Clout City

Dominic A. Pacyga is professor emeritus of history in the Department of Humanities, History, and Social Sciences at Columbia College Chicago. He is the author of several books, including, most recently, American Warsaw: The Rise, Fall, and Rebirth of Polish Chicago, also from the University of Chicago Press.

• Introduction: The Sacred and the Profane in Chicago’s PoliticsChapter One: The Great Fire, an Assassination, and the Seeds of Change The Day Everything Changed—“Our Carter”Chapter Two: Bridgeport and De La Salle Institute: The Birth of the Machine Bridgeport—The River and the Bridgeport Stench—Rum, Riot, and Romanism—The Working-Class Response—The Bridgeport Way—De La Salle Institute: The Cradle of Clout—Communal Catholicism and Clout—Patron Saints and PatronageChapter Three: The Communal Web The Priest, the Minister, and the Rabbi—The Saloon—The Ward Boss—The GangsterChapter Four: The Machine’s Growing Pains Roger Sullivan and John Hopkins—Demographic and Technological Change—Young Carter—Patronage and the Traction IssueChapter Five: A Republican Protestant Proto-Machine William Hale Thompson—The Blond Boss—Mayor Thompson—A Democratic Reformer—The Return of Big Bill—Thompson’s Last Hurrah! 1927–1931Chapter Six: Bohemian Rhapsody: A New Ethnic Alignment Bohemia in Chicago—Anton Cermak: The Early Years—The United Societies for Local Self-Government—The Growth of a Communal Political Machine—Cermak Rising—Mayor CermakChapter Seven: Bridgeport’s Victory Frank J. Corr: A De La Salle Graduate—Mayor Edward Kelly: A South Side Irish Catholic Mayor—Kelly, the Policy Wheel, and the Growth of the Democratic Machine—Dawson, Clout, Community, and the Emerging Black Democratic Majority—Labor, Ethnic, Class Conflict and the Kelly-Nash Machine—Wartime MayorChapter Eight: Clout and Communalism Triumphant Kennelly: A Bridgeport Reformer—A True Bridgeport Mayor—The Church Triumphant—A Battle Between the Sacred and ProfaneChapter Nine: Fragmentation: Clout and Communalism in Decline The Racial Divide: The Sacred and Profane in Conflict—Racial Clashes—The Chicago Freedom Movement—Coming Apart: The Democratic Convention—Dark DaysChapter Ten: Changing Times Let the Chaos Begin!—The Democratic Civil War Begins: Bilandic, Byrne, Daley, and Washington—The Church DispiritedChapter Eleven: Not Your Father’s Machine Restoration?—A New Machine?—A Neoliberal Machine—The Daley Family—The End of the Daley EraChapter Twelve: After the Daleys Emanuel Takes Control—The Sacred vs. the Profane in Englewood—A Second Emanuel Administration—The Last Gasp of the Old Machine: Burke and Madigan—A Progressive Interlude: The Lightfoot and Johnson Administrations—Conclusion: The End of the Communal MachineAcknowledgmentsList of AbbreviationsNotesIndex

“Clout City is admirably detailed. . . . Pacyga provides a worthy rendering of a flawed and corruptible system that nonetheless helped usher countless working families into a better life.”