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Big Bill Thompson, Chicago, and the Politics of Image Paperback – December 1, 1997
| Douglas Bukowski (Author) Find all the books, read about the author, and more. See search results for this author |
| Price | New from | Used from |
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any combination of these spark the kind of fireworks they do. And no other
American city has had a mayor like William Hale "Big Bill" Thompson,
not in any of his political incarnations.
A brilliant chameleon of a politician, Thompson could move from pro-
to anti-prohibition, from opposing the Chicago Teachers Federation to
opposing a superintendent hostile to it, from being anti-Catholic to winning,
in huge numbers, the Catholic vote.
Shape-shifter extraordinaire, Thompson stayed in power by repeatedly
altering his political image. In Big Bill Thompson, Chicago, and the
Politics of Image, Douglas Bukowski captures the essence of this wily
urban politico as no other biographer or historian has. Using materials
accessible only thanks to the Freedom of Information Act, Bukowski has
fashioned an unforgettable story of a volatile Chicago leader and his
era. And he does it with such grace and in such an irresistible style
that readers will yearn to visit the local speakeasy and lift a glass
to colorful politicians gone by.
"An excellent book, written in a lively style with a contemporary
resonance. A first rate meditation on the image and reality of 'Big Bill'
in the context of actual and mythological Chicago political history."
--
Steven P. Erie, author of Rainbow's End: Irish-Americans and the Dilemma
of Urban Machine Politics
"Written with a flair and a gentle sardonicism that makes it fun
to read, Big Bill Thompson … is a significant contribution to the
literature of urban history and politics." -- Roger W. Biles, author
of The South and the New Deal and Richard J. Daley: Politics, Race,
and the Governing of Chicago
- Print length304 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherUniversity of Illinois Press
- Publication dateDecember 1, 1997
- Dimensions6 x 1 x 9 inches
- ISBN-100252066685
- ISBN-13978-0252066689
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Learn about the Big Bill Thomson who inherited his money from lucky parents who owned the one section of Chicago which did not burn in the Great Fire of 1871.
Learn about the Big Bill Thompson who was one of the most celebrated athletes in late 19th century Chicago.
Learn about the Big Bill Thompson who as a cowboy turned a profit on his ranch while Teddy Roosevelt was losing money on his.
Learn about a Mayor Thompson who championed an "America First" policy while exploiting class envy for his own political gain.
The reader is left with the impression that Big Bill Thompson invented the type of politics in use today. Rather than focus on Thompson himself, however, the book also explores the campaigns of his opposition, leaving the reader with a full understanding of what worked for Thompson and why it worked.
The scandal involving contributions from gangsters which effectively ended his career is given the space it deserves at the end of the book, but is not the focus of the book, as are most contemporary news stories. The reader is left with a well-rounded and objective account of one of the most successful mayors in Chicago history -- and how he got there.
And as the final coup de grace at the conclusion of the book, the reader will undoubtedly be shocked when they realize that Big Bill Thompson never committed half the indiscretions attributed to Big Bill Clinton.
All in all, it was an excellent and enlightening read. Thoroughly enjoyable.
Similarly, in Chicago, three term mayor, William Hale Thompson, Jr., was blamed for the decline and fall of the Republican Party in Chicago and Cook County, Illinois and for the epidemic corruption of the Prohibition Era. The fact that Chicago had earned a reputation for widespread corruption decades prior to Thompson's political rise and that the Democratic Party rulers who succeeded him as mayor proved to be more receptive to bribes and tolerant of underworld support made no difference at all. Following his defeat in the 1931 mayoral election, Thompson, who once shared the record for longevity in the mayor's office (subsequently surpassed by three others), became forever associated with Al Capone, who actually rose to power during the reform administration of Democrat William Dever.
Douglas Bukowski has performed a valuable service in providing a long overdue reappraisal of Thompson's skills both as a political demagogue and survivor. Whatever he lacked in formal education, Thompson made up for by being far cleverer than his opponents and allies ever gave him credit for. Other authors have written about Thompson's political career, but many of those books are long forgotten and out of print. Professor Bukowski's book fills that void.
This in an interesting and informative read about the last Republican mayor of Chicago. His last term was certainly a disaster, but Thompson was a shape shifter extradionaire. He balanced a machine that resulted in him getting elected three times. He also appealed to a segment of the population that the Republicans have lost. He certainly did do some things right.


