Richard J. Daley
Richard J. Daley | |
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President of the United States Conference of Mayors | |
In office 1959–1960 | |
Preceded by | Norris Poulson |
Succeeded by | Richardson Dilworth |
Cook County Clerk | |
In office 1950–1955 | |
Preceded by | Michael J. Flynn |
Succeeded by | Edward J. Barrett |
Illinois Director of Revenue | |
In office 1949–1950 | |
Governor | Adlai Stevenson II |
Minority Leader of the Illinois Senate | |
In office 1941–1946 | |
Member of the Illinois Senate from the 9th district | |
In office 1938–1946 | |
Preceded by | Patrick J. Carroll |
Succeeded by | Thaddeus Adesko |
Member of the Illinois House of Representatives from the 9th district | |
In office 1936–1938 | |
Preceded by | David Shanahan |
Succeeded by | William Fucane |
Personal details | |
Born | Richard Joseph Daley May 15, 1902 Holy Sepulchre Cemetery |
Political party | Democratic |
Spouse | |
Children | 7, including Richard, John, and William |
Relatives | Patrick R. Daley (grandson) Patrick Daley Thompson (grandson) |
Education | DePaul University (LLB) |
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Mayoralty
Public works
Events hosted by city
Law enforcement
Transit
Unrealized transit proposals
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Richard Joseph Daley (May 15, 1902 – December 20, 1976) was an American politician who served as the
Daley is remembered for doing much to save Chicago from the declines that other
On the other hand, Daley's legacy is complicated by criticisms of his response to the Chicago riots that followed the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. and his handling of the notorious 1968 Democratic National Convention held in his city. He also had enemies within the Democratic Party. In addition, many members of Daley's administration were charged and convicted for corruption, although Daley himself was never charged with any crime.
Early life
Richard J. Daley was born in Bridgeport, a working-class neighborhood of Chicago.[3] He was the only child of Michael and Lillian (Dunne) Daley, whose families had both arrived from the Old Parish area, near Dungarvan, County Waterford, Ireland, during the Great Famine.[4] Richard's father was a sheet metal worker with a reserved demeanor. Michael's father, James E. Daley, was a butcher born in New York City, while his mother, Delia Gallagher Daley, was an Irish immigrant. Richard's mother was outgoing and outspoken. Before women obtained the right to vote in 1920, Lillian Daley was an active suffragette, participating in marches and often bringing her son to them. She hoped her son's life would be more professionally successful than that of his parents. Before his mother's death, Daley had won the Democratic nomination for Cook County sheriff. Lillian wanted more than this for her son, telling a friend, "I didn't raise my son to be a policeman."[5] Daley would later state that his wellsprings were his religion, his family, his neighborhood, the Democratic Party, and his love of the city.[4]
Education
Daley attended the elementary school of his parish, Nativity of Our Lord,
Political career
Early career
Daley's career in politics began when he became a Democratic precinct captain. Having served as secretary for previous County Treasurers Joseph B. McDonough, Thomas D. Nash, Robert M. Sweitzer, and Joseph L. Gill, he was appointed the Chief Deputy Comptroller of Cook County on December 17, 1936, to replace Michael J. O'Connor, who had died on December 9.[7]
Daley's first elective office was in the Illinois House of Representatives, to which he was elected for the 9th district on November 3, 1936[7] alongside Democratic incumbents William J. Gormley and Peter P. Jezierny.[8] Despite being a lifelong Democrat, he was elected to the office as a Republican.[8] This was a matter of political opportunism and the peculiar setup for legislative elections in Illinois at the time, which allowed Daley to take the place on the ballot of the recently deceased Republican candidate David Shanahan. Daley's name was not printed on the ballot due to the closeness of Shanahan's death to the election, but he was able to defeat Shanahan's friend Robert E. Rodgers.[8]
After his election, Daley quickly moved back to the Democratic side of the aisle. After the death of incumbent Democratic Senator Patrick J. Carroll in 1938, Daley was elected to the
In the late 1940s, Daley became Democratic Ward Committeeman of the
Daley became chairman of the Central Committee of the
Early mayoralty
Daley was first elected mayor, Chicago's 48th,[17] in 1955. He was reelected to that office five times and had been mayor for 21 years at the time of his death.[18] During his administration, Daley dominated the political arena of the city and, to a lesser extent, that of the entire state. Officially, Chicago has a "weak-mayor" system, in which most of the power is vested in the city council. However, Daley's post as de facto leader of the Chicago Democratic Party allowed him to rule the city with an iron hand and gave him great influence over the city's ward organizations, which in turn allowed him a considerable voice in Democratic primary contests—in most cases, the real contest in the Democratic stronghold of Chicago.
