1905—Tammany Hall

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1905—Tammany Hall During the second half of the nineteenth century and the early years of the twentieth, city and even state politics in New York were often dominated by an organization called Tammany Hall. Tammany Hall, the building, was the headquarters for New York City’s Democratic Party. However, the name Tammany Hall came to mean much more than just a building. Tammany organized voters and elected its candidates so efficiently, that its methods were called “machine politics.” From the 1860s, powerful political bosses led Tammany. Political machines, like the one at Tammany Hall, became notorious for robbing city treasuries through graft* and corruption. In 1905, William Riordon, transcribed conversations he held with George Washington Plunkitt, a political boss under the Tammany system. Plunkitt speaks: Everybody is talkin’ these days about undertake a lot of public improvements. Well, Tammany men growin’ rich on graft, but I’m tipped off, say, that they’re going to layout nobody thinks of drawin’ the distinction a new park at a certain place. I see my between honest graft and dishonest graft. opportunity and I take it. I go to that place and There’s all the difference in the world between I buy up all the land I can in the neighborhood. the two. Yes, many of our men have grown rich Then the board of this or that makes its plan in politics. I have myself. I’ve made a big public, and there is a rush to get my land, which fortune out of the game, and I’m gettin’ richer nobody cared particular for before. Ain’t it every day, but I’ve not gone in for dishonest perfectly honest to charge a good price and graft—blackmailin’ gamblers, saloonkeepers, make a profit on my investment and foresight? disorderly people, etc.—and neither has any of Of course, it is. Well, that’s honest graft.… the men who have made big fortunes in politics. Now, in conclusion, I want to say that I There’s an honest graft, and I’m an don’t own a dishonest dollar. If my worst example of how it works. I might sum up the enemy was given the job of writin’ my epitaph+ whole thing by sayin’: “I seen my opportunities when I’m gone, he couldn’t do more than write: and I took ‘em.” “George W. Plunkitt. He Seen His Just let me explain by examples. My Opportunities, and He Took ‘Em.” party’s in power in the city, and it’s goin’ to —Questions— 1. What was Tammany Hall? 2. How would you define the term political machine? How would you define a political boss? 3. What is the actual definition of “graft”? According to Plunkitt, what is the difference between “honest graft” and “dishonest graft”? Do you agree with him? Does “honest graft” exist? 4. What does this excerpt tell you about the Tammany Hall view of government and corruption? 5. What kind of reforms would be needed to reduce this kind of corruption? 6. Do you think this kind of corruption is still widely found in city and state governments? GLOSSARY *graft—bribery, using one’s political +epitaph—inscription on a tombstone in position for dishonest gain memory of a person buried there .

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Copyright © 2013 Jack O’Donnell All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used, reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photograph, recording, or any information storage or retrieval system, without the express written permission of the author, except where permitted by law. ISBn 978-1-59715-096-5 Library of Congress Catalog Number 2005nnnnnn First Printing CONTENTS Foreword. .xiii PART ONE Chapter One: A Reformer Is Born. .3 Chapter Two: Empire State Politics and Tammany Hall. .9 Chapter Three: William Sulzer’s Political Beginnings . 15 Chapter Four: Onward to Congress . .23 Chapter Five: Mayor William Gaynor. 31 Chapter Six: The Campaign of 1910 . 37 Chapter Seven: The Election of 1912. 49 PART TWO Chapter Eight: Governor William Sulzer . 67 Chapter Nine: Legislative Program . .81 Chapter Ten: Reformer . 85 Chapter Eleven: The Commission on Inquiry. .93 Chapter Twelve: “Gaffney or War!” . 101 Chapter Thirteen: Jobs, Jobs, and More Jobs . 109 Chapter Fourteen: Direct Primaries . .113 Chapter Fifteen: The Scandals. 139 PART THREE Chapter Sixteen: The Frawley Committee. .147 Chapter Seventeen: The Sulzer Campaign Fund. 153 Chapter Eighteen: Impeachment. 161 Chapter Nineteen: The Fallout . 175 Chapter Twenty: Governor Glynn? . .185 PART FOUR Chapter Twenty-One: Court of Impeachment . .191 Chapter Twenty-Two: The Verdict . .229 Chapter Twenty-Three: Aftermath . .239 PART FIVE Chapter Twenty-Four: The Campaign of 1917. .251 Chapter Twenty-Five: A Ghost Before He Died . .259 Acknowledgments . 263 Notes . .265 Bibliography . 277 FOREWORD William Sulzer is remembered by history as a wronged man. He was a reformer destroyed by the corrupt system he was elected to challenge and that he tried to change.
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