Patrick Nash

Patrick Austin Nash[1][2]
Chairman of the Cook County Democratic Party
In office 1931–1943
Preceded by	Anton Cermak
Succeeded by	Edward J. Kelly
Member of the Cook County Board of Review
In office 1918–1922 Serving with Edward R. Listinger and C. V. Barrett[3]
Personal details
Born	March 2, 1863 Chicago, Illinois , U.S.

Patrick A. Nash (March 2, 1863^[1] – October 6, 1943) was a political boss in the early and mid-twentieth century in Chicago and Cook County. He was in large part responsible for consolidating elements of the Cook County Democratic Party into a political machine.^[5][6] He evolved from a local sewage contractor to a political boss by carefully selecting his political allies. His prominence stems from the death of Anton Cermak and his political career is intertwined with that of Edward Joseph Kelly. The success of this machine was attributed to its decision to be more inclusive than its predecessors. This meant that Nash had success at dealing with a variety of politicians such as William L. Dawson.

Nash was born on Chicago's

A close ally of Anton Cermak, when Cermak was elected Mayor of Chicago in 1931, he asked Nash to become Cook County Democratic Party Chairman.^[11] Nash was said to have represented the professional, and less narrowly ethnic, wing of the Irish contingent, which would help him to expand the party base.^[12] Nash held the position from 1931 until his death in 1943.

Stretching back to its early beginnings, Chicago had had a long two-party political history that prevented either party from developing a political machine. Republicans usually won at the national level, while Democrats usually won the majority of local contests. However, both

Nash's period of domination in Chicago began with Cermak's assassination in 1933.[14] When Cermak died, Nash helped promote Frank J. Corr to be the acting mayor of Chicago.^[15] Nash and other party leaders lobbied for a change in the city charter which called for a special election in the case of the death of an incumbent mayor. With an expensive special election looming during the Great Depression, they struck a deal with the Republican-led state legislature to grant the Chicago City Council the authority to appoint a permanent mayor.^[8] Subsequently, Nash turned down his own appointment and instead arranged to have Edward Joseph Kelly appointed mayor.^[4][16]

The

In 1942, William L. Dawson consolidated a black political organization that stayed loyal to the Democrats until his death in 1970.^[12][18] Nash provided financial resources and Kelly served as its front.^[19]

In 1934

In 1940, Nash offered his support to Louie Lewis, who was running for lieutenant governor in the Democratic primary. After Nash announced his support, a longtime friend of his, State Senator George M. Maypole, told Nash that he was planning on running against Lewis in the primary. Nash informed Maypole that as he had already given his word to Lewis, he would continue to support Lewis in the primary. Although Lewis defeated Maypole, he went on to lose in the general election and rumors persisted that Nash's support and efforts were not wholehearted. In an attempt to quell those rumors, Nash ordered that Maypole be "purged" when he was up for re-election in 1942 and Maypole lost to Norman Barry in that year's primary.^[4]

Following Nash's death in Chicago in 1943, he was succeeded as Cook County Democratic Chairman by Ed Kelly,^[20] who was succeeded by Jacob M. Arvey^[21]

Nash was a fan of horse racing, and owned a stables, Shannon Farm. In addition, he owned a horse farm in the Bluegrass region of Kentucky, where he raised horses to be raced.^[4]