In 1959 and 1960, Daley served as president of the United States Conference of Mayors.[19]
Daley contributed to
Major construction during Daley's terms in office resulted in
Daley's construction of a modern Chicago rested on the commitment to racial segregation. Housing, highways, and schools were built to serve as barriers between white and black neighborhoods. To revitalize downtown Chicago Daley worked together with business leaders to push out poor black residents and replace them with middle class whites. To prevent black people from moving into white neighborhoods, Daley oversaw the building of public housing in the form of high-rise towers like the Robert Taylor Homes that he placed within Chicago's black ghettos. Many were located along a single street in the ghetto of Chicago's South Side, which became known as the "State Street Corridor" and had the densest concentration of public housing in the nation. Daley was also responsible for routing the Dan Ryan Expressway along the neighborhood's traditional racial divide, so that it separated the State Street Corridor from the white neighborhoods of the South Side.[23] Until the late 1960s, in municipal elections Daley nevertheless enjoyed 70 percent support within the black community. Like other ethnic groups in Chicago, black voters offered party loyalty and votes for political patronage.[24]
From late 1965 to early 1967 Mayor Daley was confronted by the
Daley discouraged motion picture and television filming on location in Chicago, after an episode of M Squad (aired on January 30, 1959) depicted an officer of CPD taking bribes. This policy lasted until the end of his term and would be reversed under later mayor Jane Byrne, when The Blues Brothers was filmed in Chicago. However during his time in office, movies including Cooley High, and others were filmed in Chicago.
1968 and later career
The year 1968 was a momentous year for Daley. On January 27, Daley informed President Johnson that
I said to him very emphatically and very definitely that an order be issued by him immediately to shoot to kill any arsonist or anyone with a Molotov cocktail in his hand, because they're potential murderers, and to shoot to maim or cripple anyone looting.
This statement generated significant controversy. Jesse Jackson, for example, called it "a fascist's response". Daley later backed away from his words in an address to the City Council, saying:
It is the established policy of the police department – fully supported by this administration – that only the minimum force necessary be used by policemen in carrying out their duties.
Later that month, Daley asserted,
There wasn't any shoot-to-kill order. That was a fabrication.
Robert Kennedy was also assassinated in June 1968, thus hurting Daley's earlier plan to make Johnson, who withdrew his re-election bid in March, Vice President.
In August, the 1968 Democratic National Convention was held in Chicago. Intended to showcase Daley's achievements to national Democrats and the news media, the proceedings during the convention instead garnered notoriety for the mayor and city, descending into verbal outbursts between participants, and a circus for the media. With the nation divided by the
At the convention itself,
Public opinion polls conducted after the convention demonstrated that the majority of Americans supported Daley's tactics.[34] Daley was historically re-elected for the fifth time in 1971. However, many have argued this was due to a lack of formidable opposition rather than Daley's own popularity.[35] Democratic nominee McGovern threw Daley out of the 1972 Democratic National Convention, replacing his delegation with one led by Jesse Jackson. This event arguably marked a downturn in Daley's power and influence within the Democratic Party but given his public standing, McGovern later made amends by putting Daley loyalist (and Kennedy in-law) Sargent Shriver on his ticket. In January 1973, former Illinois Racing Board Chairman William S. Miller testified that Daley had "induced" him to bribe Illinois Governor Otto Kerner.
