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Editorial Review Product Description
Now in paperback comes the story of Richard J. Daley, the last of the big city bosses, the patriarch of a political dynasty, and a major national figure in American urban politics. of photos.Amazon.com 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 ... Read more Customer Reviews (40) 
A Disappointing Biography of an Important Man
There is no doubt that a comprehensive biography of Richard J. Daley and the decades-long effects of his policies is a necessary addition to American history. Unfortunately, "American Pharaoh" is not it. It is apparent throughout the book that the authors are most interested in Daley's relationship with the African-American community in Chicago. The sections that described this relationship are far and away the best portions of the book; this topic should have been the focus of the entire book. Instead, the authors attempt to squeeze Daley's entire career into this volume--and they seem unprepared for this endeavor. Their research is thin, mostly comprising newspaper articles, old Daley biographies, and a handful of interviews. The authors apparently did not have access to many of the people who worked intimately with Daley throughout the years, and the book suffers immensely because of this. Without inside access, countless questions go unanswered. The reader gets a a lot of "what" happened and very little "how" it happened; that is, the authors rarely illuminate the complex decision-making behind the mayor's decisions. It is hard to appreciate "American Pharaoh" after reading the political biographies by Robert Caro, whichpainstakingly detail the step-by-step choices and infighting that produces policy.
"American Pharaoh" presents us with a surface view of Daley. Aside from the sections on Daley's interactions with Martin Luther King, Jr. and other African-American community leaders, this book is soft-focused and largely disappointing. A closer look at Daley is still necessary.
Everything you need to know about Chicago politics in one book
Cohen and Taylor have written an incredibly revealing biography of the man behind the power in Chicago politics.Anyone who wants to understand why this city does things the way it does should read this book.
Excellent, never dull, but the book focuses on a very narrow range of topics.
AMERICAN PHARAOH by Cohen and Taylor contains 614 pages and 16 pages of black and white (not glossy) photographs. The book focuses on Mr. Daley's technique of ensuring cooperation through the use of patronage jobs, and on Daley's methods for keeping black people segregated in black-only housing projects. Hundreds and hundreds of pages are devoted to race relations. However, topics relating to business development are given short shrift. Daley's methods for converting Chicago from its dilapidated state in the 1950s to the gleaming showpiece that it became in the 1970s receive only a few pages of writing. In this regard, AMERICAN PHARAOH is a strangely lopsided book.
PATRONAGE JOBS. Patronage jobs are distinguished from civil service jobs. Patronage jobs are awarded by ward bosses, while civil service jobs are not. The mayor preceding Daley (Martin Kennelly) was anti-patronage and had a war on patronage. He had insisted on using civil service exams in the hiring methods. Patronage workers are government workers who knew their jobs were at stake, unless they contributed time and money to election campaigns. (pages 92, 116, 121, 122). Chicago had 50 wards. Each ward was allotted a number of patronage jobs. For example, Daley's political base, the 11th ward, had 2,000 patronage jobs (p. 156). For any given branch of city government, from 50-75% might be patronage jobs. Each job applicant needed to document his precinct work, in applying for the job. For Daley's benefit, each patronage job was equivalent to getting ten free votes (p. 159).
PASSIVE HYPOCRACY. When faced with issues of segregation in schools or public housing, or violence in public housing, Daley responded with "vague expressions of sympathy," that is, with "passive hypocracy." Daley's passive hypocracy is described on pages 134, 172, 322, 340, 403, 410, 431, and 465.
WHY BLACKS VOTED FOR DALEY. Although Daley was against open housing and school integration, blacks voted for him because he handed out patronage jobs (p. 301-302, 339). What also helped Daley is that blacks accepted school segregation, as they didn't want their kids in hostile white schools (p. 437). Also, blacks (e.g., Kenneth Campbell) worked against school boycotts, while other blacks (e.g., Wendell Green) were apologists for the racist superintendent of public schools (Benjamin Willis) (p. 313-314).
DALEY BUILT BARRIERS TO KEEP SLUMS FROM EXPANDING. Daley used Ryan Expressway (7 lanes in each direction) to separate the white south side from the black belt (p. 188-189, 229). Daley razed 100 acres of slums in between the black belt and the Loop, and in its place built middle class apartments, with rents that would keep poor blacks away (Lake Meadows; Prairie Shores) (p. 176-177). These new apartments were built near important employers (Ill. Inst. Technology, Reese Hospital). In planning the Univ. Illinois at Chicago, Daley made certain that it was built in the Harrison-Halsted neighborhood, just west of the Loop. The goal was for the campus to act as a barrier between black housing to the west (Addams House) and the Loop. In ten years, Harrison-Halsted neighborhood became a white neighborhood (p. 224-233). Slums in Hyde Park (near Univ. Illinois) were razed and replaced with middle class private apartments (University Apartments). Once occupied, the average income in the area increased 70%. University Apts stood as a barrier between the University and the ghettos to the north.
