Author Description

""This is Chicago, this is America." With those words, Chicago mayor Richard J. Daley famously defended his brutal crackdown on protesters at the 1968 Democratic National Convention. Profoundly divided racially, economically, and socially, Chicago was indeed a microcosm of America, and for more than two decades Daley ruled it with an iron fist. The last of the big city bosses, Daley ran an unbeatable political machine that controlled over one million votes. From 1955 until his death in 1976, every decision of any importance - from distributing patronage jobs to picking congressional candidates - went through his office. Kennedy and Johnson owed their presidencies to his control of the Illinois vote, and he made sure they never forgot it. In a city legendary for its corruption and backroom politics, Daley's power was unrivaled.". "A quarter of a century after his death, Daley's outsize presence continues in influence American urban life, and a reassessment of his career is long overdue. Now, veteran journalists Adam Cohen and Elizabeth Taylor present the definitive biography of Richard J. Daley, drawn from newly uncovered material and dozens of interviews with his contemporaries. From the working-class Irish neighborhood of his childhood to his role as national power broker, American Pharaoh offers a riveting account of the life and times of one of the most important figures in twentieth-century politics."--BOOK JACKET.