Today’s column from The Daily Journal (Kankakee, Ill.) and The Times (Ottawa, Ill.) …
In Chicago, mayoral history repeats itself
The WISCH LIST
Feb. 26, 2011
Meet Chicago’s new boss.
Same as the old boss?
Well, at least regarding his ease of election, Rahm Emanuel appears to be.
For the first time in two decades, the Windy City this week held a mayoral election without the name Richard M. Daley appearing on the ballot. But, you could hardly tell the difference.
Because, just like Daley – who could clear his throat and garner two-thirds of the city’s votes – Emanuel captured the city’s top job in a rout. Snaring 55 percent of the ballots cast, President Obama’s former Chief of Staff avoided a run-off against a single opponent (you know, a real election) and will assume office in May as the 55th mayor of Chicago.
Now, you likely already know plenty about the city’s new mayor-elect, but today I thought I’d share a few things that you might not about those who preceded him.
William Butler Ogden (1837-38)
In 1805, the city’s first mayor was born in Walton, N.Y., and didn’t reach Chicago until 30 years later when he traveled west to look over land purchased by his brother-in-law, Charles Butler, for $100,000. Unimpressed with the infant Chicago, Ogden informed Butler that he had “been guilty of the grossest folly. There is no such value in the land and won’t be for a generation.”
However, Ogden ended up recovering the $100,000 by selling off one-third of the property that Butler had bought and decided that he did like Chicago well enough after all to stick around and become its inaugural mayor.
Joseph Medill (1871-73)
Medill is best known as the legendary managing editor of the Chicago Tribune who helped nominate Abraham Lincoln for the U.S. presidency.
However, in 1864, Medill left the Tribune to enter politics himself. And after the Great Chicago Fire, he was elected mayor as a member of the temporary “Fireproof” party. Medill served for two years, creating Chicago’s first public library and reforming the police and fire departments. However, the stress of the job wore him down and in August 1873, Medill appointed Lester L. Bond as Acting Mayor for the remaining 3½ months of his term and departed for Europe on a convalescent tour.
Carter Harrison Sr. (1879-87, 1893)
& Carter Harrison Jr. (1897-1905, 1911-15)
Richard J. and Richard M. Daley weren’t the first father-and-son combo to serve as mayors of Chicago. Rather, that honor belonged to the Harrisons.
Initially, Carter Harrison Sr. served four terms as mayor before returning for a fifth in 1893, just before the World’s Columbian Exposition. However, on Oct. 28, 1893, three days before the close of the Exposition, Harrison murdered in his home by Patrick Eugene Prendergast. The delusional 26-year-old believed that Harrison would appoint him to public office upon his re-election – even though Harrison didn’t know who Prendergast was.
Carter Harrison Jr. was elected four years after his father’s death. And interestingly, as the city’s 30th mayor, he was actually the first to be born within the city limits.
Anton Cermak (1931-33)
Carter Harrison Sr. isn’t the only Chicago mayor to have been killed while in office. On Feb. 15, 1933, Mayor Anton Cermak was shaking hands with President-elect Franklin D. Roosevelt in Miami when assassin Giuseppe Zangara shot him.
Roosevelt was the intended target of Zangara, who told police that he hated rich and powerful people, but not Roosevelt personally. However, rumors circulated after the shooting that Cermak had been the true target because his promise to clean up Chicago’s lawlessness posed a threat to Al Capone and his crime syndicate.
According to Roosevelt biographer Jean Edward Smith, though, there’s no proof for the theory. And, reportedly, just as Zangara fired, a woman hit his arm with her purse, spoiling his aim.