BLACK VS. WHITE HOUSING PROJECTS. To ensure the desired location of new black housing projects, Daley selected his own executive (Alvin Rose) for the Chicago Housing Authority (CHA). In other words, to ensure that new housing projects would be black-only, Daley had them built only in black neighborhoods (p. 201). Massive housing projects were built in 1966. These were black-only (Hilliard, Ickes, Dearborn, Stateway, and Taylor) and white-only (Trumbull Park, Lathrop, Lawndale Gardens). The CHA kept separate waiting lists for the black projects and white projects (p. 331-334). The black housing projects were considered to be "filing cabinets for the poor" and were populated by a disproportionate number of single mothers (p. 183-188).
FUND-RAISING TECHNIQUES. To ensure that people would vote for his bond initiatives, Daley made certain to have them decided in low-turnout elections, that is, April elections, where he could count on votes from his patronage employees (p. 289). To ensure an increased sales tax, Daley side-stepped the voters in city elections, and made use of a loophole that allowed state legislature instead to vote for approval of the city tax. This resulted in more funds for an exposition center, airport, highways, and mass transit (p. 166).
DALEY'S ACCOMPLISHMENTS. In the years before Daley, Chicago was in the state of decline, with losses in manufacturing jobs. Sales in the Loop were plummeting (p. 164). Daley managed to get funding to improve city clinics, street lights, potholes, street sweeping, water fluoridation, paving roads (p. 167-169). Daley's contribution to O'Hare Airport was to convince the airlines to absorb the cost of operating and expanding the airport. O'Hare was the world's only self-supporting airport (taxes were not used) (p. 233-237). The Loop revival (1955 to 1970) included Prudential Building, Sears Tower, Equitable Building, Gateway Center, One and Two Illinois Center, Dirksen federal court, Kluczynski Building, Marina City (p. 292-293, 504-505). To ensure success in the Loop revival, Daley hired talented "whiz kids," not patronage workers (p. 373-377). McCormick Place is another Daley accomplishment (p. 293, 433, 510).
ELIZABETH WOOD. The Chicago Housing Authority (CHA) was established in 1937, and the mayor at the time (Kelly) appointed Elizabeth Wood. Wood's philosophy was "managed integration" where blacks would be moved into a white project, but not in numbers(10-15%) enough to inspire whites to move away, and to make sure that when a white moved out he was replaced with another white. Wood tried to convince CHA to admit blacks to all-white projects. Also, her plan was to admit only higher quality blacks to housing projects (and to refuse the criminal element). Wood refused to hire patronage workers. Eventually, Wood was forced out, and she moved to New York City. Of course, all of Wood's innovations were eliminated, resulting in a return to strictly all black and all white housing projects (p. 70, 101-109).
FRANCIS KEPPEL. Francis Keppel was U.S. commissioner for education. His job was to ensure compliance with Civil Rights Act of 1964, which required integration standards be met in order to receive federal money for schools. If Chicago failed to meet the integration standards, Chicago would lose $32 million. At this time, controversy surrounded these schools: Fenger (white only), Altgelt (black only), Orr (white only), and Marshall (black only). On Oct. 1, 1965, Keppel declared Chicago schools to be in non-compliance with Civil Rights Act. But Daley fought back by insisting on an investigation of Keppel, and by consulting President Johnson (LBJ). LBJ caved in to Daley's request because LBJ wanted Daley's support in the upcoming 1968 election. Keppel was then removed from his position as watchdog for the Civil Rights Act, and Daley got the federal money (p. 335-336, 350-353).
CONCLUSION. As is evident, most of the book is about race relations. If you need details of Daley's accomplishments relating to business, economic development, highways, transportation, manufacturing, and such, one might want to consult another source. For those interested in proceeding to a more detailed book, I might recommend CHICAGO POLITICS -- WARD BY WARD by David K. Fremon.
A careful look at one of America's last big city bosses
I found this book to be an interesting read into the mayoralty of Richard Daley. To be sure, Daley ruled Chicago as if it were his own personal fiefdom, employing ruthlessness and corruption on more than a few occasions. In reading this biography, I found that despite his flagrant corruption, Daley did maintain Chicago as an economically viable city at a time when other major Midwestern cities (i.e., Detroit and St. Louis) were crumbling and burning, and suffering from the mass exodous of the middle class. Daley was quite successful in making sure that Chicago did not suffer a similar fate. What interested me as well was the civil rights situation in Chicago during the 1960s. Daley maintained segregation within the city, but reached an accomodation with the black leadership, as they delivered votes to him. In exchange, the black leaders and their supporters received various forms of political patronage. This was in sharp contrast to what was the situation in the South at the time. I think that this difference was exempified by the rather cool treatment that was given to Martin Luther King by the black leadership when he visited Chicago in 1965.
The biggest machine politician.
This is a detailed book about the political machine Richard J. Daley built in Chicago.In this book, you realize the corrupt nature of a political machine.Votes were stolen, money squandered on people hooked into the machine, and the violence against those who opposed the policies.It is a wonder that the machine is still somewhat working.Machine politics is a nasty business.Somehow regardless of all this, Richard Daley successfully managed the third largest city in the United States.He improved the administration, built the infrastructure, and generally was not corrupt himself.He was the head of the machine though and bears responsibility for the corruption.
This is an in depth expose of the Richard J. Daley machine.It will take some time to read through the 400 plus pages of this political biography of Daley.A good read for someone interested in Chicago.
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Some like it cold