In the 1970 special election deciding whether or not Illinois would adopt its then-proposed state constitution, Daley came out in support of its adoption late in the campaign. His support may have ultimately been critical in influencing Illinois voters in their decision to ultimately adopt the proposed constitution.[36] Daley was a strong proponent of Illinois having home rule for local government, and this constitution enshrined the ability for local governments to become home rule units.[36]
Daley was reelected mayor for a (then-record) sixth term in 1975.
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Daley in 1970
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Daley at the opening day parade for the Lakefront Festival, 1973
Death and funeral
Shortly after 2:00 p.m. on December 20, 1976, Daley collapsed on the city's
Personal life and family
Daley met
Speaking style
- Quotations related to Richard J. Daley at Wikiquote
Daley, who never lost his blue-collar Chicago accent, was known for often mangling his syntax and other verbal gaffes. Daley made one of his most memorable verbal missteps in 1968, while defending what the news media reported as police misconduct during that year's violent Democratic convention, stating, "Gentlemen, get the thing straight once and for all – the policeman isn't there to create disorder, the policeman is there to preserve disorder." Daley's reputation for misspeaking was such that his press secretary Earl Bush would tell reporters, "Write what he means, not what he says."[41]
Legacy
A 1993 survey of historians, political scientists and urban experts conducted by Melvin G. Holli of the
- A week after his death, the former William J. Bogan Junior College, one of the City Colleges of Chicago, was renamed as the Richard J. Daley College in his honor.
- The Richard J. Daley Center (originally, the Cook County Civic Center) is a 32-floor office building completed in 1965 and renamed for the mayor after his death.
- The University of Illinois at Chicago[44]
Journalists Adam Cohen and Elizabeth Taylor argue that Daley's politics may have saved Chicago from the same fate that cities like
Daley was known by many Chicagoans as "Da Mare" ("The Mayor"), "Hizzoner" ("His Honor"), and "The Man on Five" (his office was on the fifth floor of City Hall). Since Daley's death and the subsequent election of son Richard as mayor in 1989, the first Mayor Daley has become known as "Boss Daley",[46] "Old Man Daley", or "Daley Senior" to residents of Chicago.
During the civil rights era, some Black Chicagoans often referred to Daley as "Pharaoh", in the sense that he was as oppressive and unrelenting as Ramses was to Martin Luther King’s Moses.[47] These claims were supported by Daley's role in the assassination of Fred Hampton and his anti-MLK stance.[48]
In popular culture
- The Four Way Street, Nash ironically dedicates the song to "Mayor Daley".
- The first verse Steve Goodman's original 1972 version of "The Lincoln Park Pirates" contains the line, "the stores are all closing and Daley is dozing". Following Daley's death, Goodman replaced the reference with "... and Bilandic's been chosen". Goodman also wrote and recorded a song called "Daley's Gone", which appeared on his 1977 album Say It in Private.
- Songwriters Tom Walsh, Tom Black and Terry McEldowney pay homage to Daley in "South Side Irish", making him the subject of the entire third verse.
- In episode 13 of the third season of turkey.
- In a scene set at the Chez Paul restaurant in the 1980 film The Blues Brothers, the maître d'hôtel (Alan Rubin) is seen talking on the phone: "No, sir, Mayor Daley no longer dines here, sir. He's dead, sir." Later in the film, when the brothers are driving rapidly through Chicago, Elwood (Dan Aykroyd) comments "If my estimations are correct, we should be very close to the Honorable Richard J. Daley Plaza." "That's where they got that Picasso!" Jake enthuses. The classic "use of unnecessary violence in the apprehension of the Blues Brothers has been approved" line delivered by a police dispatcher is an obvious homage to Daley's 1968 order during the riots following Martin Luther King's assassination.
See also
- Timeline of Chicago, 1950s–1970s
References
- ^ "Richard J. Daley". Encyclopædia Britannica. May 11, 2023.
- ^ Melvin G. Holli, The American Mayor: The Best and the Worst Big-City Leaders (Pennsylvania State UP, 1999), p. 4–11.
- ISBN 978-0-8093-2612-9.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-316-83489-6.
- ^ ISBN 0-316-83403-3. Retrieved September 8, 2010.
- ^ a b c d "Richard J. Daley". Cook County Clerk. Archived from the original on March 10, 2012. Retrieved September 8, 2010.
