Plunkitt of Tammany Hall: A Series of Very Plain Talks on Very Practical Politics (Bedford Books in American History) [Hardcover]

William L. Riordon (Author), Terrence J. McDonald (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 1993 | ISBN-10: 0312096666 | ISBN-13: 978-0312096663

This classic work offers the unblushing, unvarnished wit and wisdom of one of the most fascinating figures ever to play the American political game and win. George Washington Plunkitt rose from impoverished beginnings to become ward boss of the Fifteenth Assembly District in New York, a key player in the powerhouse political team of Tammany Hall, and a millionaire.In a series of utterly frank talks given at his headquarters at Graziano’s bootblack stand inside the New York County Court House, he revealed to a sharp-eared and sympathetic reporter named William L. Riordon the secrets of political success as practiced and perfected by Tammany Hall titans.The result is not only a volume that reveals more about our political system than does a shelf load of civics textbooks, but also an irresistible portrait of a man who would feel happily at home playing ball with today’s lobbyists and kingmakers, trading votes for political and financial favors.Doing for twentieth-century America what Machiavelli did for Renaissance Italy, and as entertaining as it is instructive, Plunkitt of Tammany Hall is essential reading for those who prefer twenty-twenty vision to rose-colored glasses in viewing how our government works and why.

--This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"This is a model of how teaching materials should be crafted. It is the clearest, most comprehensive, and most interesting discussion of Plunkitt that I have ever read." --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

About the Author

Peter Quinn is the author of the novel Banished Children of Eve (winner of an American Book Award) and previously served as speechwriter for New York governors Hugh Carey and Mario Cuomo. A third-generation New Yorker whose granparents were born in Ireland, he is currently Editorial Director for Time Warner and lives in Hastings, New York.

--This text refers to the Mass Market Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 148 pages
• Publisher: Bedford/St Martins (August 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312096666
• ISBN-13: 978-0312096663
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (26 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,766,684 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Quite a character, December 30, 2000

By 

Mike Baum - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Plunkitt of Tammany Hall: A Series of Very Plain Talks on Very Practical Politics (Signet Classics) (Mass Market Paperback)

George Washington Plunkitt is simply charming. Corrupt, of course, but charming nonetheless--and refreshingly honest about his corruption, which is part of his charm. I got more than a few quiet chuckles from his "very plain talks on practical politics" and almost felt I was reading a series of Mark Twain monologues.

A reader has to be careful around Mr. Plunkitt. He exhibits attractive, quintessentially American qualities such as a smart, down-to-earth common sense, a kind of "tell it like it is" honesty and a readiness to hustle to achieve his goals. He also, however, has such negative traits as, among others, anti-intellectualism and a propensity to employ the better parts of his character in the service of very pragmatic--in the derogatory sense--goals. Yet I *like* the man, and I think most readers do. The way he talks about himself endears me to his vices and very nearly makes me forget that graft is graft, whether "honest" or not. This ability of his (or of his interviewer/editor/co-author), apart from his astute observations or the fuller appreciation he might give some readers of the politics of Tammany Hall and the patronage system, is probably the key to his book's enduring popularity. He's simply interesting, and that is enough reason to read his book.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Corruption as a Public Good, December 22, 2003

By 

Rocco Dormarunno (Brooklyn, NY) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Plunkitt of Tammany Hall: A Series of Very Plain Talks on Very Practical Politics (Signet Classics) (Mass Market Paperback)

In history's rear view mirror, George Washington Plunkitt appears to be just another guy in a long line of corrupt politicians. There's no denying that he was corrupt, but as William Riordon recounts, Plunkitt honestly believed that he was not doing the public any harm. In fact, he believed that there was such a thing as honest graft, a sort of victimless crime. Certainly this was a self-serving philosophy, but there is a sincerity in his discourses that defies any trace of hypocrisy.

His belief that Tammany Hall was a benevolent organization that served the poor and needy put a bemused smile on my face. After all, Plunkitt doesn't see or doesn't admit to seeing that the robbing of public funds through honest or dishonest graft is what contributed to the social problems, like unemployment, poverty and crime, which for the most part put the needy and poor in their predicament in the first place. But he absolves himself from his actions by his now-famous defense, "I seen my opportunities and I took 'em." And this is what makes Plunkitt such a congenial and magnetic man, what makes him so damned likeable. You KNOW he's a thief, you KNOW he contributed to the misery of thousands. Yet his playful, plain-speaking style, his candidness about his activities, his wit, and, at times, his goofiness, make him different from other Tammany leaders like Boss Tweed, say, or Charlie Murphy. He's more in line with Big Tim Sullivan or James J. Walker.

George Washington Plunkitt was a charmer, no doubt about it. William Riordon was obviously under his spell. And the Johnson/Boswell comparison is very valid. It is difficult to maintain the utter contempt one should have for this thief. And yet... I would have loved to have had drunk with him at Hoffmann's bar and let him speak on for hours. Like Riordon, I think I would have been hypnotized too.

NB--Peter Quinn's brilliant Introduction serves the book well.

Rocco Dormarunno, author of The Five Points

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Plunkitt Tells it Like it is, February 23, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Plunkitt of Tammany Hall: A Series of Very Plain Talks on Very Practical Politics (Bedford Books in American History) (Hardcover)

Plunkitt was a king in a world that needed benevolent despots. In a place like turn of the century of New York before Keynesian economics and the Welfare State, Tammany was the only relief the poor knew. Plunkitt reveals with refreshing honesty the seemingly rough and coarse manner with which one needed to play the game of politics in his town. However, one must look at it in context. This was a different time from our own, and the reader must imagine whether a person of Plunkitt's demeanor can last in the information age political world. Then again, the book also illustrates how many of the problems Tammany had still exist today.