
Revision as of 23:45, 26 August 2015 by HughD (talk | contribs) (Undid revision 678014950 by 184.6.1.89 (talk) please discuss revisions to the lede at talk)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)Chicago-style politics was a political meme used in the rhetoric of conservative United States Republican politicians and commentators during the presidential campaigns and presidency of Barack Obama to associate Obama with aspects of political corruption, including bribery, patronage, nepotism, and authoritarianism, in the political history of Chicago, Obama's home town.
Background
During the 1880s and 1890s, Chicago had an underground radical tradition with large and highly organized socialist, anarchist and labor organizations. The Republicans had their own machine operations, typified by the "blonde boss" William Lorimer, who was unseated by the U.S. Senate in 1912 because of his corrupt election methods.The political environment in Chicago in the 1910s and 1920s let organized crime flourish to the point that many Chicago policemen earned more money from pay-offs than from the city. Before the 1930s, the Democratic Party in Chicago was divided along ethnic lines - the Irish, Polish, Italian, and other groups each controlled politics in their neighborhoods Under the leadership of Anton Cermak, the party consolidated its ethnic bases into one large organization. With the organization behind, Cermak was able to win election as mayor of Chicago in 1931, an office he held until his assassination in 1933. The modern era of politics was dominated by machine politics in many ways, and the Cook County Democratic Party became was honed by Richard J. Daley after his election in 1955. Richard M. Daley, his son, is a former mayor of Chicago and had served for 21 years as mayor and 38 as a public servant. Daley announced on September 7, 2010 that he would not be seeking re-election. Daley was succeeded by former Obama White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel.
A point of interest is the party leanings of the city. For much of the last century, Chicago has been considered one of the largest Democratic strongholds in the United States. For example, the citizens of Chicago have not elected a Republican mayor since 1927, when William Thompson was voted into office. Brian Doherty was the only Republican council member in recent decades.
Home-town columnist Mike Royko wrote satirically that Chicago's motto (Urbs in Horto or "City in a Garden") should instead be Ubi est mea, or "Where's Mine?
See also
- Political history of Chicago
- United States presidential election, 2008
- Chicago City Council
- Cook County Democratic Party
- Rod Blagojevich corruption charges
- Chicago mayoral election, 2011
References
- Schneirov, Richard (April 1, 1998). Labor and Urban Politics. University of Illinois Press. pp. 173–174. ISBN 0-252-06676-6.
- Joel Arthur Tarr, A Study In Boss Politics: William Lorimer of Chicago (1971)
- Sun times article covering Daley Jr. withdrawal from 2011.
- The Radical Royko The Chicago Reader