- ^ a b "Richard J. Daly [sic] is named Chief Deputy County Controler [sic]". The Chicago Tribune. Vol. 95, no. 303C. December 18, 1936. p. 2. Retrieved May 11, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b c "Democrats Hold Firm Control of State Assembly". The Decatur Daily Review. Vol. 59, no. 36. November 5, 1936. p. 10. Retrieved May 11, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Rhoads, Mark (November 16, 2016). "Illinois Hall of Fame: Richard J. Daley". Illinois Review. Retrieved June 21, 2020.
- ^ Illinois Blue Book 1937-1938 page 151
- ^ Illinois Blue Book 1939-1940 page 163
- ^ Royko 1971, p. 53
- ^ a b "Mayor Richard J. Daley Biography". www.chipublib.org. Chicago Public Library. Retrieved May 27, 2020.
- ^ "Richard J. Daley, director of budgets | Remembering Richard J. Daley". rjd.library.uic.edu. University of Illinois Chicago. July 26, 2017. Retrieved May 27, 2020.
- ^ "Daley's Chicago". Encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org. Retrieved April 17, 2018.
- ^ a b c d Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine: "LBJ and Richard Daley, 1/27/68, 10.58A". YouTube.
- ^ "Chicago Mayors". Chicago Public Library. Retrieved March 24, 2019.
- ^ "Daley wins first election". Wbez.org. Archived from the original on February 24, 2016. Retrieved April 17, 2018.
- ^ "Leadership". The United States Conference of Mayors. November 23, 2016. Retrieved July 24, 2020.
- ^ Greenberg, David (October 16, 2000). "Was Nixon Robbed?". Slate.com. Retrieved April 17, 2018.
- ^ Cillizza, Chris (September 23, 2009). "The Fix - Hall of Fame - The Case for Richard J. Daley". The Washington Post.
- ^ Playboy (1972), "Playboy Interview with Saul Alinsky. A Candid Conversation with the Feisty Radical Organizer," Archived July 31, 2020, at the Wayback Machine Playboy. March. pp. 59-78, 150, 169-179. p.169
- ^ Cohen, Adam; Taylor, Elizabeth (2000). American Pharaoh: Mayor Richard J. Daley. His Battle for Chicago and the Nation. New York: Little, Brown and Company. pp. 10–11.
- ^ White, Brian (2016). "The Leadership Council for Metropolitan Open Communities". In Finley, Mary Lou; Lafayette, Bernard Jr.; Ralph, James R. (eds.). The Chicago Freedom Movement. Martin Luther King Jr. and Civil Rights Activism in the North. Lexington, Kentucky: The University Press of Kentucky. pp. 133–134.
- ^ White, Brian (2016). "The Leadership Council for Metropolitan Open Communities". In Finley, Mary Lou; Lafayette, Bernard Jr.; Ralph, James R. (eds.). The Chicago Freedom Movement. Martin Luther King Jr. and Civil Rights Activism in the North. Lexington, Kentucky: The University Press of Kentucky. pp. 135–136.
- ^ White, Brian (2016). "The Leadership Council for Metropolitan Open Communities". In Finley, Mary Lou; Lafayette, Bernard Jr.; Ralph, James R. (eds.). The Chicago Freedom Movement. Martin Luther King Jr. and Civil Rights Activism in the North. Lexington, Kentucky: The University Press of Kentucky. p. 136.
- ISBN 978-0-7432-4302-5.
- ISBN 9780226465036.
- ISBN 9780226237992.
- Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, August 9, 2000. Accessed May 21, 2007. "Chicago Mayor Richard Daley cursed Ribicoff with an anti-Semitic slur at the raucous 1968 Democratic National Convention."
- ^ Singh, Robert. "American Government and Politics: A Concise Introduction", Sage Publications (2003), p. 106. "Chicago police assaulted anti-war protesters, while inside turmoil engulfed proceedings and Chicago boss Richard Daley hurled anti-Semitic abuse at Senator Abraham Ribicoff (Democratic, Connecticut)."
- ^ Royko, p. 189.
