Daley: Power and Presidential Politics [Hardcover]

F. Richard Ciccone (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1996

Explores the life and career of Richard J. Daley, one of the most powerful politicians of the 20th century.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

An associate editor of the Chicago Tribune, Ciccone, who has covered local politics for 35 years, has an encyclopedic knowledge of his subject and a familiarity with backroom wheeling and dealing, the ways in which power is grabbed and held. An exemplar of that style of politics, as he shows here, was Richard J. Daley, mayor of the Windy City from 1955 until his death in 1976. He served a long apprenticeship as state representative, state senator, deputy controller, revenue director, county clerk, committeeman and party chairman and was the last of the big-city Democratic bosses. Ciccone presents the twists and turns of the tortuous path by which Daley became the king of his city and a major player in national politics. And he offers some credible speculations: Illinois Democrats backed idealistic Adlai Stevenson for president in 1952 because they wanted him out of the gubernatorial mansion; the 1960 presidential race in the key state of Illinois was decided because the upstate Democrats cheated more effectively than did the downstate Republicans.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Ciccone, longtime political reporter for the Chicago Tribune, has written a study rather than a traditional biography; instead of personal details, the author focuses on how the elected official many see as the last successful big-city boss accumulated, deployed, and retained political power. Ciccone's study is strong on Daley's relationships with Lyndon Johnson and members of the Kennedy clan, on how and why Daley put together various city, county, and state political slates over the two decades he headed the Cook County Democratic Party organization (aka machine), and on the changing size and significance of Chicago's black vote (particularly in Daley's own mayoral campaigns). Ciccone also restores context to Daley's most visible hours on the national scene (the 1968 Democratic convention, in the footage replayed endlessly during the 1996 convention) as well as less-familiar episodes such as Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.'s 1966 Chicago campaign. Not an essential acquisition, but likely to appeal to readers intrigued by those 1968 flashbacks. Mary Carroll

Product Details

• Hardcover: 330 pages
• Publisher: Contemporary Books; 1St Edition edition (October 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0809231514
• ISBN-13: 978-0809231515
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6.1 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,980,130 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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