The American Mayor offers a unique ranking of the nation's big-city mayors by expert scholars. Although the mayoralty is one of the most important political executive offices, it has escaped the kind of evaluations by which scholars have ranked American presidents. Now, thanks to Melvin Holli, we have a comparable survey of the 'best' and 'worst' mayors, covering some 730 mayors from the big-fifteen cities, from the beginning of the modern office in 1820 to the 1990s. The poll of historians, biographers, and social scientists produced a remarkably strong consensus. Who were our best mayors? The list ranges from Boston's 'Great Mayor' Josiah Quincy (1823-1828) to New York City's Fiorello La Guardia (1934-1945), who is first on the all-time-best list. La Guardia, a stouthearted fireplug of a man, built modern New York, fought Murder Incorporated, read the comics to children over the air during a newspaper strike, and was a symbol of ethnic probity and honesty. Sandwiched between Quincy and La Guardia are several other outstanding mayors, including Cleveland's Tom Johnson (1901-1909), Pittsburgh's David Lawrence (1946-1959), Detroit's Hazen Pingree (1890-1897), and Los Angeles's Tom Bradley (1973-93).Taking the first-worst prize among scoundrel mayors is Chicago's William H. "Big Bill" Thompson (1915-1923, 1927-1931), one of the most colorful mayors in the city's history, if not the most corrupt. Big Bill, also known as 'Kaiser Bill' for his pro-German stand during World War I, accepted campaign funds from gangsters including Al Capone. Also among the 'worst' is another Chicago mayor, Jane Byrne (1979-1983), the only woman on the list. Jersey City's Frank Hague (1917-1947) and Philadelphia's Frank Rizzo (1972-1980) are among the other notable rascals who have sat in city halls.The American Mayor presents complete findings of Holli's poll in jargon-free fashion. Holli explains the results of the survey, gives biographical sketches of the ten best mayors, as well as some attention to the worst, and then uses the findings of modern leadership studies to explore mayoral success and failure. He concludes with a chapter titled 'Pathways to Power' in which he reviews the New York City political milieu that produced the nation's 'best' mayor, Fiorello La Guardia, and also examines the career of the nation's most successful big-city mayor, Buffalo's Grover Cleveland, the only mayor to become president of the United States.
| |||||||||||||||
Book Description
Frequently Bought Together
Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com Review
For years the designer Blackwell has been dining out on his 10 best-and-worst-dressed celebrity lists; People magazine has made hay out of its 50-most-beautiful people issues; now Melvin G. Holli gets into the act with The American Mayor: The Best and Worst Big-City Leaders. If Holli's lists are neither as frivolous nor as pulchritudinous as Blackwell's nor People's, in their own way, they're certainly as interesting. Polling some 160 experts ranging from journalists to historians to social scientists, Holli has compiled both the required lists of the 10 best and 10 worst mayors in the United States from 1820 to the present and also some fascinating insights into what separates the good from the bad. In addition to biographies of each, and a summary of his or her major accomplishments (or lack thereof), the book also contains several chapters analyzing just what qualities contribute to a successful mayor. Anyone interested in city government--or leadership in general--will find much to admire (and probably more than a few conclusions to argue with) in this best-and-worst list for civic-minded readers.
Review
An intelligent, inquisitive public will find The American Mayor to be worthwhile and interesting reading. Holli asks his own questions about the nature of leadership, providing interpretations which are original and significant. This is a remarkable book which should be required reading for all students of urban history, public policy, or political science. --Michael P. Weber, Duquesne University
Product Details
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
More About the Author
Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.
Customer Reviews
|
Share your thoughts with other customers:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Best enjoyed by the wonks among us.,
By Watujel (San Antonio, Texas) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The American Mayor: The Best & the Worst Big-City Leaders (Paperback)
The subject matter sounds interesting, but Holli's writing style is dry and plodding. Some of these mayors sound like interesting characters, but they don't come to life in this book. The leadership analysis at the end is for die-hards only. Though the book was promoted in general-interest news articles, it's not going to generate much enthusiasm outside the ivory tower.
3.0 out of 5 stars
Right on Laguardia, wrong on Hague and Koch,
By
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: The American Mayor: The Best & the Worst Big-City Leaders (Paperback)
An interesting book, which rates Fiorello La Guardia, the Little Flower, as the best Mayor in the history of the United States. The author is right-- La Guardia was certainly one of the best if not the best and an inspiration to all of us. I liked the book found it somewhat interesting, but, another reviewer said, some of his characters did not really jump to life. (The review of La Guardia did.) Nevertheless, I found it worth reading.I found myself in agreement with some of the ratings, and in disagreement with others. I can not understand the law rating of Ed Koch, who turned New York around. I also disagree with his low ratings of some depression era Mayors shows a bias against the old style ethnic politicians like James Michael Curley of Boston, rated as one of the worst. Most Bostonians rate him as the best. He championed the poor Irish immigrants, and opened the doors of city hall to them. Curley was a populist, and the review shows a bias against populist Mayors. Frank Hague, (Boss Hague) of Jersey City, is rated as the second worst Mayor in history. He was certainly not a good Mayor. However, the voters of Jersey City would beg to differ that he was near the bottom. They elected him for a stunning 30 years, a record no modern day Mayor can hope to match. Hague enjoyed, as the book states, long vacations on the Jersey Shore and no one can find out how they were paid for. He may have been corrupt. But, if we was corrupt, so, sadly, were many others of that period, so that fact alone cannot make him the second worst in history. But what kept Hague re-elected for thirty years was his championing of a hospital for the poor. The Margaret Hague Maternity Hospital, named after the Mayor's mother, provided free top notch medical care to thousands of poor women throughout the county for decades. In an era befeikoch@bryancave.comore the New Deal when it was not fashionable for government to come to the aid of the poor, Mayor Hague's hospital provided them with one of the best maternity hospitals in the country. His hospita should keep him from being rated at the very bottom. Depite my difference, the authors chronicle well the story of American big city Mayors, and is a great teaching tool to starting Mayors. I have recommended it to the new Mayors I meet. Jim Fiorentini, Mayor, Haverhill, Massachusetts
1 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
10 worst mayors?,
By
This review is from: The American Mayor: The Best & the Worst Big-City Leaders (Paperback)
Cleveland Mayor (now Congressman) Dennis Kucinich was one of the best & most fascinating ... not one of the worst."There is little debate," wrote Cleveland Magazine in May 1996, "over the value of Muny Light today. Now Cleveland Public Power, it is a proven asset to the city that between 1985 and 1995 saved its customers $195,148,520 over what they would have paid CEI." Kucinich's move also preserved hundreds of union jobs. In 1998, city council granted Kucinich amnesty, stating that he had "the courage and foresight to refuse to sell the city's municipal electric system."
Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
|
|
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Tags Customers Associate with This Product(What's this?)Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
|
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store.
Learn more
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