- ^ Witcover, page 272
- ISBN 1412831504.
- ^ Biles, Roger. Richard J. Daley: Politics, Race, and the Government of Chicago. Northern Illinois University Press (1995). p. 183
- ^ a b Kopecky, Frank; Harris, Mary Sherman. UNDERSTANDING THE ILLINOIS CONSTITUTION 2001 EDITION (PDF). Illinois State Bar Association. p. 6. Archived from the original (PDF) on February 28, 2008 – via www.isba.org.
- ^ "Mayor Richard Daley of Chicago Dies at 74". The New York Times. December 21, 1976. p. 1. Retrieved May 11, 2022.
- ^ "Eleanor "Sis" Daley". Chicagotribune.com. September 15, 2014. Retrieved April 17, 2018.
- ISBN 9780759524279. Retrieved April 17, 2018 – via Google Books.
- ^ "Daley". Chicagobusiness.com. Retrieved April 17, 2018.
- ^ Schmidt, William E (February 2, 1989). "Chicago Journal; Syntax Is a Loser in Mayoral Race". The New York Times. p. A13. Retrieved May 11, 2022.
- ISBN 0-271-01876-3.
- JSTOR 42863681. Retrieved March 1, 2023.
- ^ "UIC Library: Main Library". www.uic.edu. Archived from the original on June 7, 1997. Retrieved January 13, 2022.
- ^ Cohen, Adam; Taylor, Elizabeth (2000). American Pharaoh: Mayor Richard J. Daley. His Battle for Chicago and the Nation. New York: Little, Brown and Company. p. 11.
- ^ "Richard J. Daley American politician and lawyer". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved May 3, 2018.
- ^ Cohen, Adam; Taylor, Elizabeth (2000). American Pharaoh: Mayor Richard J. Daley. His Battle for Chicago and the Nation. New York: Little, Brown and Company. p. 12.
- ^ Pihos, Peter Constaine (2015). "Policing, Race, and Politics in Chicago". University of Pennsylvania. Retrieved March 27, 2023.
Further reading
Biographies
External videos | |
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Interview with Adam Cohen and Elizabeth Taylor on American Pharaoh, June 3, 2000, C-SPAN | |
Booknotes interview with Taylor on American Pharaoh, July 23, 2000, C-SPAN |
- ISBN 0-316-83403-3. Detailed scholarly biography.
- Goodman, Barak (director) (1995). Daley: The Last Boss (documentary). Originally shown on the PBS program American Experience.
- ISBN 0-670-37258-7.
- O'Connor, Len (1975). Clout: Mayor Daley and His City. Chicago: H. Regnery. ISBN 0-8092-8291-7.
- ISBN 0-525-07000-1.
- Sullivan, Frank. Legend, the only inside story about Mayor Richard J. Daley (1989) online
- ISBN 0-446-67471-0.
Academic studies
- Biles, Roger (1995). Richard J. Daley: Politics, Race, and the Government of Chicago. DeKalb, Ill.: Northern Illinois University Press. ISBN 0-87580-199-4.
- Holli, Melvin G. (1999). The American Mayor: The Best and the Worst Big-city Leaders. University Park, Pa.: ISBN 0-271-01876-3.
- Charles Kolb, Review of The American Mayor.
- Peterson, Paul E. (1976). School Politics, Chicago Style. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. ISBN 0-226-66288-8.
- Rakove, Milton L. (1975). Don't Make No Waves—Don't Back No Losers: An Insider's Analysis of the Daley Machine. Bloomington, Ind.: Indiana University Press. ISBN 0-253-11725-9.
- Simpson, Dick (2001). Rogues, Rebels, and Rubber Stamps: The Politics of the Chicago City Council from 1863 to the Present. Boulder, Colo.: Westview Press. ISBN 0-8133-9763-4.
External links
- Remembering Richard J. Daley - UIC Library
- Mayor Richard J. Daley bio at the Chicago 7 Trial Page
- Daley Family Tree (interactive graphic) Archived September 17, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
- Harold Washington on the Legacy of Richard J. Daley on YouTube, video excerpt from a 1986 documentary special on Richard J. Daley